How many Channels
Let us go back to the point-to-point integration scenario and assume that we have
four separate in-house systems, one for each of the four separate departments
(HR, Accounts, R&D, and Sales). The operational problem the business faces is
to interoperate these systems. In the point-to-point integration, we need to have
independent channels of connection between each pair of systems. These channels
are static, strongly typed, and without much intelligence for dynamic routing or
transformation. The advantage is that it is rather easy to build the solution.
As shown in the next figure, if there are six systems (nodes) to be interconnected, we
need at least thirty separate channels for both forward and reverse transport. If we
add one more node to the IT portfolio, the number of channels to be defined goes up
from thirty to forty two. This means, as time passes and as more and more systems
and applications are added to the organization, the number of interconnections or
channels to be defined between these systems rises exponentially, in the order of two.
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Chapter 1
[ 21 ]
We can generalize the number of channels (Nc) required for complete interconnection
for n separate systems as:
Nc = n2 ??“ n
This number is still manageable for small organizations with a small number of
systems, but experience has shown that this is going to be a nightmare for
mid-sized and large-sized organizations.
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