From the moment that the second computer program went into production, users couldn't comprehend why it didn't automatically integrate fully with the first. And from the moment that data was first automated, users were frustrated by their inability to easily access it.
So, from the dawn of the computer age, integrated automation has been the Holy Grail of computing. And like the Holy Grail, achieving full integrated automation remains elusive, despite huge investments in a wide array of technologies that promise integration--from database technologies to single-vendor application suites and, more recently, to EAI suites, all designed to address the integration challenge.
The integration challenge is fundamentally twofold--involving two distinct but related classes of legacy assets:
- Business process assets (programs and documentation)
- Information assets (databases and files)
A complete enterprise integration strategy must encompass both of these critically important asset classes.
Integration: The #1 Priority of the Internet Age
Each of the integration waves has brought benefits but not the complete solutions that business requires. For decades, manual "work-around" processes have filled the gaps.
Why is it suddenly so much more important that we implement automated solutions to replace these manual solutions? The answer is clear: the Internet.
Manual work-around processes may work internally, but they cannot address the diverse, often external user needs typical of Internet-based environments. The result is an explosive demand for immediate, broad-scale integration solutions.
While the Internet provides many values, the clear benefit for business is the establishment of a widely used global standard for connecting with customers, suppliers and partners. Through streamlined, high-value connections with customers, partners and suppliers, businesses can slash costs while increasing value, achieving the alchemist dream of modern business: do more for less.
But all of this assumes that IT can bring together the many stovepipe systems and/or the data that they manage behind an easy-to-use, browser-accessible interface.
The Integration Challenge
Reuse of current business processes is critical to initiatives focused on the improved automation of internal workflow as well as interactions with suppliers, partners and distributors. Reusing the existing application packages is reasonable because the focus is on improving the delivery mechanism or extending the system-level interfaces of the current processes.
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