The integration of disparate applications and systems into a unified set of business processes, allowing the unrestricted sharing of data and business processes among any connected applications and data sources in the enterprise
A cross-functional E-business application that integrates front-office applications like customer relationship management with back-office applications like enterprise resource management
The linking and sharing of multiple business applications and data, including extensions to business partners, through the use of application-to-application modules, object middleware and message brokering, or multitier application server platforms Motivations for EAI include the need to rapidly implement Web-based projects, the need to link to legacy data, and the need to forge links to different systems acquired through corporate mergers and acquisitions See application in the hard copy dictionary
A central service through which other applications communicate Its primary goals are to communicate changes in the data between applications (sharing or synchronizing data), and to invoke the business logic or services of an application from other applications (remote invocation) (http: //www ui-integrate uillinois edu/news_art_messaging asp)
The integration of two or more enterprise systems' processes, software, standards, and hardware, allowing them to operate as one