SYSTEM INTEG REVIEWER

in a business are teams of employees, grouped by function, that all operate separately from each other, without cross-collaboration.

FUNCTIONAL SILOS

Organizations also divided roles in hierarchical layers from strategic planning to management control and operation control.

VERTICAL SILOS

Main programming languages:

Visual Basic, Delphi, Java, C++

Main data storage structure:

: DBF and text files

is usually explained in terms of client and server.

API architecture

This theory views the firm as a nexus of contracts among selfinterested individuals, who must be carefully supervised to ensure they pursue the interests of the organization

Agency Theory

- provide the most common and straightforward way to connect two systems. Sitting between applications and web services, they enable the transmission of data and functionality in a standardized format

Application programming interfaces (APIs)

Ensures longevity of legacy investment ✓ Cuts costs ✓ Manages complexity ✓ Allows hassle-free scaling ✓ Fosters innovation ✓ Automates business processes

BENEFITS OF MIDDLEWARE

Business-to-business (B2B) integration is the automation of business processes and communication between two or more organizations. It allows them to work and trade more effectively with their customers, suppliers and business partners by automating key business processes.

Business-to-business integration -

the application that sends the request.

CLIENT

- This is the interface that the middleware exposes to the client or application services. It allows applications to use predefined constructs to initiate a transaction involving the database, platform, or other backend servers. This component simplifies application development and deployment, one of the biggest benefits of using any middleware solution

Client interface (or application interface)

- Middleware requires messaging services to communicate with services, applications, and platforms. Most of these frameworks rely on existing standards such as simple object access protocol (SOAP), representational state transfer (REST), or Javascript object notation (JSON). This framework needs to be carefully crafted keeping in mind existing and predicted features.

Common messaging framework

- A contract manager is the enforcer of various rules imposed by each application, data control, and server. All lines of communication and event initiation must follow these contracts to ensure transparency and minimize breakage. The contract manager makes sure business logic remains intact and is valid. All contract breaches are thrown back to the application, ensuring that the entire system does not go down because of them.

Contract manager

: is a repository of data that's controlled by one department or business unit and isolated from the rest of an organization.

DATA SILOS

was the name of an OS distributed by Microsoft and formed the base of the computers until the early 1990s. It was much due to this OS that computers managed to become popular

DOS (Disk Operation System)

This is the most common middleware that enables access and interaction with different database gateway.

Database Middleware :

The database manager controls connections to the database, changing addition, modification, and deletion of data based on the DB service used. Since this vastly varies on the type of database used (file-based or table-based), where it resides (internal data center or cloud), and how sensitive the data is, security is an important consideration for this component.

Database manager -

provides a focused set of integration and connectivity capabilities for developing apps for a specific mobile OS.

Device middleware -

- the abbreviation for electronic data interchange — is the exchange of business information in a standard electronic format, that replaces paper documents. EDI generally happens in two ways: via a value-added network (VAN), in which a third-party network is in charge of data transmission, or direct connections through the Internet.

EDI

- The ESB architecture involves the creation of a separate specialized subsystem — an enterprise service bus — that serves as a common user interface layer connecting other subsystems.

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) model

- establishes a middleware framework that helps data flow freely between applications without significant changes to database configurations or the applications themselves, leading to a streamlined process and increased data availability.

Enterprise application integration

lets an organization establish an enterprise integration hub - a standardized way to connect all applications, application components, business processes and back-end data sources in the extended enterprise.

Enterprise application integration middleware

: Behavioral researchers have theorized that information technology facilitates flattening of hierarchies by broadening the distribution of information to empower lower-level employees and increase management efficiency.

Flattening Organizations

Flow is a New Zealand- based software company that provides middleware software for application integration, electronic data interchange (EDI), and application programming interface (API) management. Enterprises can use Flow Middleware to set up connected processes with data interoperability.

Flow Middleware Platform:

These provide functionality that you can't get from regular websites or applications. For example, they might allow you to manage your account or purchase items online.

Functionality APIs -

: Division of functionalized organization into basic areas

HORIZONTAL SILOS

is used for web-based APIs, and it allows you to embed images, videos, and other types of content in your messages. It's easy to use, but it can be restrictive since you're limited to what you can include on a web page.

HTML

Main technologies:

HTML, Javascript, CSS, ASP, ASP.NET, PHP, JSP, PL e ColdFusion

- A hybrid integration platform or HIP is a more universal version of what iPaaS offers. It is an array of integration software providing built- in capabilities to make on-premises and cloud- based solutions work as a single unit.

Hybrid integration platform (HIP)

- is a set of cloud-based integration solutions mostly used for building and deploying integrations in the cloud.

Integration platform as a Service (iPaaS)

: JBoss enterprise application platform (EAP) is a middleware software solution by Red Hat. The company supports various computing environments and partners with Microsoft Azure to deploy JBoss EAP as a cloud-based managed service.

