Elegant, Easy to Read, Good Primer for Managers | Enterprise Integration: The Essential Guide to...

Great book on a timely topic! | Enterprise Integration: The Essential Guide to Integration Solutions | Beth Gold-Bernstein, William Ruh

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	• Enterprise Integration: The Essential Guide to Integration Solutions Beth Gold-Bernstein, William Ruh Addison-Wesley Professional, 2004 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Essential templates to integration

The statement on the last page, "This book is not intended to be a full blown integration methodology", holds true. This book is essentially a walkthrough of the provided document templates (see Appendix and the included CD) and provides only limited information about how to use or implement an integration methodology. In fact, the templates are the main reason to buy the book, but don't expect to read about a tried and tested integration methodology or (unfortunately) how to develop an enterprise integration architecture.

The authors do include a fair number of 'lessons learned', but they are scattered across a very repetitive book, so don't assume you can easily find them again. I found the authors' choice of 'important lessons' odd at times. For example, section 8.3 makes some key points about metadata for integration architecture, but the points only feature in the standard text whereas a description about XML is highlighted in a framed box. That really seemed like a waste of two pages.

The second key part of the book is the "Integration Road Map" first introduced on page 11. The road map (not to be confused with a methodology!) is meant as a "step-by-step" guide to implement a reference framework based on the provided templates. Incidentally, it also serves as a reading guide to the book.

The problem with the road map is that it fails to explain how the individual activities (read: templates) hands together, i.e., they lack an obvious way to link the templates together into a coherent architecture description. This is why the book falls somewhat short of the stated goal of demonstrating how to document a reference integration architecture. 'Disjointed' is the word I was looking for.

The authors' have focused on what the templates should describe rather than how the templates describe a certain view or aspect of the enterprise integration to ensure a consistent end-to-end architecture. "Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond" is a good reference on how to do this.

Oh, and before I finish. The book's constant reference to importance of building "re-useable" components is not a bad thing, but just remember that good re-useable software components only come from the knowledge of what and how people will re-use them - guessing will almost certainly only lead to wasted development effort and undermine the business' confidence in the IT department or vendor.

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Elegant, Easy to Read, Good Primer for Managers

If you are a manager to whom information technologists report, or a manager that employs technical advisors who in turn help oversee varied IT procurements and implementations, then this book is an ideal primer. It can also be scary, because I will wager than in 7 out of 10 cases, the technical experts are not pursuing the enterprise integration fundamentals that this book outlines.

Both authors are strong in their own right. The book bring together Bill Ruh, former MITRE, MITRETEK, and Concepts 5 guru, today the global manager for CISCO AONS, who is updating his 2000 book on the topic, with Beth Gold-Bernstein, who has consulted, lectured, and written on this topic, and has her own book titled "Enterprise Integration: A Practical Approach."

I regard the book, and the topic, as a watershed between the old days of configuration management and a focus on data that was largely within internal custody, and today, when real-time data integration and exploitation is required across both all internal points (i.e. including the 85% that is in emails and hard drives) and external points--not just the web, but supplier, buyer, regulatory, and other databases.

I recommend this book for managers in part because the book itself is quite clear on the fact that information technology by itself, no matter how much money is thrown at it, will not achieve enterprise information integration. Management mind-sets, management metrics, management enforcement of standards and compliance with the strategic direction implied by enterprise integration, are all required.

Early in the book there are important references to both scale and speed, with the key difference between the 1990's and today being that instead of humans accessing the data, there now much more machine to machine communication and sharing, and this requires hyper-speed. There is also much more focus on event-driven information actions, with Delta Airlines being cited as a very good case study--the system must be able to take many autonomous actions triggered by an event (e.g. an airplane more than 15 minutes late, with repercussions across gate management, luggage management, connections management, catering management, etc.). Zero latency, real-time enterprise, and event-driven information transactions are among the buzz words.

The case study of CISCO on page 6 grabbed me early on--my primary focus is on the Global War on Terror (GWOT), and reading about CISCO's move to real-time metrics (this book is *very* strong on metrics, which I take to be a very good thing) and real-time decision making and course corrections, I was thinking to myself that CISCO is to information as special operations are to terror. So when CISCO doubled productivity, cut costs by 30%, and made daily reporting the norm, I say to myself: okay, now let's see that in GWOT....this book is Ref A in answering that challenge. Another case study, on FedEx using hand-held devices as both points of data entry in the field, and end points for data value to the field, also struck me as relevant to GWOT.

Throughout the book, one of its own phrases: "people are the most expensive part of any system," keeps resonating, because everything in here is about either increasing productivity or reducing the time-cost of information transactions. This book also has a very healthy focus on information sharing across all boundaries, with appropriate security, privacy, and legal attributes for each transaction.

Standards receive heavy emphasis throughout.

The book is slightly dated on the topic of automated metastandards and semantic data definitions, but I know the authors to be personally very engaged in the very latest developments surrounding semantic web and synthetic information architectures and other related automated assignments of meaning, so I take this to be primarily an issue of timing--the book had to be put to bed.

