System Integration 2.0?

Allot has been said this past year on the topic Web 2.0 (and already even 3.0) and its impact on our social interaction and of course also our ways of working. Enterprise 2.0 is a beautiful term used to describe all new relevant business methodologies in this new ‘era’. An interesting list of Enterprise 2.0 tools can be found on the Dutch website on digital trends Frankiswatching.com. However, what will this all mean when it comes to System Integration?

Things are of course developing at lightning speeds. For instance on the topic of Web 2.0 techniques you would now tend to think to use AJAX to build very interactive web applications which are much more responsive to the user. This is done by exchanging small amounts of data with the web server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user requests a change. But while wide adoption of AJAX has only yet begun, there is already a successor in the from of “streaming AJAX” or “Comet”. This very interesting programming technique enables web servers to send data to the client without having any need for the client to request it (easy to read Dutch article on Comet). Very useful to really push information into a browser, so think along the lines of dynamic dashboards, event-driven web applications, alerting, etc.

Using Comet technology, real-time information of the available stock positions can for instance be pushed when updated from a Warehouse Management System right into a browser, feeding a well-organized dashboard with current live data. Operational Business Intelligence in its full glory! Or Business Intelligence 2.0 if you will.

System Integration 2.0 could then on the other hand well become a browser based platform to access all structured data from enterprise applications as well as unstructured data from file systems, emails, etc. Using a powerful search engine that understands the semantics and context of your data inside your business applications, you will be able to quickly find all relevant information using your own company information portal. Because of the semantics, information from an order will directly be linked to the relevant customer. Also the order itself will contain order lines, which in their turn are linked to an item, etc. The underlying semantic model therefore creates true system-independent intelligence which crosses any and all system boundaries where needed.

It will also become technically much more easy to integrate the underlying applications and databases. SOAP protocols and Web Services already provide many possibilities to create quick mashups (some Dutch examples, based on Google Maps). A mashup is defined by Wikipedia as a website or application that combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience. Just the thing we aim for as a system integrator.

Employees will also be more enabled to change the way data is displayed and manipulate and use this information. Using Wikis to truly collaborate in the creation of relevant reports, content, etc. Integrated blog functionality will enable quick, traceable and interactive commenting, including the tagging of data. So no longer Post-Its and unreadable handwriting, like currently on those reports with non-actual data being sent around for review. However joint action lists like 37signals' Basecamp implemented and the possibility to easily subscribe to alerts via email, RSS and SMS on objects in the underlying back-office systems.

Ohh and before I forget... All the above of course using the most beautiful Service Oriented Architecture you can imagine! ;-) Now doesn't that sounds like something which could be called System Integration 2.0?