Enterprise Systems Integration Report: Key Technologies and Methods

This report delves into the concept of enterprise systems integration, defining it as the combination of procedures and processes from systems management, engineering, and product development to create large-scale systems. It explores various integration methods, including horizontal, vertical, and star integration, highlighting their characteristics and applications. The report identifies key technologies such as Supply Chain Management, Analytics, ERP, and others crucial for integration. It discusses the benefits of enterprise systems, such as enhanced employee efficiency, improved business planning, and increased flexibility, while also acknowledging challenges like cost and data security. The report concludes by reflecting on how these practices can positively impact professional practice, emphasizing data storage, IT scalability, infrastructural reliability, customer data security, and access to real-time information, drawing on knowledge and techniques acquired through the module.

Running Head: ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
Enterprise Systems Integration
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
The scope of enterprise systems integration is evolving on a constant basis, one of the major
reasons being the fact that with the introduction of new technologies, the previous ones are
turning obsolete. Despite of this thorough and continuous evolution, there are various underlying
technologies and concepts that are gaining importance within the same field.
The concept of enterprise systems integration can be defined as a discipline which is
required in order to combine procedures and processes from systems management, systems
engineering along with product development to develop large-scale and complex systems,
comprising of software and hardware (Giachetti 2016). In simple words, an enterprise systems
integration involves the process of connecting the existing systems for the purpose of sharing and
communicating information. Simplification of the IT processes and an increment in agility are
some of the positive aspects in terms of businesses.
In the recent days, the prime focus of the industries working with technologies is:
aggregating the different component subsystems or systems that help in delivering a complete
functionality. This is often referred to as the modular approach in terms of systems building
(Panetto and Cecil 2013). There are various methods used by a system engineer for the purpose
of achieving integration. These methods have been discussed below:
 Horizontal Integration
The concept of horizontal integration involves the unique creation of a particular subsystem
which is ensured to be the only interface among all other available subsystems. This is often
called an Enterprise Service Bus or ESB.
 Vertical Integration

2ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
Integration of the subsystems on the basis of functionality via creation of silos for the
functional entities is the prime concern of vertical integration method. It is a very quick method
and comprises of few developers and vendors but grows expensive over a period of time as
implementing new functionalities require new silos to be created.
 Star Integration
It is often referred to as “Spaghetti Integration” as every single subsystem is connected to a
number of subsystems (Goodyear, 2017). As a result of the interconnections, the diagrammatic
representation of it, resembles a star.
New functionalities are often taken up by the connected systems. In addition to that, new
challenges are often brought up by integrating systems comprising of distinct hardware and
software. The key technologies for the purpose of integration are mentioned below:
 Supply Chain Management or SCM
 Analytics and business intelligence
 Data on human resources
 Accounting software
 Marketing and internal communications
 Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP
The core benefit of using an enterprise system is, it makes the work of employees as well as
managers far easier. There is a visible enhancement in terms of flexibility and productivity
(Wang et al. 2013). In addition to that, business planning as well as tracking company goals are
also some of the beneficial aspects of enterprise systems.

3ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
However, in case of small businesses the cost of the investment can be a challenging factor
depending upon the customization level, number of users, license type etc. Although, enterprise
systems provide benefits in terms of accessibility and security, there are vulnerabilities regarding
data loss as well as confidentiality.
Incorporating these professional practices in a proper way can cast several positive impacts
on my business. Some of the relative impacts have been mentioned below:
 Storing the data of the business in a usable format
 Easily scaling the IT capabilities as well as the other available resources
 Maximizing the infrastructural reliability in terms of the IT systems for the purpose of
providing proper customer services.
 Securing the data of the customers
 Accessing real-time information
These are some of the reflections on how these practices may affect my professional
practices along with the techniques and knowledge I have gathered through the mode.

4ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
References
Giachetti, R., 2016. Design of enterprise systems: Theory, architecture, and methods. CRC
Press.
Goodyear, M., 2017. Enterprise System Architectures: Building Client Server and Web Based
Systems. CRC press.
Panetto, H. and Cecil, J., 2013. Information systems for enterprise integration, interoperability
and networking: theory and applications.
Wang, F., Ge, B., Zhang, L., Chen, Y., Xin, Y. and Li, X., 2013. A system framework of security
management in enterprise systems. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 30(3), pp.287-
299.