Integration cost savings
Integration tomorrow
In response to some of the issues outlined above, a "hybrid" integration approach has
recently been developed. This hybrid approach involves the implementation of a uniform
environment within which to conduct data integration. The diagram below shows a high level
representation of this approach.
This approach provides a single integration environment that is used throughout the
corporation, but each system retains and maintains the data that it needs for its operations.
While this approach may lead to data duplication, it resolves the issues of cross-system
data integrity. Rather than having to develop an enterprise-wide data model, users only
need to identifi the information that is required from other systems. Applications that
own data needed by other systems become publishers of the data, while systems that need
the data are considered subscribers. A system can be both a publisher and a subscriber of
data.
This integration environment generally provides a uniform development environment
within which to develop adapters for each system that will publish or subscribe to data.
These adapters are the interfaces to the integration environment; they generally transform
the published data into the common exchange format, as well as transforming subscribed
data from the common format into the format required by the target system. In most
implementations of this concept, functionality exists within the integration environment
to queue the data, to verify the integrity of the data as it is being published or subscribed,
and to pass triggers that allow process-to-process integration without having to write
custom interfaces between systems.
Benefits and savings
The main benefit of this "hybrid" approach is that there is a uniform integration
environment used throughout the corporation. This uniformity allows the implementation
and maintenance of a defined set of standards. Corporations only need to invest in
developing and maintaining a single skill set for the integration of their systems. This
standardization will result in lower development and implementation costs, lower
maintenance costs, and a reduction of the number of personnel dedicated to systems
integration, as well as the ability to replace lost personnel with someone from the market
who already has the required skills.
As these integration environments mature, more and more "off the shelf' adapters will be
available for commercially available applications. This will result in even greater cost
savings to corporations while providing for the capability of quickly incorporating a new
or updated system into the corporate IT architecture. Using a commercially available
integration environment and adapters will save a corporation a significant amount of
development costs as there will be no need to create custom interfaces. Additionally, the
environment and adapter vendors will be providing upgrades for their products, thus
saving companies even more money by reducing maintenance costs.
Implementing this uniform integration environment also requires fewer upgrades to the
physical computing infrastructure. Existing systems will continue to provide the storage
capacity for its data. There is no need to create a multi-terabyte data warehouse. This
environment only requires the addition of enough storage capacity to hold the data
temporarily as it moves from one system to another. It does not dramatically increase
network traffic, because systems do not have to go to a warehouse for their own data. The
only additional traffic is created by the movement of data among systems over the "bus,"
and most of this traffic would have been present using traditional system-to-system
integration. Minimizing the requirements for new hardware or hardware upgrades when
implementing an integration strategy will provide the organization with significant cost
savings.
As mentioned earlier, a majority of integration projects are focused on the transfer of data
from one system to another as required by the defined business processes. The "hybrid'
integration strategy allows users to define their business processes without worrying
about the mechanism that will move the data between the processes. In fact, some
integration packages on the market today allow users to model their businesses with a
focus on the processes they need to implement, and the application handles the mechanics
of moving the data. The result is a significant cost savings as companies can focus on
running their businesses (and responding to the ever-changing business environment)
without being constrained by their IT integration environment.
Conclusion
There is not one universal IT system available to companies that meets all organizations'
needs. Multiple systems within an organization have dictated the need for systems
integration-and will continue to do so. Timely data access is vital to survival in today's
business environment. The implementation of a uniform integration environment allows
organizations to respond to the rapidly changing data needs of their systems while
providing a significant level of benefits and cost savings. This is especially true today
where mergers and acquisitions are commonplace occurrences and the "new" company
must quickly bring many diverse systems together to act as one corporation.
