An apparatus, program product and method incorporate an extensible modular communication executive for use integrating one or more electronic devices with one another with reduced customization overhead. A modular architecture is used to facilitate message-based communications in such a manner that queuing strategies, business rules and the like may be accommodated within a message-based environment in a reliable and efficient manner. Through the use of a modular architecture, application-specific software components can be assembled together to readily adapt a generic message-based system for use in a specific application. Moreover, intelligent pre-validation of messages may be implemented in such a modular architecture to permit a business rule-independent messaging infrastructure to be readily adapted to support specific business rule requirements for a particular application.