Business Integration for Rapid Business and IT Change

by Clive Finkelstein

The business processes in most enterprises have not yet evolved to take advantage of current technologies. This is a business problem, not a technology problem. It requires business decisions and business expertise. These are the basic ingredients of business integration, which is the focus of this Executive Report. Business integration -- achieved through enterprise architecture (EA) -- is a component of enterprise integration and addresses the convergence of data, processes, locations, people, events, and motivation for an enterprise. Enterprise integration includes technology integration and uses technologies such as XML, enterprise application integration (EAI), Web services, service-oriented architectures (SOAs), and enterprise portals. Technology alone, however, is not the answer. To achieve any degree of success in enterprise integration requires that technology integration be used within a coherent, integrated enterprise through business integration. However, we still have a long way to go in most enterprises to realize business integration.