EAI project implementation experience
EAI project implementation experience
Author / Li-ping
INTRODUCTION
Enterprise Information is the subject of endless, different stage of development, different business environment, enterprises are forced to change continuous development of information systems to meet the "on demand" business environment, and to maintain strong competitiveness of enterprises. Domestic enterprises, a number of years of experience in information systems based on construction and development, has entered a function of the system is relatively mature perfect platform period, and how to improve the existing system under the collaboration and enterprise systems resilience, optimize business processes and management system, lower business costs and system risks, and maximize the value of data mining, become this period to explore the technical competitiveness of enterprises hot. Usually in the internal fragmentation of the system to establish an independent functional application integration, collaboration and process automation services system known as EAI, and in the world within the scope of business-to-business exchange of information between data and e-commerce transactions, known as B2Bi. EAI is mainly for Intranet and Internet-based B2Bi while, and the two have taken different integration technologies, such as EAI, the use of non-XML Web Services framework to materialize, and B2Bi because "standardized" needs, and more through the Web Service to achieve. (And in essence, the two are to reduce coupling, for the purpose of enhancing collaboration. Paper will be consolidated EAI and B2Bi two concepts in common, collectively referred to as EAI launched described). EAI is a special enterprise information projects, the usual enterprise information project is business-oriented applications of the functional system, which in fact does not EAI-Enterprise Application-specific functional requirements, but the basis of a number of functional systems provide a link and coordinate the entire application systems and enterprise information systems value chain collaboration solutions. This paper will focus on the implementation of EAI projects, I share with you in the EAI technology projects in a number of experience and knowledge.
House of Flying Daggers
It is precisely because EAI technology and the focus of the special nature of the problem domain, and the establishment of the traditional system of the implementation of the project compared to the implementation of EAI projects also highlighted a number of differences, some of these features for the project must be in the face of difficulties, while some items summing up the experience and lessons in this troubled this five to 11:
1. Participation in the role of uncertainty
Usually the enterprise information role Mowaihu involved in the project there are two categories, to the ultimate customer application requirements and application solutions provider, and enterprise EAI projects may be end-users, and provide enterprises with the old system of multiple applications manufacturers, for the final customers connect existing applications across multiple systems application integration solutions to the three roles. It is not difficult to see that the implementation of the project EAI technology than the traditional role of the participation of the application system and enterprise application needs of solution providers more complicated, but in these three roles, there are still overlap with the role of the conversion. For example, in a relatively simple case, in order to eventually provide customers EAI solution vendors is the original application system providers, and, if applied by the system is the ultimate, self-development, then the role of the three completely overlap. But more importantly, the actual situation is even more complicated, such as: one or more end customers (if it is integrated into an enterprise, if it is integrated into a number of inter-firm), one or more application vendors (docking of a number of applications likely to come from a number of application developers), one or more of EAI vendors (EAI project as a whole may be an independent application integration to bear, or by a number of different applications were responsible for the transformation of collaboration vendors).
2. Complexity of the contractual relationship
It is precisely because the role of EAI projects decided by the uncertainty, EAI projects contractual relationship underscores the greater the complexity of the contract is due to a number of application vendors want to provide their own application system interface Standardization initiative to end-customers rectification demand, and the situation is the ultimate customers aware of the urgent need to EAI technology or to connect to the corporate value chain in a number of applications and the needs. In the conclusion of contracts, the existence of the ultimate customers and applications vendors, application vendors, and EAI vendors, and ultimately customers and EAI vendors, and other possible. And application vendors, application integration initiatives are launched, and integrated passive with applications vendors. In defining the rights and obligations of the more complex and difficult, if not stringent prudential conclusion of the contract, easily led in the implementation of projects of mutual buck-passing or coordination difficulties, the project to continue. This is also the author of several projects at an early stage in the lesson, the sequence of the contractual relationship combing methods, will lead to negotiations in the legal status and perspective always charged under the wind, not conducive to the follow-up work.
