INTRODUCTION

This document aims to compare the two widely used Integration Technologies, EAI and ETL.

Although both ETL and EAI technologies seem surprisingly similar from an architectural view - where so-called adapters (or connectors) provide access to systems and data sources transformations take place to standardize proprietary formats, or routing capabilities are used to move packets of data - ETL and EAI serve fundamentally different purposes from an information management perspective.

ETL is typically used to move bulk data from application systems to data warehouses or data marts (all in a highly scheduled environment to avoid generating bottlenecks from high-volume transactions) while EAI is the technology of choice to connect systems for business process management and workflow.

EAI AND ETL DEFINITIONS

EAI: Acronym for Enterprise Application Integration, EAI involves integration of incompatible business applications within and beyond enterprise to allow them to talk to each other seamlessly and to share data in real time.

EAI is usually deployed to allow real-time system users to access the data and functionality in legacy systems in a way that ensures consistency of access and update regardless of the data source. For example EAI (like Vitria, SAP XI) would be used to propagate single logical operation, such as a preferred address change to the many systems that hold preferred addresses for the customer in question.

Put simply, EAI exist to allow client applications to operate on data from across the business without regard to its location, encapsulating technology or format.

ETL: Extraction, Transformation and Loading (ETL) are three database functions that are combined into one tool (like Informatica) to pull data out of source databases and place it into target databases. ETL is used to migrate data from databases to others, to form data marts and data warehouses and also to convert databases from one format or type to another.

ETL is used within the business domain of management reporting for the process of collating business data from many sources and loading it into a form from which ad hoc queries and reports can be generated.

Put simply, ETL exist to allow client applications to query data from across the business without regard to its location, encapsulating technology or format.

COMPARING ETL AND EAI