| May 2006 |
| Too much vital data stands alone in incompatible formats on incompatible systems. Consolidating it all into a single usable system is one of IT’s greatest challenges. |
| By Don Willmott |
Nothing in information technology is as challenging—and potentially rewarding—for an IT expert as consolidation, the dreaded task of bringing together incompatible data residing on old and incompatible computer systems and making everything talk to everything else. The visual metaphor that’s often used to describe the problem is the silo, a tall, strong, impermeable concrete storage facility that’s meant to stand alone and untouched. If someone tells you your organization is full of silos, you’ve got a problem, and knowing how to tear them down can make you a hero.
An Old Problem
The silo problem goes back 40 years to the mainframe and mini days, and it’s as prevalent in government as it is in the corporate world. It’s easy to imagine how back then the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Highway Department, and the State Budget Office could each congratulate itself for computerizing its operations without ever stopping to wonder if it should try to connect with the other agencies. It would have been pretty much impossible anyway; the networking technology simply wasn’t there.
Over time, departments guarded their silos diligently, and it wasn’t until the advent of the PC and wide adoption of networking that people started asking whether it was time to chip away at the concrete and standardize their hardware and data formats. But that’s always the moment when departments get defensive and politics kick in. “Why should I change my data? Why don’t you change your data?” The same problems often arise when one company acquires another or two companies merge operations.
Consultant Patrick Lencioni, author of Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars (Wiley, 2006), sees silos as a management challenge as much as an IT challenge. “I think the silo problem—departments within the same company working against one another—has existed since the beginning of organizational life,” he writes. “However, in a world where there is more competition than ever for customers and employees alike, the need for eliminating frustration and waste is heightened. The organization that can break down internal barriers will create a clear advantage over their more political and dysfunctional rivals.”
But even if you can settle the turf wars, the technology questions remain. The best-known technology solutions to the silo problem are the somewhat mysterious “Web services,” which the World Wide Web Consortium defines as “software systems designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network.” That sounds good, but what Web services really are depends on the people you ask and what they’re selling. The only thing that’s certain is that the communication is ultimately based on Internet standards that, once implemented, make the future a lot less complicated than the past.
The Common Language
Acronyms and buzzwords abound when it comes to consolidation and Web services.
- Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the general-purpose markup language that is used to describe many different kinds of data. It’s an essential key to consolidation and the connective tissue that runs through many Web services.
- Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is a special XML format used to describe some Web services.
- Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) defines how Web services will be used within the organization. In an SOA environment, network nodes make resources available to others as services that are accessed in a standard way.
- Service-Oriented Architecture Protocol (SOAP) sends XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP.
- Representational State Transfer (REST) is yet another architecture for distributed systems like the Web.
Confused yet? Focus on XML because that’s the standard language that connects all Web services together. As Thomas Erl, the world’s top-selling SOA author and Series Editor of the Prentice Hall Service-Oriented Computing Series (www.soabooks.com) says, “An organization can establish an effective XML data representation architecture regardless of whether their enterprise is comprised of one or several vendor products or platforms. This breaks down previously ‘siloed’ environments and allows data models to be consolidated.”
Erl has very direct advice for IT personnel looking to tackle the silo problem: “To work with or build Web services, you need to understand XML. If you’re a programmer, DBA, data analyst, or if you’re involved in information architecture or have ambitions of becoming a technology architect, XML knowledge is essential.” He adds that at a minimum, any IT professional should have a conceptual understanding of how XML fits into an enterprise.
Education Strategies
There are countless ways to learn XML ranging from “dummies” books and online tutorials all the way up to intensive $2,500 classroom courses that last five days and go much deeper into SOAP and other concepts. A quick Google search will show you all your options. Most assume a working knowledge of programming in general and HTML specifically. (You can get a free taste of the concepts in a number of free tutorials available at www.xmlenterprise.com, one of Thomas Erl’s sites.) Tests and certifications are also available to prove your mastery and to give your resume the extra jolt it needs. Soon you’ll be armed with enough virtual dynamite to bring those silos down.
Don Willmott is a New York City-based journalist who focuses on Internet and technology trends.
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