3. Customer demand differences
As the demand for enterprise application system differences lead to the feasibility of low enterprise applications, enterprise information system linking the complex and volatile of EAI projects there is a difference of the same complexity and risk, or to provide full realization of the products of EAI the fundamental solution is unrealistic castles in the air. Referring here to meet the business needs of corporate customers ultimately the integrity of the programme, the EAI server products can only meet a certain level of abstraction needs, and the implementation of EAI vendors on the basis of this must be a huge amount of custom development and deployment of the configuration, this side can be integrated to meet different application needs and adapt to different systems of the environment, thus completing final project. In the enterprise internal EAI projects, the majority is a process operation, the Panel collaboration, financial statistics, business address, business strategy and other internal management system of information exchange and application integration in enterprises and between enterprises B2Bi, more is carried out on the lower reaches of the supply chain between manufacturers supply procurement, property transfer, e-commerce, industry statistics and information dissemination and supervision of audits, etc., and in fact even in the implementation of the project is the same business needs, different applications, different business processes will also lead to differences in changes in demand. For example, in an inter-enterprise system of internal financial examination and approval processes, different enterprises will have different understanding and management system, and this is precisely EAI developers and the perpetrators should not be overlooked passengers are differences.
4. Technical means diversity
EAI projects means more flexible technology, through information communication (such as Socket Direct Connect, Message Queue), data exchange (such as EDI, data middle table), application components (such as DCOM, EJB), and other technical means can meet decentralized systems in the data, applications, business logic and user interface, and many other aspects of the different needs of integrated interactive. These technologies can be divided into its interactive mode synchronous real-time and non-real-time asynchronous two major categories of technology. From the impact of the application of systems perspective, the implementation of technical programmes are completely transparent to the application system of non-invasive integration of applications and the need to EAI interface needs of invasive integration. Application of different manufacturers and end customers will be on the operating system, database systems, application development language and environment platform and the achievement of the programme has a historical accumulation or special preferences. In the course of projects, project decision-makers and structure designers are faced with a wide range of multi-level technical means for their own projects in the selection of one or more integrated technical problems. EAI provided by the manufacturers technical programmes, should be able to cover different aspects of the overall integrated solution.
5. Risk Uncertainty
Is not a perfect contract protection, and clear customer demand, a comprehensive framework for the design and realization of a mature technology, it can be considered that the success of the project has been integrated easily available? In fact is not the case, due to application integration inherent in the complexity of the project, we will soon be found, this should be step-by-step design and development and testing acceptance stage, but to follow the "law of Parkinson's disease (Parkinson's Law)": project progress continuously adjusted, and constantly delayed, the project "black hole" for human enterprise饱å—time costs "should not bear the pain," project officer "trapped in a" no peace difficult to extricate the "continuous hell," Is this really the software Application Integration works projects in particular can not go beyond the reincarnation fate? (Have you not seen even a troika of dominating the world of a software empire Microsoft Windows XP SP2 can be seen Wangwenyuchuan, is the introduction of Longhorn repeatedly Delay to the foreseeable future) In fact, this is precisely the domestic business applications and application integration vendors faced with the survival of the status quo, but also by people in my generation and look at the reflection of the objective problems. The integrated enterprise information organisms - less than 10% of the ERP implementation success rate is mercilessly reveals the integration and the hardships of the whirlpool before that. No wonder Congguangchicheng China IT decades and the storm did not panic Liu predecessors sighed with emotion: "ERP Huasi, on the ERP death." Information organisms collaboration established predicament is self-evident.
A computer.