JBoss EAP

- is a lightweight alternative to XML, and it's easy to read and write. It's famous for RESTful APIs because it's fast and efficient.

JSON

Main technologies:

Java for Android, Objective-C or Swift for iOS (Apple), and C# for Windows Phone.

Interoperability Support ✓ On-Premise and Cloud Compatible ✓ IT Efforts Reduction ✓ Developer Readiness ✓ Middleware Community Support

KEY MUST-HAVE FEATURES FOR MIDDLEWARE SOFTWARE

tackles the challenge of connecting APIs both onpremises and over the cloud, bridging the network divide. Integration takes information from on-premises systems and leverages new systems in order to drive business.

Legacy system integration -

- is the hidden software layer that glues together distributed systems, applications, services, and devices. It handles different tasks such as data management, messaging, API management, or authentication. Cloud middleware can be accessed via APIs. In turn, an API gateway can be considered a type of middleware between a collection of services and systems using them.

MIDDLEWARE

a layer of software that enables interaction and transmission of information between assorted applications and services. • It is a layer between operating system (OS) and distributed applications. • Hides the complexity and heterogeneity of distributed system.

MIDDLEWARE

: It allows software applications across multiple operating systems and networking protocols to receive and send messages to each other.

Message-oriented middleware

enables application components using different messaging protocols to communicate to exchange messages. In addition to translating - or transforming - messages between applications, MOM manages routing of the messages so they always get to the proper components in the in the proper order. Examples of MOM include message queues and message brokers.

Message-oriented middleware (MOM)

Microsoft launched its Biztalk line of products in 2000, and it has been through 11 major releases since then. The company announced BizTalk Server 2020 last year, which is intended as a next-gen inter-organizational middleware system that can automate your business processes.

Microsoft BizTalk Server:

This is the interface through which middleware instances communicate with each other to maintain the overall middleware structure. This component is required because various middleware instances must work together internally to appear as a single continuous layer. This is usually done using a special protocol defined by the middleware, which doesn't overlap with other communication protocols.

Middleware internal interface -

- A middleware management console is a single pane of glass that captures a bird's eye view of the middleware architecture. This is especially important with enterprise application middleware, designed and implemented specifically with an organization's business requirements in mind. This console provides an overview of events and activities, transactions, configuration management, and contract rules.

Middleware management console

MOBILE AGE:

Mobility brought true omnipresence for computing devices and included the final layer of people that didn't have access to Information systems thus far.

: This broker handles requests from one application to another without letting the applications worry about where each is hosted. Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), which enables one software component to make a request of another without knowing where other is hosted, or what its UI looks like - the "brokering" handles this information during the exchange.

Object request broker (ORB) middleware

Oracle is an independent software vendor (ISV) that provides a wide range of solutions for infrastructure management, data hosting, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Fusion is the company's middleware solution for enterprises, and it supports the deployment of diverse application environments.

Oracle Fusion Middleware:

Main data storage as relational databases:

Oracle, SQL Server, Paradox, Access, DB2, Sybase, outros

Middleware needs to work across multiple platforms, irrespective of where it resides. This is the interface that is in direct contact with the backend servers. Every time a new platform is introduced, say by the cloud provider, this interface needs to be updated to support it. All other components of the middleware remain relatively unchanged.

Platform interface -

This kind of middleware allows business logic to be seated in any platform (OS or hardware), including web servers, application servers, hosting environments, or containers. Platform middleware can include or combine enterprise application servers, web servers, and content management systems, as well as the other middleware

Platform middleware:

- is the architectural pattern in which every system is directly connected to all other systems and apps it needs to work in tandem and share information with. This model can be realized via APIs, webhooks, or custom code.

Point-to-point integration (P2P)

Enterprises use portal middleware to facilitate interactions between client-facing systems and backend systems.

Portals:

REST stands for Representational State Transfer. These are the most popular and flexible APIs found on the web today. The client sends requests to the server as data. The server uses this client input to start internal functions and returns output data back to the client. The main feature of REST API is statelessness.

REST APIs -

- enables one application to trigger a procedure in another application - running on the same computer or on a different computer or network - as if both were part of the same application on the same computer

Remote procedure call (RPC) middleware

This allows one application to trigger a function in another application, whether they reside in the same network.

Remote procedure call (RPC) middleware:

: This simplifies the integration of robotic hardware, firmware, and software, irrespective of manufacturer and location

Robotics middleware

are basically compartmentalized operating units isolated from their environment

SILOS

- These APIs use Simple Object Access Protocol. Client and server exchange messages using XML. This is a less flexible API that was more popular in the past.

SOAP APIs

Main databases:

SQL Server, Access, MySQL, Oracle, etc

The process of creating a complex information system that may include designing or building a customized architecture or application, integrating it with new or existing hardware, packaged and custom software, and communications

SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

The session manager ensures that all communication and transaction requests are valid and have not timed out. It establishes the connections, to begin with, allowing requests to flow back and forth. It also manages the session history for audit purposes. A session manager is one way of ensuring that the middleware is secure.

