This presentation is part of the Services and Connectors Self-Study Course.

Transcript

Historically, application integration has been achieved by using proprietary Application Program Interfaces (APIs) which causes software to become brittle.  Why?  Because your software code is likely to contain coding that is very specific to the API. 

For example, let's say you have developed a front end for a benefits enrollment application.  It communicates with an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solution as the system of record.  Your front end will have code strewn throughout that specifically references the proprietary API.

What if the API signature in your ERP solution changes?  What if you want to dump your current ERP vendor and go with another?  You are forced to rewrite your front-end solution.  And with a proprietary integration solution, the non-integration code is likely to be geared toward the integration solution. Tight coupling reduces the ability for your software to be used in other contexts reducing business agility.  This is often referred to as a point-to-point integration solution since the two pieces of software integrate directly with one another.