In view of the above summarized the five major problems EAI projects, through reflection and practice, the authors also in the implementation of the EAI projects summed up a number of their feelings and experiences, for the concern and hope to set foot in the area of application integration to provide some reference to a friend benefits:
1. Clear role to break communication barriers
Integrated implementation of the project participants, including end-users, vendors and application of EAI vendors, the entire project process, the role of tacit understanding with the three sincere cooperation to ensure the smooth progress of the project. Management of severe Shinafiyah law gives us the warning that "the conflict in the overlapping of authority, under the leadership of various work even harder than nullius in the state carried out, time and project costs will be multiplied." As EAI projects undertaking, the perpetrators might have to face a number of end customers and applications vendors, a number of roles between the interests of competence, knowledge, culture, and other aspects of the conflict and cognitive differences inevitable. EAI implementation, as we should be clear in their own shoulders in the project called command, control management decisions key role in the success or failure of the project to build the distribution companies (as distinct from one another independent "decentralized" system) information system as the goal, do projects the communication, and the coordination of information, such as authority to define interactive work, and made it clear to all participants in the project authority and obligations. If the integration of persons employed in a particular application vendor rather than end-users, more attention should be paid to the contract should not be taking orders from the customer everything, but directly with the end customer communication, the primary users grasp the overall situation of demand and technical information.
2. Perfect contract details to avoid project risk
Most of the IT technology project contracts were signed by the business market, they are often the difference between needs and the technical details turn a blind eye to ignorance or indifference, they often return to their own performance in his own interest and will ultimately customers, technical staff and the entire company into danger and embarrassing position. Most of them are in the contract after a superficial feasibility study (or even entirely empirical, does not carry out technical assessments, vowed to get the contract commitment will enjoy good fortune), to amend Formal contracts entered into after the template , and very few will involve changing customer needs and technological collaboration between the technical definition of manufacturers. This to the successful implementation of future projects has sowed the seeds of the great hidden dangers. EAI projects because of the special nature of the technical staff parties should take the initiative to participate in the process of working out the contract to conduct the necessary technical assessment and the division of responsibilities. The multi-project contract rights and obligations, cooperation, responsibility for default and termination of such links should be more technical aspects of the definition and content, or small changes in interface side of the project will lead to a number of participants in the testing, maintenance The soaring cost of human time, and even for individual participants of the progress and quality of the project led to the indefinite delay or even outright failure. I am the author of the project because it will be hard for reasons not to drag themselves examples.
3. Enumerating changing needs, and examine the old process
The software industry is known to everybody "customer demand has been changing" the painful truth behind "maintaining the status quo" as the pursuit of a software designer (although achieve this goal is unrealistic, as far as possible, only close to the targets). In the implementation of specific projects, should demand can be described as the performance of specific, enumerated, in the controllable branch processes within the scope of change in order to guarantee delivery of the project on schedule and cost estimates will not be cost overruns (as film necessarily need to have a film script to do a good blueprint, or else I am afraid to 2046 project may not be completed). In short, customer demand, which covered the integrated features, interface agreements, such as business processes are identified sooner the better, I believe that the overall demand for EAI projects and the application environment that have not yet signed the contract before, it should be clear basic. Needs analysis phase has been enumerated only on the demand for in-depth and detailed, rather than only a few manufacturers several systems, the interface definition. As the thinking of the inertia inherent in human nature, in the integrated interface, business process, there should be "Pojiulixin" revolutionary ideology, because intelligent automated information system interaction, not the old manual processing and operation of the electronic processes reproducibility, and should be a critical and innovative approach to examine some of the old functions and processes, establishing a rational, optimization, in line with modern corporate governance and information technology characteristics of the new standard and application models. Enterprise Application Integration and the balance must grasp the changing business requirements, system architecture, communications mechanism, the system platform, data formats, such as link business processes, stripping wire can be summed up in a cocoon pumping EAI project's main objectives to quantify and assessment of project risks, the project cycle, human and financial costs of the project is related to the success or otherwise of the key factors.
