Lean Integration: An Integration Factory Approach to Business Agility

Use Lean Techniques to Integrate Enterprise Systems Faster, with Far Less Cost and Risk   By some estimates, 40 percent of IT budgets are devoted to integration. However, most organizations still attack integration on a project-by-project basis, causing unnecessary expense, waste, risk, and delay. They struggle with integration “hairballs”: complex point-to-point information exchanges that are expensive to maintain, difficult to change, and unpredictable in operation.   The solution is Lean Integration. This book demonstrates how to use proven “lean” techniques to take control over the entire integration process. John Schmidt and David Lyle show how to establish “integration factories” that leverage the powerful benefits of repeatability and continuous improvement across every integration project you undertake.   Drawing on their immense experience, Schmidt and Lyle bring together best practices; solid management principles; and specific, measurable actions for streamlining integration development and maintenance.   Whether you’re an IT manager, project leader, architect, analyst, or developer, this book will help you systematically improve the way you integrate—adding value that is both substantial and sustainable.   Coverage includes Treating integration as a business strategy and implementing management disciplines that systematically address its people, process, policy, and technology dimensions Providing maximum business flexibility and supporting rapid change without compromising stability, quality, control, or efficiency Applying improvements incrementally without “Boiling the Ocean” Automating processes so you can deliver IT solutions faster–while avoiding the pitfalls of automation Building in both data and integration quality up front, rather than inspecting quality in later More than a dozen in-depth case studies that show how real organizations are applying Lean Integration practices and the lessons they’ve learned Visit integrationfactory.com for additional resources, including more case studies, best practices, templates, software demos, and reference links, plus a direct connection to lean integration practitioners worldwide.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures and Tables xv Foreword xix Preface xxiii Acknowledgments xxvii About the Authors xxix Introduction xxxi   Part I: Executive Summary 1   Chapter 1: What Is Lean Integration and Why Is It Important? 3 Constant Rapid Change and Organizational Agility 5 The Case for Lean Integration 9 What Is Integration? 11 Integration Maturity Levels 14 Economies of Scale (the Integration Market) 16 Getting Started: Incremental Implementation without “Boiling the Ocean” 20   Chapter 2: A Brief History of Lean 23 The Lean System 29 The Lean Practices 34 Lean Application Trends 41 Case Study: The Value of Lean in Service Industries 44   Chapter 3: The Integration Factory 45 What Is an Integration Factory? 46 The Integration Factory as an Element of an ICC 52 How Does the Integration Factory Work? 55 Integration Factories as Self-Service ICCs 64   Part II: Applying Lean Principles 67   Chapter 4: Focus on the Customer and Eliminate Waste 69 Focus on the Customer 70 Integration Wastes 74 Case Study: Waste Elimination at Clicks-and-Bricks 81 Case Study: Waste Elimination at Big Bank 85 Focus on the Integration Value Chain 87   Chapter 5: Continuously Improve 89 Continuous Learning and Knowledge Management 90 Case Study: Continuous Improvement at Clicks-and-Bricks 91   Chapter 6: Empower the Team 103 What Is a Team? 104 Examples of Empowered Teams in Software 107 Creating an Empowered Lean Integration Team 109 Leadership and Vision 112 Important Practices That Help Enable Empowered Teams 117 Organizing the Team: Thoughts on Organizational Structures 120 Case Study: Smith & Nephew–Integrating Lean Principles with Data Quality 122   Chapter 7: Optimize the Whole 131 Optimize the Whole Rather than Optimize the Parts 132 What Is “the Whole”? An Introduction to Value Stream Mapping 134 Selecting Metrics to Optimize the Whole 139   Chapter 8: Plan for Change and Mass-Customize 145 Techniques for Enabling Constant Change 146 Mass Customization 152 Case Study: Using Mass Customization 159   Chapter 9: Automate Processes and Deliver Fast 163 Pitfalls of Automation–Building “Stuff” Faster 164 Delivering Fast 167 Automating Processes–Using the Computer to Make Complexity Manageable 169 Case Study: Automating Processes at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage 174   Chapter 10: Build Quality In 181 Two Areas of Quality: Data Quality and Integration Quality 182 Quality Evolution and Lean 184 Data Quality 185 Integration Quality 192 Case Study: Building Quality In at a Utility Company ICC 198   Part III: Implementation Practices 203   Chapter 11: Financial Management 205 Challenges 207 Activities 214 Business Case Development 215 Case Study: A “Creating the Wave” Investment Strategy 236 Case Study: Enterprise Data Warehouse Rationalization Business Case 238 Chargeback Accounting 240 Chargeback Case Studies 250   Chapter 12: Integration Methodology 253 Activities 256 Agile versus Lean Methodology 263 Case Study in Simplicity: The Architecture of the Web and REST versus SOA 269 Engagement Services Management 271 Case Study: Integration Methodology in a Decentralized Enterprise 274   Chapter 13: Metadata Management 281 Metadata Scope for Lean Integration 284 Metadata Management Framework 285 Challenges 289 Prerequisites 292 Industry Practices 293 Activities 295   Chapter 14: Information Architecture 301 Challenges 304 Prerequisites 308 Activities 309 Methodology 310 Information Architecture Models 312 Data at Rest 317   Chapter 15: Business Process Management 321 Data-in-Motion Models 324 Activities 326 Architecture 328 Case Study: The Post Closing Systems Architecture 330   Chapter 16: Modeling Management 333 Service-Oriented Architecture Can Create a New Hairball 336 Challenges 339 Coupling and Cohesion Framework 343 Canonical Modeling Techniques 345 Navigating the Modeling Layers 350 Activities 352 Case Study: European Interoperability Framework 357 Case Study: Object-Relational Mismatch 359   Chapter 17: Integration Systems 361 What Is an Integration System? 362 Integration Systems Taxonomy 364 Challenges 369 Industry Practices 370 Activities 371 Portfolio Rationalization 378   Appendix A: Lean Terminology 387   Appendix B: Integration Laws 395 Law #1: The Whole Is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts 395 Law #2: There Is No End State 396 Law #3: There Are No Universal Standards 396 Law #4: Information Adapts to Meet Local Needs 397 Law #5: All Details Are Relevant 397   Appendix C: Glossary 399 Common Acronyms 399 Definitions 400   Index 409

About the Author :
John G. Schmidt, Vice President of Global Integration Services at Informatica, advises clients on emerging technologies, develops strategies for enterprise initiatives, and directs the company’s Integration Competency Center Practice.   David Lyle, Vice President of Product Strategy at Informatica, uses his years of experience in data warehousing, migration, and MDM to advise clients on successful ICC approaches, as well as guide Informatica’s product direction.