Last week I presented a session on integration at an Architects Forum, along with some of my colleagues.  The Forum was about Office Business Applications (OBA).  An approach to building composite applications that enable users to stay in their desktop applications of choice, while accessing capabilities and data from other line of business systems. 

OBA's are interesting as they recognise that an amount of work happens outside of current line of business applications.  For example, people send emails, author documents and maintain spreadsheets as part of their day to day activity.  Many of these activities are necessary because users do not have access to the information they need, and so they ask someone else.  The approach they take to get the information may only be known to them, and the information they receive is likely to be stored in their computer.  It's also likely that this information is as valuable to the business as that within the 'strategic' line of business applications.

By recognising this activity OBA's can delivery many benefits.  My view on the value is:

• Broadens availability of business capabilities and information within a company
• more people have access to the correct information and functionality to do their job
• Naturally supports human intervention
• useful in the event of exception handling
• Supports regulatory compliance
• given the wider availability of information it's more likely that the same, consistent information is used for decisions
• Systems can respond more quickly to business changes
• more of the business activity is implemented within applications, so when the business changes the systems can respond

Of course taking this approach can also have limitations:

• Not all capabilities and information within line of business applications are implemented in a modular way, and therefore gaining access can be difficult
• Widening the access to information, particularly allowing amendments, can lead to transference of control and ownership considerations
• Managing line of business applications is reasonably well understood.  Managing more unstructured, ad-hoc, and dynamic activities less so.

My view is that the benefits outweigh the limitations and therefore taking this approach is worthy of at least consideration...

Simon Thurman