The chapters on Information Integration Architecture and on Information Integration, the ones I was most looking forward to reading, strike me as the least developed among the many excellent parts of this book. In part this is because Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is just coming of age, and truly scalable solutions to the challenge of managing global multi-media multi-lingual unstructured information data (Cf. InfoSphere AB in Sweden) are just now coming into being. This chapter does provide an important itemization of key organizations responsible for metadata standards, and lays out a framework for establishing "who needs to know what when" as part of the manager's contribution to the over-all enterprise integration planning process. These two chapters excel in pointing out that information management is about ensuring long-term data value, allowing for reachback over time and space.

In its conclusion the book makes reference to turf wars, training, reducing redundancy, reducing reliance on proprietary technologies with lock-in costs, finding a return on assets, and creating a culture of reuse. The last hundred pages of the book, and the CD-ROM, provide templates that any manager could reasonably demand of their technical advisors. I opened these up and found them very useful, to the point of being worth at least a week if not more of man-time, and hence easily repaying the price of the book many times over.

The bibliography is good and the index has been thoughtfully developed. I recommend this book to anyone who deals with global information in any form, but especially to managers who might be wondering if their IT people have any clue as to where they are taking the enterprise and its information. This book also strikes me a superb textbook, both for undergraduates as a primer, and for graduates as a foundation for a more nuanced discussion. For myself, it was "just enough, just in time" information, exactly what I wanted and needed in my specific context.

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Great book on a timely topic!

Nothing is hotter in IT right now than integration. The authors have done a great job in not only explaining the term "enterprise integration," but arguing that it's as much a business concept as it is a technological one. The short case-study examples propel the text forward and give it a real-world credibility. The authors have obviously walked the integration walk, and their book is an effective testimonial to their experience.

Jill Dyche
Author of The CRM Handbook and eData

?The book?s use of real-world case study vignettes really does go to the heart of the subject matter. This stuff is real, it has real applicability to real problems, and, as with most things in life, it shows how it all comes down to real money in the final analysis. This book shows you what your peers are doing to drive costs out of integration projects and to build new applications without re-inventing the entire wheel?just a few new spokes and off you go. This is a good book. Read it.?

?Peter Rhys Jenkins, Complex Systems Architect, Candle Corporation

?When you get two long-term, acknowledged experts on integration and interoperability together to lay out the current state of the IT universe you expect an immediate return on investment?and this book delivers. It?s common knowledge that 90% of total software lifecycle cost is in maintenance and integration, and that needs to drive IT decision-making. With comprehensive coverage of the integration technology landscape, and clear case studies presented at every turn, this book belongs on every IT manager?s, every system architect?s, and every software developer?s bookshelf.?

?Richard Mark Soley, chairman and CEO, Object Management Group

?Today?s myriad of integration technologies and alternatives can be daunting. This book presents a framework and process for the evaluation, design, and selection of the appropriate integration technologies to meet your strategic business needs. You will find the templates a particularly useful mechanism to jump-start documentation and drive your decision-making process.?

?Ron Zahavi, CIO, Global Business Transformation, Unisys Global Transformation Team; author of Enterprise Application Integration with CORBA

?It is refreshing to read a book that presents a good business approach to the integration challenge facing most business leaders today, while at the same time educating them about the major components of the required technologies and management practices changes required. The narrative, examples, and templates establish a common reference point between the business and the technology organizations. A must-read for senior business leaders challenged with the complexities of business integration, as well as Senior IT Leaders challenged with shrinking budgets and lower tolerances for failures.?

?Chuck Papageorgiou, managing partner, Ideasphere

?Integration has, and will continue to be, one of the success indicators of any enterprise project. Failing to understand the nuances of integration is a critical mistake managers cannot afford to make.?

?Marcia Robinson, author of Services Blueprint: Roadmap for Execution

?A much-needed book; it ties together the business and technology aspects of information system implementation, emphasizing best practices for really getting things done. I believe that both the technical and business communities will benefit from the in-depth material provided in this book.?

?Dr. Barry Horowitz, professor of systems and information engineering, University of Virginia (former CEO, Mitre Corporation)

Integration of applications, information, and business process has become today?s #1 IT investment priority. Most enterprise integration books simply explain the technology. This one shows exactly how to apply it. It?s a step-by-step roadmap for your entire project?from the earliest exploratory stages through analysis, design, architecture, and implementation.

Renowned enterprise integration experts Beth Gold-Bernstein and William Ruh present best practices and case studies that bring their methodology to life. They address every stage from the decision-maker?s and implementer?s point of view?showing how to align business requirements to specific solutions, systematically reduce risk, and maximize ROI throughout the entire lifecycle. Coverage includes:

Supporting strategies, tactics, and business planning: enterprise integration from the business perspective Defining realistic project success indicators and metrics Establishing integration architectures: supporting near-term needs while building reusable infrastructure services for the long-term Adopting metadata architecture and standards Implementing four essential implementation patterns: application, information, composite, and process integration Understanding service integration and implementing service-oriented architectures Providing organizational structure and governance to support effective integration

The authors provide detailed plans and specification templates for application integration projects?both in the book and on the CD-ROM. These projects include identifying business drivers and requirements; establishing strategy; and integrating services, information, process, and applications.

Enterprise Integration was written for every member of the integration team: business and IT leaders, strategists, architects, project managers, and technical staff. Regardless of your role, you?ll discover where you fit, what to do, and how to drive maximum business value from your next integration project.

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