4. The selection of integrated manner, upholding the technical position
In the author's experience, at this stage, the country's enterprise information projects, the exchange of data between systems absolute majority only uses two methods, namely, mutual database open read-write (or mainly used for the LAN network environment) and on the exchange of text documents (mainly for cross-network public network exchange, Flat File, EDI and XML in this column), and even direct result of the database tightly coupled and access security issues, to exchange real-time text and data security poor question that the exchange of business information from the task should not only one or two technical means to support. Throughout the realization of EAI technical level, the news from the bottom-up communication to the application components with the ability to elevate interactive, integrated flexibility drop characteristics. EAI interface will be coupled with the interactive capability of the enhanced greatly improved, interface effects of heterogeneous integration capabilities, and if the pursuit of the low coupling interface and strong integration capabilities, and ability to sacrifice interaction with the capacity of easy development and deployment , need more work; invasive integration of the implementation may be relatively low degree of difficulty, but changes to the old application system must have the support of application systems vendors, and increase the stability of the compatibility of the risks, and the old Application Adapter establishment of a transparent system of non-invasive integration achieved relative to the more difficult, real-time poor. In fact the end user and not too much concerned about application integration projects adopted by the technical details, as long as it can meet its business needs can be, but in the realization of various levels to achieve the appropriate choice of technology, application integration will be the implementation of the project play a more effective significance. In cooperation with various manufacturers in the process, the Federation of the same technical problems encountered different solutions, and in a humble attitude and listen more to learn more and more contrast, some think, "Why should their systems this design?"; Another , each system designers find it difficult to go beyond "the point of view of their own system a technical problem" such a selfish departmentalism shackles, always consider "how to design the system so that we can change less?", the Application Integration The interface project, which will form the basis of their system and the protection of the same processing technology have different and opposing views conflict with a solution at a time when we should be rational and restrained EAI projects adhere to the dominant position from the entire EAI projects and the implementation of the framework to analyse and deal with a high degree of practical problems.
5. Control project elements to ensure successful implementation of
Although we are in the beginning of the project to establish a sound contract, clearly the role of the project participants, but in the cultural background of China's current national conditions and regulations under the stringent prudential contract may not be truly stringent prudential carried out. Demand in the project design, development, testing stage and will be immutable, beyond its project cycle is not necessarily a breach of the payment; participants may not be able to abide by its responsibilities under the role, it can pre-empt interference with the administration of the program decision-making to confuse the progress of the project and quality. Social activities are the most active factor in the project staff in the implementation of the changes, the functional changes, process changes have come from the people themselves, the project managers have to deal with an important issue, that is a trained "soldiers to be gear, the soil water to cover "to deal with the interpersonal communication skills, and the use of modern management systems to reduce the development of project management, personnel management, etc. there is the risk. For system stability and to consider the project cycle, in the entire process of project implementation should be used "negative feedback loop" strategy to assess needs, function, process changes and the new, because the small side interface may change spread to other docking system, generating function, performance, compatibility, etc. influence and hidden dangers uncertainty it sacrifices the deployment of acceptance testing time. In testing the functions of the deployment phase found inadequate and incorrect, should also assess the extent of its timely amendment or deferred to the next version when anything perfect.
In the camps step by step
Most of EAI projects will face a variety of industries and enterprises, different systems and needs, but overall have its own rules to follow, only to understand the application integration project implementation steps, a good grasp of implementation of the project every step before guarantee the ultimate success of the project. In this application will be integrated implementation of the project steps summed up as follows:
1. Research stage need to understand assessment of the information available:
Application requirements
Enterprise application requirements in the existing system or the system of decentralized systems expectations and planning, will be the ultimate way to achieve a high degree of automation of business collaboration and distribution management capacity. Only clear understanding and knowledge of the customer business logic and operational planning can be sorted out accurate application requirements.
Business Process
Business processes, including the exchange of data between systems and business collaboration interdependence between the mutually exclusive relationships and to deal with matters related to the actual business processes and business logic, and so on. Application of customer demand business objectives, business process is the way to achieve application needs and carriers.
Business connections
To customer demand and the application of electronic business processes, first of all, need to enumeration data exchange and application integration applications and the number of characteristics of their business and categorized the abstract summary, application and control applications, systems and system connectivity and interactive relations, and business processes with clear borders and the flow of the border.
Network Environment
Grasp the need for interface of the application of the transformation of the lower network environment, including physical distribution, interactive relationship between network infrastructure, security, bandwidth and stability.
System Platform
Understand the applications operating system, database platform, development environment, integration with business applications and interface software-related structure of the database system, the relevant business logic algorithm.
Coordination channels
And the final customers, rapid application vendors establish smooth communication channels, can be related to the timely and efficient unit with the support of relevant personnel with access to information of enterprises and long-term construction planning, application systems vendors, such as information technology systems.
