System integration using Websphere MQ
Carolyn Bakke
Senior Industry Consultant
Intergraph
Dan Givens
Senior Technical Manager
Intergraph
241 Disk Drive
Madison, AL 35758
Abstract
Although there has been much talk about the concept of EAI, a single dominant EAI
framework has not emerged in the industry. This paper will point out the trends and
benefits associated with EAI strategies and then focus on one aspect of EAI – message
brokering. A case study will be presented a utility using MQSeries middleware to
manage interfaces between their geospatially enabled workforce management systems
and other enterprise systems.
Introduction
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is critical to the utility as a way to join together
islands of data and fully leverage separate IT systems. Data and/or analysis from
multiple systems are required for most end users. Although most industry experts agree
that a single user interface accessing data and processes from enterprise systems is
better than a user having to run multiple applications to perform a job function,
a single EAI framework for integrating these systems has not emerged in the industry,
nor have there been many successful utility implementations using this integration
strategy.
In our opinion, there should be two main goals of EAI:
- Integration of enterprise systems and data should provide end users a more
streamlined workflow for performing their job, using data from multiple systems in
a single application GUI.
- Consistent interface standards, common information models, and messaging
middleware should be considered when choosing the EAI framework.
This paper will discuss these two goals of EAI and give examples of how Knoxville
Utilities Board has integrated their geospatially enabled Outage and Workforce
Management Systems with other enterprise systems, such as Customer Information.
