Application Integration: Clearly the Future

Enter application integration along with an opportunity to finally integrate all of these disparate systems with a minimum impact on the applications and the way an enterprise does business. Application integration provides a clear competitive advantage for most industries, an advantage that includes the ability to do business at light speed, along with the ability to satisfy customer demand in record time (by using automated processes instead of paper, faxes, and humans). We are truly moving forward into a digital economy, where business runs within and between computers, where everything is automated, and where customers expect no less than instantaneous access to information.

What's important in meeting this goal is not just the application of technology to bind applications together, or externalize information to outside parties, but also the way in which you do it. Application integration is of little use if it's not quickly deployed, if it's not correct in operation, and if it's not able to adjust quickly as business needs change. This being the case, the way in which you approach your problem domain, the architecture you employ, and the technology you leverage has everything to do with the value of your application integration project going forward. Remember, application integration, if done right, is the strategic application of technology to provide an enterprise with the infrastructure required to handle most business events electronically, and in real time. In the end, that's what makes all the difference.