Enterprise application integration powers business processes.

It takes a lot of power to fuse two atoms. Atomic nuclei repel one another due to the electrostatic force of their protons. Substantial energy must be used to force the nuclei close enough together that the nuclear force overcomes the electrostatic force. The good news is that the fusion reaction releases more energy than is required to create it. It’s the process that causes the stars to shine.

If you think of an organization’s business applications as atoms, enterprise application integration (EAI) is the energy that fuses them together. EAI enables the nuclei of applications to interact, linking data and functionality throughout the enterprise to generate more powerful business processes.

The key is getting applications written for different computers using different programming languages, databases, etc. to share data seamlessly. When that happens, business processes that span multiple enterprise applications become more efficient, and decision-makers throughout the organization and beyond have access to the information they need. Unfortunately, the power needed for EAI has proven elusive, and many organizations are still searching for solutions that provide true interoperability.

Sustained Reaction

EAI has its roots in the 1990s, when companies bought packaged software solutions that automated specific business tasks — such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions for inventory control, order tracking and the like; and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for managing call centers, sales activity and other customer interactions.

These systems worked well enough individually, but they created silos of automation that produced redundant information and became problematic when common data changed — changes or additions to data in one solution would not necessarily be reflected in the other. Out of this challenge came the search for ways to integrate these disparate systems so that processes that spanned them could be automated, and EAI was born.

EAI is still very relevant today. In fact, business needs and processes are driving application infrastructure decisions more than ever before. Information consumers are demanding that data be made available to them in a business context regardless of structure or distribution across the enterprise.

In Its Element

Today, it’s difficult to talk about EAI without discussing the service-oriented architecture (SOA) concept. An SOA is a way of using open standards to make a company’s business operations more efficient, effective and collaborative. With business processes supported by an SOA foundation, a company can make its previously siloed data and software applications better interoperate across business units, as well as with third parties. This approach leverages existing resources to help improve productivity, quickly react to changing market conditions and seize opportunities.

An SOA breaks down business applications into “services” — specific pieces of functionality — that can be combined and re-used. It enables application functionality to be delivered to any end-user interface or be used to build other services. This modular approach allows businesses to build applications that can provide more flexibility.

The SOA concept is linked to Web services technologies, such as extensible markup language (XML) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), as these open Internet standards provide a near-ubiquitous framework for application integration.
However, IT organizations that have made the investment in SOA infrastructure are significantly outperforming companies that develop only Web services, according to a survey by Aberdeen Group. Performance was measured in application development and maintenance costs, and in overall end-user satisfaction. The survey found that companies that are deploying full SOA applications report a 90 percent improvement in end-user satisfaction, versus 15 percent of those using a mix of SOA and Web services.

Magic Bus

The growth of SOA has spurred the development of a new category of integration products called Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). An ESB is middleware that uses messaging to transport data between “loosely coupled” applications, and it is gaining acceptance because it provides a low-cost way of overcoming many interoperability problems. It is seen as a “lightweight” alternative to the more costly and complex EAI.

ESBs typically use messaging technology combined with a services-oriented architecture, XML, Web services protocols and intelligent routing to tie together disparate systems. Because existing applications, services and other data sources need only to plug into the bus to communicate, an ESB eliminates the usual maze of application interconnections. ESBs can be installed without disrupting existing applications and processes, and since they represent a thinner layer of function, they can be swapped out for another product more easily than a comprehensive EAI application.

Enterprises are not likely to suddenly discard existing EAI implementations. However, analysts say ESBs will be increasingly adopted for new developments because they can be installed without disrupting existing applications.

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