In this paper, we explore Systems Integration.

Systems Integration (or SI) is a rather obscure cluster of disciplines, there is no actual standard for SI, only an legions of backroom nerds and a whole lot of jargon that sounds like excuses.

With Unix, the Internet and the C family of languages dating back to 1969 and Windows and the web-as-we-know-it old enough for a driver's license, the industry is growing older.

The industry's competitive nature breeds diversity faster than normalization occurs.
With low to zero cost software, the super-elitist open source movement fuels diversity at an even faster rate; and the technical fingerprint of each solution has now become almost unique.
This uncontrolled technical requirements flurry fuels an apparent skills shortage.
While in fact, skills abound, they are simply misused.

Eventually, today's data centers are crowded with computers.
This is a legacy of ten to twenty years of IT being submissive to various fads.
Ten to twenty years ago, none of these problems did exist and this point is a matter of endless debate about the merits of using a mainframe or a distributed IT.

 

In these days of always easier, better, faster, cheaper systems, it may seem hard to believe but IT is much harder to manage today than in the past.

With Unix, the Internet and the C family of languages dating back to 1969 and Windows and the web-as-we-know-it old enough for a driver's license, the industry is growing older.

The industry's competitive nature breeds diversity faster than normalization occurs.
With low to zero cost software, the super-elitist open source movement fuels diversity at an even faster rate; and the technical fingerprint of each solution has now become almost unique.
This uncontrolled technical requirements flurry fuels an apparent skills shortage.
While in fact, skills abound, they are simply misused.

Eventually, today's data centers are crowded with computers.
This is a legacy of ten to twenty years of IT being submissive to various fads.
Ten to twenty years ago, none of these problems did exist and this point is a matter of endless debate about the merits of using a mainframe or a distributed IT

Fortunately IT only has two main risk streams.
• Technological Risk Stream
  Disparate Systems require manual procedures with their cortege of costs, delays and errors.
  Automation reduces labor and business costs associated to error handling and rework.
• Human Resources Risk Stream.
  Who is going to look after the new system once its author is gone?
  Using a standard based architecture allows you to employ easier to find staff.

Two sister-jobs help in this risk containment process.
• Architecture aims at avoiding technical risks.
  It is the discipline of controlling non-functional requirements and nurture technical cohesion.
  Architecture is strategic, as it paves the organization's way for projects execution.
  Once a standards-based Architecture is laid out, skill shortage becomes less of an issue.
  In fact, IT operations can then be automated, further reducing HR needs.
• Integration (aka EAI), aims at bringing cohesion where it does not exist.
  It is the discipline of dealing with lack of technical cohesion.
  In a nutshell, EAI works by defining technical work flows,following an input-transformation=output logic. Using standards-based EAI, skill shortage is contained.

Both jobs require a vast theoric and hands-on IT knowledge. Building a standard-based architecture is not an easy task as legacy must be looked after for the business to keep on running.
This is the dilemma Compomentis tries to address by packing legacy-to-standard knowledge in a handful of exclusively standard based tools, therefore allowing architects to design-out legacy.

There are many ways to go about it.
• Using "That guy" you know.
  "That guy" can knock in a few hours what a team cannot crack in a month.
  If you are an SME, this person is your lifeline and will cost anything between 400 and 1,000 $ every once in a while. You usually don't know what you get, but it works for the business.
• People and ambient tools
  Many Database management systems come with data acquisition and transformation tools.
  So do many web application servers and development frameworks such as .net and java.
  To an extent, even Microsoft Office can be of great help.
  This method will cost you what your staff costs you when they do it, which can vary greatly depending on salary scales, staff efficiency and training levels, so it is difficult to assess.
• Using an Architect.
  A full time architect or integrator will set you back about 120k$ a year.
  Integration lends itself to pay-per-call, envisage from 800$ to 1,500$ from time to time.
  Architecture is preferably a full time job and the Architect needs executive backing to ensure the company's voice and line is heard in the friendly-chaos surrounding project works.
  An architect will be able to create and refine development, setup and maintenance standards; all leading to measurable improvements, this logic perpetuates itself as long as the architect generates more productivity gains than he costs, then sustains these gains.
• Specialist Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) Tools
  If you employ an architect and/or integrator, you may want to acquire specialist EAI tools.
  Their principle is based on the same good old input-transformation-output logic.
  They all have a core engine to run work flows and sometimes a graphical tool to define them.
  This is it really...and suppliers sell you optional connectors to input and output data to/from your systems as well as custom made transformations and training.
  This is a whole catalog! Be sure you know where you step in!
  Experience shows that architects, integrators and operators then spend the same amount of time configuring and adapting the EAI tool than they would writing ad-hoc interfaces.
  Thus, getting a return on investment on such tools is very hard to prove.
  Your best bet is to enter a fixed price contract with the supplier including the systems operations.
  
• EAI through a trading hub.
  Some EAI tools suppliers set up trading hubs.
  These hubs can be efficiently used as EAI platforms. Rather than exchanging messages with Business Partners you can simply be your own partner and exchange data this way. As they operate on a per transaction basis, costs are predictable if you do the maths.
  A side benefit is that trading hubs are usually sectorial, so being a member opens the door to serious eBusiness.
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) web services with SOAP
  SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol.
  SOAP aims at allowing developers to program using Object Oriented Programming Concepts over the web using XML messages.
  
• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) web services with SHEEP.
  SHEEP stands for Simple Http Element Exchange Project.
  SHEEP aims at allowing users to consume services using HTML Forms

Back in the 60's, everything-IT used to be really expensive. Much more than today.
So, organizations, both public and private, reacted by:

Creating and sponsoring public standards.
• Standard operating systems, ATT, Sun and Berkeley University being champions of Unix.
  Today, Unix is about forty years old and has gently evolved, while remaining true to its core principles. It has also spawned a number of really good offsprings such as Linux, Solaris and Mac OSX.
• Standard networking technologies The US DoD and the CERN are the champions.
  Ethernet, Internet, the world wide web...All this is the result of their leadership.
  The same logic of gentle evolution has allowed the phenomenal rise of the internet over the last twenty years.
  
• Standard networks usage EANNet, UCCNet, GS1, the United Nations, Swift...
  These are the great names of Electronic Data Interchange, but there are also many more sectorial networks, all aiming to standardize the type of messages being exchanged in eCommerce.
  These technologies also are twenty to thirty years old and as vibrant as ever.

Adopting a suppliers consolidation strategy.
• Elected hardware platform, IBM was instrumental in this process,
  by developing a consistent range of long lasting computer architectures.
  Today, most mainframes and virtually all personal computers descend from this body of work.
  Intel and AMD have successfully ridden this wave and supplied processors for personal computers and departmental servers for more than two decades.
  
• Elected their operating systems, Microsoft, IBM, Sun and Linus Thorwalds They all are to thank for Windows, OS/400, VSE, Solaris and Linux.
  The later two have the particularity of being free of charge (you may pay for the shipping of the DVD...)
  
• Electing their utility software, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and Sun are leaders in this arena.
  From 'Productivity tools' to database management systems, the big four have a solution for virtually every technical problem.
  Sun spearheads the multi-environment world with its java virtual machine