Buzzword: “EAI”

Although Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is not usually considered part of the business intelligence, data management sandbox that I play in, it is useful to discuss how it fits into the overall data integration and data delivery picture.  EAI technologies are used to keep systems in sync, and to provide a virtual layer on top of multiple underlying systems to present a consolidated view of data to a end user. 

There are two primary architectures: hub-and-spoke, and point-to-point.  In a hub-and-spoke model, all systems are connected to a central “routing” point, and all transactions and inquiries flow through that central router to the required system(s).  The point-to-point model employs a directory that allows for systems to talk directly to one another.  Both have their advantages and disadvantages.  Hub-and-spoke reduces the number of interfaces for a given system, but transaction latency can suffer if the central “router” becomes overloaded.  Point-to-point provides the fastest response times, but the number of interfaces can become unmanageable for a large number of systems.

Now let’s tie this all back to the business intelligence world.  We’ve discussed Virtual Data Integration before, and if you break VDI down it’s basically an EAI technology.  The focus is on providing a consolidated view of two or more underlying systems, and it accomplishes this by building interfaces into these systems.   Sounds like EAI to me.

This entry was posted on 13. June 2008 at 18:35 and is filed under Industry Buzzwords, Technical Focus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.