Which of the following functionalities can middleware provide?

Middleware plays a crucial role in modern software architecture by acting as a bridge between different systems, applications, and platforms. One of its key functionalities is data cleansing, which involves the identification and correction of inaccuracies, inconsistencies, and incomplete data within datasets. This process ensures that data flowing between systems is accurate, reliable, and usable for further business processes or analytics.

Data cleansing through middleware can include operations such as removing duplicates, standardizing data formats, validating data against predefined rules, and enriching data by integrating it from various sources. This functionality is essential for maintaining data quality and integrity, which is critical for analytical processes and decision-making.

While manual data entry, generating end-user reports, and hardware maintenance are important tasks within the realm of data management and IT operations, they do not fall under the core functionalities typically provided by middleware. Manual data entry is a manual process, generating end-user reports is mainly a function of reporting tools, and hardware maintenance pertains to physical IT infrastructure management, none of which align with the integration and data quality focus of middleware solutions.