Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest technology news and information.

QuickStudy: Enterprise Information Integration (EII)

By Russell Kay

September 19, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld -

Listen to the Computerworld TechCast: Enterprise Information Integration

The lifeblood of the modern enterprise is information. This isn't news. But as organizations collect more and more information from different sources and applications, it's increasingly difficult to deal with that information.

We know how to work with databases, data marts and data warehouses, because information in those places is carefully structured and massaged. (Read the Data Warehousing QuickStudy>.) But businesses also need to work with a wealth of unstructured information from sources such as document libraries, spreadsheets, e-mail and instant messaging archives, electronic forms and records, publicly available Web pages and commercial information services.

More
Computerworld
QuickStudies

Two elements are key to this discussion. First is the unstructured nature of content: Organizations have to handle streams of what might seem to be random text instead of the carefully delineated and validated fields that we're used to in "normally" managed data.

The second consideration is that companies are getting this information from multiple sources, both inside and outside the enterprise. Each data source has its own organization and format, and most were designed for a single, stand-alone purpose, not to be part of an integrated data collection. Thus, these repositories tend to be silos, independent of one another, and don't easily work well together.

We rely on a growing number of these data sources, and we need to be able to use new ones as they appear without having to rewrite our applications and tools.

The simple-minded answer to this problem is to aggregate all the data into a single, universal database or data warehouse. Unfortunately, creating such a central repository is a slow and expensive process. Maintaining and updating that repository is a job that could give any IT manager nightmares. And we haven't even addressed the issues of scalability and who owns the information. Clearly, a better, more efficient strategy is called for.

What's in a Name?

EII is the buzzword du jour, but the same idea has been around under a variety of other names, including virtual database, virtual data broker, federated query systems, federated data management and enterprise content integration. Indeed, it's possible to create a variety of alternate names that could be used in place of EII by simply picking one or two terms from each of the columns below and combining them - try it yourself. (How do you feel about contextual enterprise knowledge model convergence architecture?)
---A--- Virtual Integrated Enterprise Federated Combined Contextual Ad hoc Distributed Structured Aggregated		---B--- Information Data Knowledge Wisdom Query Content Schema Resource Model		---C--- Integration Infrastructure Base Broker Systems Management Convergence Architecture Solution Federation

Comment Recommend Digg Twitter ShareThis

Email Print Send Feedback Reprints

Jump to comments

data warehouse

Additional Resources

Xerox

Win a color printer!

By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!

Microsoft

Upgrade to Internet Explorer 8 today.

Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.

Sybase

NEXT-GENERATION MOBILITY PLATFORMS

In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

What People Are Saying

1 comments | Add new

See all comments (1) | Add new

White Papers & Webcasts

Informatica 9 Launch: Transform your Business. Transform your world.

LIVE Nov 10, 2009 12:00 PM ET

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution

LIVE Nov 12, 2009 02:00 PM ET

IDC Research Report: The Business Value of Consolidating on Energy-Efficient Servers
Download this Resource Now!

Top to Bottom Performance Management Excellence at the City of Chicago
View now.

HP Technology Guide for Scalable Business Solutions
Download This Resource Now!

Architecting Business Intelligence Applications for Change: The Open Solution
Register for this webcast today!

Clipper Group Report: HP Provides Enhanced Options for Data Center
Download this Resource Now!

Enterprise Data Governance: Bridging the Business-IT Gap
Register for this live webcast today!

Technology Brief: Technologies in HP ProLiant G6 c-Class server blades with Intel Xeon processors
Download this Resource Now!

Informatica 9 Launch: Transform your Business. Transform your world.
Business and IT will finally be on the same page. Data quality issues will be a thing of the past. The promise of...

Introducing the HP ProLiant G6 servers
Download this Resource Now!

Lower IT Costs with Oracle Database 11g Release 2
Register for this webcast now!

All White Papers | All Webcasts