Universality
One of the major stumbling blocks encountered in today’s integration projects is the ever-increasing level of
resources required to create and maintain the large number of application-to-application interfaces. The problem stems from the fact that the integration of each application is treated as a separate task. The desired
communication links to other applications are identified, and a specific mapping is done for each link. As the number of integrated applications grows, more interfaces are required for each new addition.
ZONAR’s ISS alleviates this problem by adopting a uniform representation for information throughout the enterprise. At the heart of the ISS is the I3 Semantic Repository (I3SR), which contains all the semantic definitions and relationships that make up the contextual base of the enterprise’s IT environment. Each new application to be integrated is mapped to the enterprise standard represented in the I3SR. Once the new application’s information has been processed through this single interface, it is represented in universally understandable Information Objects which can be used by any other integrated application. Only one mapping is required despite the number of applications contained within the integration environment.
The use of I3 technology also enriches the original information in a way not possible with traditional point-to-point mapping. All relevant relationships and definitions available in the I3SR are included in the Information Objects created during the transformation to the universal standard. This expands the usefulness of the information beyond the specific transaction for which it was created, because it now contains context which gives it meaning throughout the enterprise.
