Assessing an Interface Engine
General Criteria for Assessing/Selecting an Interface Engine
Deciding on the purchase of
interface/integration engine software normally follows a process similar to
purchasing other key applications in an enterprise environment. Because
these are technical products largely invisible to end-users, the organizational
issues related to selection are more limited, generally to the information
systems department and key technical contacts for applications involved. The decision-making cycle can therefore be shortened somewhat. In some
cases, organizational affiliations can narrow the selection down to just a few
vendors or even one preferred alternative further limiting the amount of time
spent analyzing details. While no replacement for a request for
proposal, the following criteria may be useful in differentiating among products
for a particular application. In each category, a short list of relevant
functions is included:
| Configuration |
- Intuitive (preferably
graphical) configuration tools
- Straightforward
message configuration based on wizards or templates
- Support for version
management of various message configurations
- Message validation and
troubleshooting tools
- Large suite of default
message types
- Flexible and
comprehensive data manipulation functions available on a per-field
basis
- Support for
call-outs—custom, user-defined logic executed based on certain
message conditions
- Message routing based
on user-defined conditions including database lookups within the
engine or in other systems
|
| Administration |
- Intuitive (preferably
graphical) administration tools
- Queue
monitoring/management
- Communication fault
monitoring/management
- Simple
start/stop/recover operations
|
| Technology |
- Guaranteed message
delivery
- Support for standard
communication protocols (TCP/IP)
- Support for numerous
communication link types—Ethernet, token-ring, serial, SNA
- Ability to accommodate
systems without standard interfaces
- Native support for HL7
- Open
architecture—based on commonly accepted technologies (UNIX, NT)—and
able to offer some choice of hardware platform
- Flexible and open
database connectivity options
- Support for
high-availability
|
| Support |
- Formal training
available at regular convenient intervals
- Help desk support for
day-to-day operations
- 7x24 support options
for enterprise operations
- Professional services
available to speed time to production or solve particularly complex
problems
|
| Extras |
- Availability of useful
ancillary functions—master patient index, eligibility manager,
security
- Object-orient
extensions or capabilities with support for composite applications
|
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