Reviews of Books on EAI and Systems Integration

The Integrated Bookshelf

Four words?application, enterprise, integration and systems?are the building blocks of the titles for a wide array of books about integration, the theme of this year’s CIO-100. Here are six.

Enterprise Application Integration

By William A. Ruh, Francis X. Maginnis and William J. Brown

John Wiley & Sons, 2001, $29.99

Everything you ever wanted to know about enterprise application integration but were afraid to ask. This integration primer provides a complete, practical guide for those who must decide when to apply EAI and then select the appropriate technology. Starting with a basic definition of middleware, the book moves on to describe the business drivers behind EAI and provide details of various EAI approaches. Readers can then apply this knowledge to learn how to put together an enterprise architecture. Enterprise Application Integration also helps the reader make sense of the EAI vendor landscape.

-Susannah Patton Enterprise Application Integration

By David S. Linthicum

Addison-Wesley, 2000, $39.95

As the title suggests, this book offers a thorough examination of enterprise application integration strategies and technologies, with a stronger focus on the different technology solutions. The author first defines EAI and makes the business case for integration. He then looks at EAI from different operational levels and covers the different technologies that companies can apply to enterprisewide integration. There are also chapters devoted specifically to applying PeopleSoft and SAP to enterprise integration initiatives.

-Lafe Low Enterprise Integration: An Architecture for Enterprise Application and Systems Integration

By Fred A. Cummins

John Wiley & Sons, 2002, $44.99

Three groups?managers, enterprise architects and system designers?are addressed in this guidebook. It begins with an assessment of the current technology landscape, then defines the objectives of integration and describes a general architecture for integration. Key integration technologies are discussed, including messaging, component-based application development, XML, workflow management, Web access and Web services, and system security. The softer side of integration is not neglected, however, with sections being devoted to such topics as managing change, consolidating IS management and mitigating risk.

-Carol Zarrow Enterprise Systems Integration, 2nd ed.

Edited by Judith M. Myerson

CRC Press, 2002, $79.95

This integration omnibus casts a wide net in its 60 chapters, each about a dozen pages long and focused on a single issue or technology. The contributors are a mix of technologists and management consultants, and their essays are grouped into 11 topical sections, for example, integration drivers, component-based development, ERP, and project and systems management. Enterprise resource planning gets slightly more attention (nine chapters and the book’s two appendixes) than do other topics (four to six chapters).

-C.Z. Mission Critical: Realizing the Promise of Enterprise Systems

By Thomas H. Davenport

Harvard Business School Press, 2000, $29.95

Companies large and small are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to install mammoth software systems that promise to link every aspect of the business in real-time. But in order to gain business benefits, argues Mission Critical, companies must treat the implementations as a business initiative, not a technical one. Davenport provides an extensive description of the pros and cons of enterprise systems, including case studies of successful and less successful implementations.

-S.P. Technology Integration: Making Critical Choices in a Dynamic World

By Marco Iansiti

Harvard Business School Press, 1997, $35

In this book based on his extensive studies of major technology companies, author and Harvard Business School Professor Marco Iansiti looks at the levels of technology and process integration involved in product development. The choices of which technologies are integrated with each other and how they are integrated are essential decisions in determining a successful outcome. By examining the technological, procedural and managerial decisions made by the companies involved in his studies, Iansiti provides a clear view of how technology choices and their application fit with sensible business strategies.

-L.L.