Informatica Perspectives

Integration technology has evolved over the years from hand-coding in the 1980’s, to specialized middleware tools in the 1990’s, then to broad-based cohesive integration platforms in 2000’s.  So what happens next?  Where is integration technology going in the 2010’s?

The next generation is the Integration Factory; a highly-functional platform with sophisticated user-friendly controls that enable a high-degree of self-service and mass-customization of integration solutions and is tightly linked with management disciplines that drive continuous improvements in the end-to-end full life-cycle process.  This is quite a mouthful, and it sounds great, but 2010 is not far away so is it realistic to expect this capability to be available soon?

From an Informatica perspective the answer is yes. Granted there will be continuous improvements for years to come, but all the foundational elements are in place. When one considers the entire set of Informatica offerings that exist today, and the next generation ICC based on Lean Integration practices, Informatica offers a platform that:

• Eliminates scale factors - it is just as cost effective for implementing a single point integration for an individual project as it is for a complex program involving hundreds of integrations or for a multinational Global 2000 firm that sustains 10’s of thousands of integrations. The same integration engine is used at all levels and business rules/mappings from an Informatica On Demand integration can be re-used in a high-availability grid infrastructure with no rework.  Does any other platform in the world offer this degree of efficiency at any scale?
• Supports any degree of complexity – from simple point-to-point integrations that require little or no data manipulation to the most complex multi-source multi-target integrations involving sophisticated semantic transformations, careful sequencing, and multifaceted business rules. Does any other platform in the world support this range of requirements?
• Is used by everyone – from middleware developers and integration architects to business analysts and non-technical data administrators.  Does any other platform in the world support this degree of empowerment?
• Changes faster than the speed of business – all the information about each integration (metadata) can be recalled and changed at the “push of a button” which allows integrations to be treated as dynamic constantly changing elements that are never on the critical path for business changes.  Does any other platform in the world support this degree of continuous improvement?
• Provides perfect governance – there is a common misperception that allowing users to “serve themselves” causes IT and the business to loose control.  To the contrary, the self-service factory provides the highest level of control since governance is baked into the automated procedures. Does any other platform in the world offer this degree of quality control?

In short, the Informatica platform already has all the foundational capabilities that are required for a world class integration factory. Hang on to your hats for an exciting ride in the 2010’s!