Session manager -

- is the process of bringing together various types of software sub-systems so that they create a unified single system

Software integration

- is the process of joining software and hardware modules into one cohesive infrastructure, enabling all pieces to work as a whole. Often referred to as IT integration or software integration.

Systems integration

TIBCO Software is one of the world's largest middleware providers, with products across integration, data unification, and analytics segments. It also has a research initiative called TIBCO Labs to explore how cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, block chain, and IoT can be integrated into the enterprise landscape.

TIBCO Connected Intelligence:

Temenos acquired Kony (a middleware solutions provider of the banking sector) in 2019 for $559 million. This resulted in the relaunch of Kony fabric as Temenos Fabric, an omnichannel middleware solution for banks and non-banking organizations

Temenos Fabric:

l is a more advanced type of integration architecture that addresses the issues of point-to-point and helps to avoid the star/spaghetti mess. The connections between all subsystems are handled by a central hub (message broker), so they don't communicate with each other directly

The hub-and-spoke mode

- Third-party integration is the attachment of an application programming interface (API) from one application to another. Many developers use this integration to enable the product to perform the same functions as the program it integrated.

Third-party system integration

This theory states that organizations grow in size because they can obtain certain products or services internally at lower cost than by using external firms in the marketplace

Transaction Cost Theory

: The advent of the Internet and its omnipresence forced another major evolutionary milestone for Information Systems. Web-based systems, that either run inside a web browser or utilize Internet protocols, become more and more the norm.

WEB AGE

- also known as HTTP callbacks are real-time messages, sent by one system to another when a certain event happens. Say, accounting software may receive webhook notifications about transactions from payment gateways or online banking systems.

WEBHOOKS

Microsoft Windows came as a replacement for DOS. It changed the paradigm of the relationship between user and computer, with the use of the mouse, and the graphical approach.

WINDOWS AGE

: WSO2 is among the few middleware software solutions in the market that you can access for free. It is a 100% open-source middleware geared primarily towards developers and digital service providers. It has over 175 components that you can leverage to build an integrated enterprise landscape

WSO2 Carbon

- is more versatile than HTML and creates custom tags and attributes. This makes it a popular choice for SOAP APIs, but it can be more complex to use.

XML

The cross-functional organizational structure breaks the functional silos by opening up the informational flows from one department to another.

business process re-engineering (BPR). - BUSINESS PROCESS

Databases:

same as in the web age, like MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL but new data structures and no-SQL.

- provides tools developers can use to create, expose and manage APIs for their applications - so that other developers can connect to them.

• Application server middleware

This framework allows the creation, deployment, and maintenance of enterprise applications within a system.

• Application server middleware:

Cloud middleware sits between the operating systems behind the cloud and the cloud users, providing a remote platform to create, maintain, and communicate with the hosted applications and data.

• Cloud middleware:

This is used to abstract specific content that is similar to publish and subscribe models.

• Content middleware:

- These allow you to access data from different sources, such as databases or web services. They're often used for retrieving information or performing calculations.

• Data APIs

simplifies access to, and interaction with, back-end databases. Typically database middleware is some form of SQL database server.

• Data or database middleware

This type contains a specific set of capabilities to integrate with or build applications on specific devices. It is usually used to build mobile applications.

• Device middleware:

This is a virtual layer that connects applications, data, processes, and services, irrespective of where they are located (cloud or on premise) and what technology they are based on.

• Enterprise application integration:

Enterprise technology giant, IBM, is among the leading middleware companies in the world. It has several products to drive integration and interoperability like IBM API Connect, IBM MQ (a messaging middleware), and WebSphere Application Server, which is its flagship suite of middleware solutions.

. IBM WebSphere Application Server:

- the application that sends the response.

SERVER

provides tools and resources for integrating content and capabilities from various related applications 'at the glass' - or on a single screen - to create a single, composite application.

• Portal middleware

- These allow you to do things with data that you wouldn't be able to do independently. For example, you might convert it from one format to another or compress it for storage.

• Processing APIs

- These APIs are called Remote Procedure Calls. The client completes a function (or procedure) on the server, and the server sends the output back to the client.

• RPC APIs

- provides services to support the execution of data transactions across a distributed network. The best-known transactional middleware are transaction processing monitors (TPMs), which ensure that transactions proceed from one step to the next - executing the data exchange, adding/changing/deleting data where needed, etc. - through to completion.

• Transactional middleware

This type of middleware ensures that transactions between heterogeneous components go through all the necessary steps to reach completion.

• Transactional middleware:

- Websocket API is another modern web API development that uses JSON objects to pass data. A WebSocket API supports two-way communication between client apps and the server. The server can send callback messages to connected clients, making it more efficient than REST API.

• Websocket APIs

Main programming languages:

: Clipper and COBOL