This document provides an introduction to software integration, defining it as combining existing software components into a complete system. It discusses different types of integration like system integration, functional integration, and incremental engineering. The key reasons for integration are that organizations need to integrate different departmental applications to achieve overall objectives, and applications need to interoperate as information systems change over time. Different integration models are presented, including presentation integration, data integration, and functional integration.

1. Module 1 - Introduction

2. Definition
• Integration of software refers to techniques for combining existing
software components to form a complete system.
• However, the software integration includes at least one existing
software system, developed in the past with no plan for its
symmetric integration with another component in the future.

3. • Integrative programming deals with an integration approaches
and techniques that connect different components of IT
infrastructure- people, applications, platforms and databasesto
enable a secure, intra and inter application collaboration.
• Integrative solutions enable an organization to integrate business
processes intemally and extemally with business partners to
create dynamic environments that supports current and evolving
business requirements, thereby creating a global organization.

4. • Application integration assists in unlimited sharing of data and
business processes among any connected applications or data
sources in without making major changes to the applications or
data structures.
• Hence, integration is the process of connecting multiple,
independently developed applications using incompatible
technologies into a single organization wide system with
information flowing seamlessly among the integrated systems or
components.

5. • Integration of multiple, independently developed, managed
and maintained applications components that may normally use
incompatible technologies and heterogeneous platforms” enables
transmission of information between applications that make up
the business process flow.
• Integration is the process of combining separate applications into
cooperating collections of application.

6. Overview of Intersystem Communication
• Inter-system communication is the communication between a set
of heterogeneous systems that are integrated together.
• These integrated systems which put together many heterogeneous
set of subsystems and the produced objects are extremely
different, yet should contribute to the same process.
• Software integration includes one or more of the following:

7. System Integration
• Given two or more systems, subsystems or components, each of
which function properly (satisfying their requirement within their
environment).
• The problem is to integrate them into one larger system satisfying
the combined requirements within the newly formed environment.

8. Functional Integration or Technology
Integration
• Given a software system, this may have been functioning properly
in the field for a significant period.
• The problem is to integrate a new function or a new technology
within the system.
• The integrated system should provide the new functionality
or use the new technology, while preserving the original system
functionality

9. Incremental engineering
• A software system can be developed and delivered using available
technologies and with less functionality than it is intended to
finally provide.
• New technologies and or more functions then can be integrated
within the system.
• The problem is to design the system with such future
integration in mind

10. Modification
• Sometimes an existing and properly functioning software system
must be decomposed andintegrated to carry out modification.

11. The Need for Integration

12. • Most of organizations consist of more than one department,
running department specific applications and those applications
interact with each other to achieve the overall objective of the
organizations.
• Information systems change overtime by growing in their size,
incorporating functionality of the existing standalone systems.
• Applications originally intended to operate separately, later on are
required to interoperate with others.

13. Some of the reasons for integration are the
following:
• Technology change affects all layers; legacy does not go away so easily.
• The architecture of the organization information system depends on
constraints related to the technology but also to the organization.
• Within an enterprise, each department may have its own IT
infrastructure, systems and databases which are maintained independently.
Integrating them may bring additional value to the company.
• Integration assists in formation of Zero Latency organization - when all
functions within the organization work with the same up-to-date
information, latency between applications is eliminated/ reduced.
• Updating and integrating of applications is possible whenever required.
New applications can be created by integrating real time data from
different parts of the enterprise.

14. Integration Models
• Integration model defines how applications will be integrated by
defining the nature of and mechanisms for integration. Some of
the methods used for application integration are discussed in the
following section. These models include;
• Presentation integration
• Data integration and
• Function Integration

15. Presentation integration model
• allows the integration of new software through the existing
presentations of the legacy software.
• This is typically used to create a new user interface but may be
used to integrate with other applications.

16. Data integration model
• allows the integration of software through access to the data that
is created, managed and stored by the software typically for the
purposes of reusing or synchronizing data across applications

17. Functional integration model
• allows the integration of software for the purpose of invoking
existing functionality from other new or existing applications.
• The integration is done through interfaces to the software.