Railroad Gauges and Enterprise Application Integration

Build in Secure Web Services. No matter what type of software you’re creating, it should contain secure Web services for any back end function— authentication, privilege levels, encryption, logging, auditing, etc. Web services and service oriented architectures are becoming increasingly important in today’s enterprise. If you can’t connect to them, your software may not get a second look.

Create True Interoperability. Interoperability is one of those words that crops up a lot in press releases, but its meaning seems to vary depending on who’s using it. True interoperability, however, is really an automatic function rather than a manual one. Two applications should be able to deal with each other natively, rather than after a great deal of gnashing of teeth. If someone has to create a connector manually every time your application needs to interface with another application, your application will quickly become bloatware — it probably won’t work well across the board, and users won’t be able to get the support they need. Make it simple by building in automatic interoperability. Look Beyond the Walls. Interoperability isn’t limited to internal systems. Financial institutions and manufacturers, for example, both need their applications to interface not only internally with each other, but also with suppliers and dealers. Making sure information such as purchase orders can move from one system to another — no matter what that “other” is –— is key to taking advantage of technology. Every time something needs to be re-keyed, it creates an opportunity for error. Keeping data exchange automatic without either side having to change their systems is a huge advantage for all. Allow for Multiple Sources. Most communications applications draw information from a variety of different sources, including LDAP, databases, e-mail, CRM, and HR systems such as SAP and PeopleSoft. Each of these has a protocol, so the more technology-agnostic you can make your application, the better able it will be to serve as a central point to all of them. This is particularly true when information will be integrated into a portal or may be sent to someone else’s portal for aggregation. Becoming the conduit between all of these different applications makes your software that much more valuable.