2. Identify solutions and overall design
Electronic Application Process
According to a preliminary understanding of the needs of information, reference and business applications based on the actual network topology processes and suitable for the design and planning in enterprise application integration of the electronic application process, the application of electronic processes may be raised for a variety of optional, integrated manufacturers should be a wide selection of the merits of that balance for policy makers.
Interface Mapping Agreement
Application Integration with the parties to establish the actual business requirements related to the interface mapping relationship, if it is integrated database is that the two sides of the table corresponding intermediate data, if it is information communications, reported that the text format and communication response agreements, if the component technology, it is called the standardized interface.
Infrastructure needs
Clearly meet actual business requirements and application integration needs of the relevant hardware platforms, network architecture, operating system, database, security, such as platform for planning and implementation needs to establish. These demand is supporting the implementation of application integration projects in the basic premise should be scheduled to ensure that their quality and quantity to provide integrated perpetrators, so as not to affect work on the next project.
Package
Application Integration determine the content and e-business processes, the corresponding technology platform, network structure and modes of communication in accordance with the different business application systems integration identify the relevant technical details to complete technical solutions.
Control project
According to the final package, the assessment project direct costs, indirect costs, staffing and workload of the project cycle, and so on, the overall cost of the project, project the number of working days and projects, acceptance test plans and standards, the project late maintain programmes.
3. Project implementation
System Design
The majority of the analytical work and the project's preliminary design work in the solution should be to complete the identification process in the early stages of the implementation process should be the final solution for a more detailed design work and the completion of the characteristics of the products at this stage data structure layer, Yewuluojiceng, user interface layer in the design work and some of the work that is closely related to the quality of the entire project implementation process is more important link. The contract has been signed but the real development work has not yet started, such as customer demand at this stage to change and increase, in accordance with changes in the system of assessment results to decide whether to accept change.
System development and testing
According to the pre-depth understanding of the needs of the business and project analysis and design of the outcome of system development; plan in principle, should be synchronized with laboratory testing, in accordance with the test results and constantly correcting errors and stability of the system. As this stage of substantive system formed environment, in principle, to accept the customer's needs change, or else the project construction period and the final system stability may be affected. If it is necessary to amend, should be signed by the changes proposed units written proof that the reasons for the changes, the impact of related responsibilities.
On-line system deployment
After the system development and laboratory testing stage, can be deployed to the field. In the process of deploying the use of real business processes and business data, hardware, software and network environment, progressive and functional, performance, stability testing, and stability as the mature formal system due to a "customer first" practice, In fact, this session, clients may still have to demand change, and the perpetrators should be combined with comprehensive business and technical assessment, to counter it.
4. Project examination
Successfully implemented, the project should be based on the acceptance criteria in the contract and, in conjunction with the changes in the project implementation responsibilities to complete the project's acceptance work, and after a period of manual / automated business processes and parallel test, formally delivered to end-users use , EAI projects and maintenance of the production cycle.
Aggregate
Unlike architecture, software engineering projects, which provide a high degree of customer specific emotional understanding and observation of the construction system and software engineering for customers with a highly abstract perceptual knowledge to the full "invisible as a" software system . Applications at least user interface to the user's perceptions of a performance, and application integration projects more difficult to perception, because in addition to running the entire project may be monitoring, system log, the core of the whole project are no user interface system the background services or middleware engine, but plays a connecting islands formed enterprise information system of enterprise value chain coordination and interactive sessions simultaneously, and other important tasks. Therefore, only the needs of the project definition, analysis and design, development and testing, acceptance, such as running a good grasp of all aspects of management, technology, resources, applications, business processes, such as multi-factor can be used to correct the technical description of the abstract and figurative show business entities , successfully established that the high complexity of distributed application system integration. The purpose of this paper is not transfer and share a common set of project management experience, but hope that the author will be in the area of application integration projects in the course of implementing the representative of some of the issues to do with the characteristics of a summary and review for reference when weæŠ›ç –å¼•çŽ‰used.
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