Application Integration includes a broad array of business integration scenarios and technologies that might be used to connect disparate applications both inside and outside the firewall. Business applications requiring application integration include those that automate transactions across multiple applications, integrate legacy applications and data with new Web applications and portals, provide integrated access to disparate information through enterprise portals, integrate the supply chain, or provide information to mobile devices.

While each type of application integration solution requires the same basic technology, such as messaging, data translation, transformation, and routing, each business scenario also has unique requirements. The optimal solution will most often depend on implementing not one integration technology, but the right set of technologies, and getting them all to work together seamlessly. Large organizations will have a variety of business requirements. In order to minimize maintenance costs while maximizing reuse and agility, organizations will need to deploy integration technology strategically. Developing an application integration architecture enables an organization to plan strategically and implement tactically.

The ebizQ webinar Developing an Application Integration Architecture discusses its namesake in-depth. The presentation is part of ebizQ's Mapping Out the Right Integration Solution series, which goes into detail on different aspects of ebizQ’s Roadmap to Integration Technology. The map is designed to help companies struggling to understand how to deploy the plethora of integration technologies now available. What’s more, all components of the map are clickable, leading ebizQ.net visitors to the vendors offering those products or services.

Understanding Application Integration Services

There are a few key application integration services that are generally a part of most integration solutions. These services include messaging, translation and transformation, routing, and application interfaces or adapters.

Asynchronous messaging is the backbone of almost all integration solutions. Companies will want to consider whether publish and subscribe messaging, which pushes information out when it becomes available, is more desirable than always pulling information. When seeking to implement real-time solutions, publish and subscribe will be far more efficient.