Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
A high-level blueprint of a standard application template for a company
can reduce that complexity. In response to this need, the design characteris-
tics, limitations, interfaces, and rules of developing enterprise applications
have been documented. This high-level description, the blueprint, of how
an application should be developed to satisfy the business goals is known
as Enterprise Application Architecture. This architecture defines an orga-
nizing structure for software application elements and the resources, their
relationships and roles in an organization. Enterprise applications are usu-
ally developed independent of each other, and each of these applications
manages their own data in their specific database system. This leads to data
heterogeneity and inefficiency because the same data elements are stored
multiple times in different databases. This creates the problem of managing
the same logical data object stored in multiple data stores. Differences in
data structures as well as in semantics are also possible. One of the chal-
lenges facing enterprises today is the task of integrating all these applica-
tions within the organization, even though they may use different operating
systems and employ a variety of database solutions. Simplistic approaches
soon become unmanageable as the number of applications to be integrated
increases. Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) has the task of making
independently developed applications that may also be geographically dis-
persed and may run on multiple platforms to work together in unison with
the goal of enabling unrestricted sharing of data and business processes.
In order to accomplish this goal, middleware vendors provide solu-
tions to transform, transport, and route the data among various enter-
prise applications. EAI faces significantly more management challenges
than technical challenges, and its implementation is time consuming
and needs substantial resources, particularly in upfront design. Among
the software applications for managing company assets and resources,
the most commonly used are Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Supply Chain Management
(SCM), Business Intelligence Applications, and Human Resource (HR)
Applications. ERP is, probably, the most general class of enterprise soft-
ware that attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a
company. ERP incorporates many different families of more specific enter-
prise applications. CRM solutions focus on strategies, processes, people,
and technologies used by companies to successfully attract and retain cus-
tomers for maximizing profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction.
Enterprise Content Management solutions provide technologies, tools,
and methods used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content
(document, voice and video recordings, etc.) related to organizational pro-
cesses across an enterprise. SCM solutions focus on the process of plan-
ning, implementing, and controlling the operations of the supply chain,
which includes the flow of materials, information, and finances as they
move in a process from supplier to manufacturer, to wholesaler, to retailer,
Search WWH ::
Custom Search