I’ve been writing on ICC’s (Integration Competency Centers) in previous posts but thought some additional information on the models I’ve seen implemented within various organizations is in order.

Most organizations start down the ICC path do so to address the “project silo” problem, where a divisional or project team may be struggling to meet deadlines or success metrics while another team is clicking along delivering value to the business. These teams may or may not be sharing similar technology and approach but the glaring need to improve is recognized and the business case straight forward, especially if organizational boundaries aren’t in the way of change.

What options are available?

The first option that can reap short and long term benefit is for the successful team to document their Best Practices and technology approach for use *across* teams or departments. Sharing is not a natural IT behavior so to embark on any ICC approach executive sponsorship will be required.

Many organizations find themselves using a variety of technologies throughout the spectrum of integration from hand-coding to silo’ed tools to integration platforms. At least when it comes to data integration technology, Informatica’s findings are that using a single technology reduces training costs, software maintenance costs and usually results in improved efficiencies and flexibility. Technology Standardization is often the next step in the evolution of an ICC, agreeing on, choosing and deploying a standard technology “stack”.

A Shared Services approach has been shown to deliver the most benefit in my experiences with Informatica’s advanced ICC customers. Most large organizations lack the political alignment and controls to fully implement a centralized service model. In a shared services model, technology is standardized and shared across team or business unit boundaries. A core “integration experts” team advises, leads and in some cases implements integration projects on behalf of the business. This hybrid approach provides flexibility and sharing of expertise.

The Central Services approach brings together technology, expertise and control within one team to implement and manage *all* integration projects. This can lead to significant benefit because the best is put to use across the technology, best practices and implementation but requires strong executive sponsorship and fluid resource allocation if bottlenecks arise across boundaries.

All of these models have been implemented successfully to varying degrees of depth and benefit. If you’re leading a successful or struggling integration project team and you know of another team doing similar work, think about taking a step back, examining the *collective results* and applying one of these ICC models within your company. You might be handsomely rewarded as a result!