Overview of System Integration

10.1 Overview of System Integration

10.1.1 Production and Development of System Integration

Simply speaking, system integration is to provide customers with comprehensive solutions according to their business requirements and resource configuration, including business consultation service, software and hardware platform configuration, application software development, network connection and system maintenance. System integration technology came out along with the development of computer technology and network communication technology, and continuously evolved along with changes of customer’s application requirements. Its develop- ment mainly came out along with changes of network communication speed and appearance of new technology and new products. The development of system integration business approximately went through three phases.

(1) The first phase: Between 1970’s and 1980’s The phase just developed accounting computerization functions based on some

software, hardware and database products of some mainframe manufacturers according to users’ requirements, and then just simply transferred the whole system to users and their task is over. Therefore, system integration at this phase was not real system integration, and then it was called Generation 0. Along with broad prevalence of information technology, requirements of users turned over to how to assemble various existing computing environment into a unified, complete and efficient application system. Under this requirement, it came out the first generation system integrators who have had mature technology and product strength, but they just assemble various products to meet customers’ needs with their understanding of information technology. In fact, most work of system integration stayed in “putting trunks together” phase.

(2) The second phase: ERP phase, system integrators mainly provide service based on enterprise business process

The rise of network in 1990’s made information industry develop at a very high speed, and the content of system integration service also changed fundamentally. Along with prevalence of information technology, the value of technology and product did not play crucial part any more in integration solution. Whether a system integration solution was successful lied in alteration of enterprise business pattern and business process. Therefore, ERP became the main business direction of system integrators. In enterprise-oriented application, improvement of enterprise administration and management came to the first, and technology fell back to the second. Compared with traditional system integration, integration business of the second generation was mainly based on enterprise business process. It was directed by business and focused on development, and system integration was not limited on selling hardware products on a commission basis any more, and increment service such as software development and rebuilding of business

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process took up the main place of solution.

There are two obvious trends in the development of the second generation of system integration: One is that the second generation focused on enterprise business itself. Take telecom as example, charging is one of the functions, but the business mainly focuses on serving customers. The keystone of the second generation of system integration is not simply to provide telecom-charging service any more, but to provide a complete set of business related to customer service according to customers’ requirements. The other is that CIO of the second generation of system integrators must have business and technology management abilities owing to business transformation from technology to management.

Based on fundamental change of service manners, the business structure of the Second-generation system integration also fundamentally changed. Along with more traditional system integrators turned into new generation of system integrators, the portion of software and service in business structure increased gradually. System integrators made product value increase through integration to gain reasonable profits, and customers gained ultimate income through increment service, which is the value of the second generation of system integration.

From the view of business pattern, the main business of the second system integration also changed with the change of service manners:

System integrators would spend 80% of the time on providing advice on improving business process to clients before doing system integration to make business process more reasonable. The traditional system integration itself created only a little value owing to mainly depending on hardware products. The second generation of system integration depended on software development from the view of cost control to provide clients with more consulting service while reducing users’ total cost to the least, also brings more profit for itself.

(3) The third phase: System integration of Internet age In Internet age, system integration service has to integrate integrally, not only

needing to provide technology increment service, but also needing to guide demands, to become strategy and consultation counselor of enterprise.

The continuous appearance of new computer and communication technology provides system integration with new chances and challenges. There are three development forms of system integration business: one is to deeply mine internal business of industry and extend system integration, to provide users with general, standard and high-quality service that is from requirement evaluation, information product design, instituting solution to implementation. The second is to seek for new business increasing points in newly developing industries and exploit new industry market; the third one is to actively exploit e-commerce field facing Internet, and continuously expend future development space of system integration. Currently, system integration business turns to multi-business integration based on Internet architecture, which requires system integrators to master special technology and service to always stand in the front of network technology, going before users.

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10.1.2 Principle of System Integration

Information system based on system integration mainly includes computer network system, voice communication system, and image transmitting process system. These systems interact with each other, and system integration is their link and common transmission approach. System integration should follow certain principles to guarantee normal work and communication of each system, and these principles include:

(1) Advancement of network system: Network system is the foundation of application system, and network system could guarantee to meet the development in 5 to 10 years or more.

Safety and stability of transmission system: Accurate and uninterrupted data transmission and daily management of storage system is very important. The key application system is data transmission and data storage, therefore it is required that the designed system owns high safety and stability.

(2) Manageability of system: Application system as a complex system needs to monitor and adjust the whole operations of system. Regardless where system devices are, they should be able managed and controlled by system.

(3) Expansibility of the whole integrity: System should own good expansibility. Along with continuous development of system and application, hardware devices and software modules could be added anytime according to requirements. Investment of prophase project could be efficiently used in upper expanding and existing devices would not be wasted.

(4) Open: System should be able to support manifold communication protocols, transmission media and host interconnection; support various seamless connection between various isomerous systems and local system.

(5) Security: Application system may use Intranet technology later, and is connected to external system with Internet. The important characteristic of Internet/Intranet is resource sharing and open, which results in many security problem. Therefore, to design and develop mechanism guaranteeing all kinds of information secure is an important issue to implement system operation well.

(6) System flexibility: Aiming at characteristics of dispersal and complexity of information system, system flexibility mainly represents in software configuration, load balance and so on. Assorting the most advanced virtual network technology supported by switch products, the whole application system could quickly and easily transfer user or user group from one network to another network by software, crossing offices and office building, without any changes of hardware, to accommodate continuous changes of organization.

(7) Favorable performance/price: How to implement high-quality-low-price application system with the most mature technology and device is also a principle of system integration to be mastered.

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