Business Information Systems A Brief Analysis

The evolution of technology has seen its incorporation in many business organisations to improve how the operations are carried out. Business Information Systems are being deployed by many organisations as the effects have been seen to be very beneficial. The main aim of using improved technology to run activities in business is to improve the stance of the organisation in the economic market. This can be done by improving the flow of information between the customers and the organisations as well as the suppliers. An organisation is likely to prosper by understanding the role played by the Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) (Brown, 2010).

Therefore, this paper is going to focus on how the EAI functions and how it can be improved with time by the use of web services.According to Brown (2010), enterprise Application Integration (EAI) refers to the application of software in the computer systems that will help maximise the use of the computers in an enterprise. The process mainly aims at improving the services in the organisation by increasing the use of the technology in a manner that will profit the organisation. Communication is a vital aspect in an organisation and many organisations have found themselves at a loss due to poor communication. This is evident mainly in the supply chain management department. The implementation of the software in the company improves this factor greatly as the supply of the goods can be easily monitored.

This automatically means that the customers will receive better services and the company is bund to make profit. Thus, implementing the software is more of an investment for the organisation as the profit made is greater than what was initially used to implement the system.Therefore, the EAI aims to help link the processes of the organisation without necessarily having to disrupt their functioning (Julie, 2002, pp.1). The only thing that changes is that the results achieved are more reliable and accurate.

However, everything is not simple in the deployment of the software as there are likely to be challenges involved. Some of the organisations are likely to be using different Information Systems that do not synchronise with the databases. The language used by the organisations systems is also important and prove to be a challenge during the installation of the EAI.Achieving a competitive advantage is the main aim for all organisations in the economic market. Thus the introduction of the EAI was accepted by many organsiations as its application varies and its advantages are many.

Data IntegrationThe EAI software is developed in manner that it has the Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). This is quite beneficial as not many Information Systems have their own in built APIs. The communication process is made easier as the process does not involve the application of other systems to increase its efficiency. The data integration process in the EAI is quite unique as it aims to provide all services from one central point. This greatly reduces complications in the process and the services provided are efficient as well.

The data sources in most organisations are disparate and their communication has been accessed from different points for a long time. The deployment of EAI will ensure that the organisation can access all their information from different databases as they want but it will from one central concentration. Thus, incase there is problem it can be managed from one area. Process IntegrationEAI aims to make the computer systems fully efficient to the organisation; this can be achieved if the resources can be accessed by the user or processor. With the use of different technologies, there has emerged a problem where the applications are accessible but they are not together as they were before.

This has made availability of these resources difficult for the organisation as they are difficult to retrieve. Therefore, EAI is able to correct this problem by making all the resources are one unit instead of each being isolated (Julie, 2002). This will help the computer system be more efficient to the organisation. This is an achievement that many Information Systems are not able to achieve.Vendor IndependenceThe EAI aims to help solve the problem s that the organisation is facing currently and make the computer systems efficient in the future as well.

In order for the EAI to be beneficial, the system has to go hand in hand with the objectives and rules of the company. Using them in the implementation process is bound to achieve more satisfactory results.What constitutes the EAI is not quite clear as many people have their own different versions and interpretations of the system. For a system such as the EAI to function at an efficient standard, it has to have a unique structure that will support all its functions. This will include; a centralized unit that handles all the security and communication activities of an organisation.

This is not an easy system to achieve and it can be done if there is the merging of different servers. An example of merging servers would be the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), which is quite similar to the initial system and can be used to act as a service manager. The presence of a conical data model is highly regarded as one of the components that make up the structure of the EAI. This is a standard structure known to support other independent data models. This is mainly relevant in the business environment as the language is appropriate for communication as well (Brown, 2010). A connector should also be evident in the structure to enhance good communication aspects.

The APIs should have a system or model that define its components and help it function appropriately. Thus, the database and inter- face level of the EAI system is made up of complex but relevant material.The EAI system helps increase efficiency in the company and this has been quite beneficial for most organisations but there are bound to be some difficult challenges faced by the system. The challenges are mainly focused on the communication part of the services offered.

This is not uncommon as the system is mainly focused on improving the communication of the organisation. There have been attempts at improving the communication process through databases. This has been made possible by the installation of different IT systems that are programmed to adjust to different languages. This has made different organisations have rather high expectations concerning the communication system installed.

They expect that the databases will be conversant to the same language; this will mean that data sharing should be a normal process. In order to achieve this, it would be necessary for organisations to apply to a different IT system in their company that would work well with the EAI implemented. This point is clearly understood by most organisations but they choose to keep their old systems on and have the EAI implemented in a manner that would work well with the old systems. This will not achieve the results desired by the organisation and it may lead to problems. Most organisations feel that installing new IT systems is very expensive and they would not want to incur any losses (Brown, 2010). If most organsiations viewed the deployment of new systems as an investment rather than a purchase, then they are likely to achieve the desired results.

The information systems installed will make the services provided by the organisation more satisfactory to the customer and in turn; this will lead to the company making profits.Advantages of the EAIAccess to information is the main advantaged achieved by most organisations. Information can be used in different ways and this will affect the company in a positive manner. The systems will help the organisation have access to information concerning the business environment as a whole. The organisation will be able to work in manner that will give them an edge over their competitors.

Communication is very important in every business organisation and if it is not exercised then the organisation is not functional (Julie, 2002). This is mainly experienced in the case of supply management since the distance may cause difficulty in communication leading to problems with demand and supply balance. With the system in place, the organisation can be able to closely monitor the supply chain ensuring all parties are satisfied.Development and maintenance will be carried out at a simpler level since everything will be monitored appropriately. This will make the company achieve the desired results.

The main problem or disadvantage focuses on the price of the installation and maintenance costs. Most organisations aim at saving their money and the installation process might seem to be quite expensive for most parties. Even if implementing the system is an investment, some companies cannot be able to afford the system. In general, EAI provides services that are quite beneficial to most organisations that have invested in the system. However, EAI is still being improved since technology is ever changing with time.

There are many design groups that are currently working on producing a more efficient system.