Interface/Integration Engine Technology
One of the enterprise information technology challenges of the last decade has been the integration of functionally related but technically dissimilar systems to provide better access to information or a better platform for the analysis of information. Integration is conceptually straightforward, but the work of integration raises numerous technical, operational, and organizational questions that yield to careful (though not necessarily painfully detailed) analysis.
Standards for integration have been slow to evolve. Vendors have been quick to adopt those standards that simplify design, development, deployment, and maintenance of their own applications, but they have been much more hesitant to embrace open techniques and technologies that might erode their proprietary interests. As long as more than one vendor provides solutions tailored to specific application areas, the need to achieve some level of integration will persist. Even in futuristic scenarios where standards allow near plug-and-play interoperation, the need for enabling technologies will continue for some time. The discussion of interface/integration technology here is intended to describe the technology in general terms and highlight various specific and relevant attributes.
| Interface/Integration Overview and Tutorial | |
| Technology and Integration Background |