Working with Information-Oriented Application Integration

The difficulty with IOAI is the large scope of integrating various databases within the enterprise. Your initial goal might be to solve all the integration woes of your enterprise or trading community at the same time by integrating all databases that need to communicate. However, given the complexity of the task, it is often better to move forward in a clear, paced manner. Attempting to accomplish the entire process at once is a massive undertaking and, for most trading communities and enterprises, too much change to accommodate at one time.

You, your enterprise, and your trading community should consider taking "baby steps" toward the goal of IOAI and application integration in general. A smart strategy would be to first integrate two or three databases, allow them to become successful, and then move forward to bigger problem domains. This strategy would ease the burden on the application integration architects, who are shouldering a huge workload, by pushing forward a new concept of application integration. It also eases the burden on users who have to test the systems and work through problems as they become apparent.