Enterprise Interoperability Basic Concepts and Definitions David Chen IMS-LAPS University Bordeaux 1 FRANCE

Various views on interoperability The ambiguous definition of interoperability User’s expectations IT provider’s concepts Society view of interoperability Dream eBusiness eGouv ERP/CRM/SCM Collaborative work Seamless interactions Methodology Networked enterprise Service Oriented Architecture Agent technology XML/ebXML Middleware Integration Standards

Interoperability – general view Oxford: ‘able to operate in conjunction’. Webster: “ability of a system to use the parts of another system” Generally, “Inter-operate” implies that one system performs an operation on behalf of (or for) another system.

Interoperability - IEEE Definition Ability for two (or more) systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged IEEE standard computer glossaries (1990)

Interoperability – software view Two co-operating software can easily work together without a particular interfacing effort. It also means establishing communication and sharing information and services between software applications regardless of hardware platforms. In other words, it describes whether or not two software that were developed with different tools and from different vendors can work together.

Interoperability vs. portability the ease with which a system, component, data, or user can be transferred from one hardware or software environment to another. a quality metric that can be used to measure the effort to transport or convert the software for use in another environment The concept of interoperability is closely related to the concept of portability. TOGAF defined the portability as: Portability is the ability of data or system to be moved, and interoperability is the ability of software or systems to understand and use information coming from other software or systems.

Interoperability vs. interchangeability Interoperable ≠ interchangeable Interchangeable => replace a system or component to provide a same service with an equivalent behaviors (ex. response time) Interoperable => simply ability to exchange service without necessity to have the same behaviors.

Interoperability – system view Reversibility: Even if the implementation of the interoperability between partners leads to an adaptation or a modification of the systems, these systems have to be able to come back to their initial state at the end of the interoperation E1E2E1E2E1E2 Initial stateInteroperabilityInitial state

Interoperability vs. integration Interoperability has the meaning of co-existence and co- operation, while integration relates to the notion of collaboration and uniformalisation. In (Vernadat, 1996), interoperability is defined as the ability to communicate with another system and use the functionality of the other system => Interoperability = communication + interaction However, integration is more large and broad => Integration = communication + co-operation + co- ordination

Interoperability vs. integration INTEGRATIONINTEROPERABILITY Consistency between local and global objectives Do not seek for consistency Tightly coupled Two parts are inter-dependent loosely coupled Two parts are independent Decrease differences (languages, methods, tools,...) Identity and diversity preserved Intra-enterprise (Merge, restructuration, etc.) Inter-enterprise (Networked enterprise,…)

Interoperability ≠ collaboration Interoperability => has no direct business mission / goal => does not directly solve any business problem Two interoperable enterprises may not have any collaboration project Two enterprises in collaboration may have serious interoperability problems Interoperability vs. collaboration

Enterprise interoperability Ability of interaction between enterprises (or part of it). The enterprise interoperability is achieved if the interaction can, at least, take place at the three levels: data, application and business process with the semantics defined in a business context IDEAS Project