review articles
Doi: 10.1145/1378727.1378745
A guide to the tools and core technologies for
merging information from disparate sources.
BY PhiliP a. BeRnstein anD lauRa m. haas
information
integration in
the enterprise
LARGE ENTERPRISES SPEND a great deal of time and
money on “information integration”—combining
information from different sources into a unified
format. Frequently cited as the biggest and most
expensive challenge that information-technology shops
face, information integration is thought to consume
about 40% of their budget. 4, 14, 16, 33, 36 Market-intelligence
firm iDC estimates that the market for data
integration and access software (which includes the
key enabling technology for information integration)
was about $2.5 billion in 2007 and is expected to grow
to $3.8 billion in 2012, for an average annual growth
rate of 8.7%. 20
Software purchases are only one part of the total
expense. integration activities cover any form of
information reuse, such as moving data from one
application’s database to another’s, translating
messages for business-to-business e-commerce, and
providing access to structured data and documents via
a Web portal.
