In its ideal state, enterprise integration would be like a Sudoku puzzle: If you placed all the right numbers in right sequence you would have a neat, logical, unique little box. Sudoku, however, has an end. When the grid is complete, you are done. Enterprise integration is not that simple. It is an endless brainteaser that requires thinking outside the box.
One would think integration would be getting easier, given the technologies that have emerged in the last decade, from pre-defined application programming interfaces, to XML, to service-oriented architecture. But it's still difficult.
"Integration is the hardest thing we do in IT," said Tim Hall, senior director of Oracle's product management application integration architecture.
