Edge data integration

An edge data integration is an implementation of data integration technology undertaken in an ad hoc or tactical fashion. This is also sometimes referred to as point-to-point integration because it connects two types of data directly to serve a narrow purpose. Many edge integrations, and actually the vast majority of all data integration, involves hand-coded scripts. Some may take the form of enterprise mashups (web application hybrids), Rich Internet applications, or other browser-based models that take advantage of Web 2.0 technologies to combine data in a Web browser.

Examples of edge data integration projects might be:

* extracting a list of customers from a host Sales Force Automation application and writing the results to an Excel spreadsheet
* creating a script-driven framework for managing RSS feeds
* combining data from a weather Web site, a shipping company's Web site, and a company's internal logistics database to track shipments and estimated arrival times of packages

In contrast to a core data integration, an edge data integration does not typically involve large budgets and centrally managed technologies, such as an ETL server or an Enterprise Service Bus.

See also

* core data integration