Application Integration – The Basics

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is the fusion of different IT systems used in a company in a way that they constitute a coherent set of business processes. This means that applications using each other’s data can automate various business processes that were previously scattered throughout the organization.

  • The integration solution is divided into three layers: Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), Process Orchestrator (responsible for managing the processes), and Core Components (i.e. component applications).
  • Applications to exchange data use of the ESB and never communicate directly with the Process Orchestrator.
  • Data are stored in the Canonical Data Model (CDM), which contain all the information describing the unit in business.
  • User requirements are translated into Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and Web Services (WS).

There are different tools that can be used to carry out integration projects. One of the best is Microsoft BizTalk Server.