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In 1998, it all begins on a small scale with Oracle expertise as the main pillar. We mostly concerned ourselves with Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence and what is now called ETL (Extract Transform Load). Data modeling, creating hierarchies, extracting from ERP systems, making information from data and reporting were the main activities. We still do this, but now with the latest ETL and reporting tools and DHW insights.
At the turn of the century, with middleware becoming more and more mature and a growing need for real-time information, A2K is getting involved in Enterprise Application Integration. Initially with products from New Era Of Networks NEON (Neon Formatter, Neon Rules) and when they were acquired by IBM, MQSeries Integrator (nowadays known as WebSphere Message Broker). Our first projects in this area are aimed on (near) real-time Master Data Integration. Professional Master Data management is of crucial importance in large companies with many ERP systems across multiple (international) locations. To this day we are experts in the field of Master Data integration, one of the most complex areas in the IT, especially when there is still not a definitive solution.
We learned an important lesson from our first integration projects: a message bus architecture with "canonical messages" is a prerequisite for a scalable and sustainable solution. Since then we have applied these principles in highly complex logictic and financial integration projects. Initially applied company internal but later on also with their external business partners, eventually fading all boundaries ...
As integration is becoming more complex and the trend in off-shoring is continuing, it is clear that more and more focus is required on quality control. (NL tekst ook iets aangepast). Since more (external) parties are involved in projects, quality control and testing are becoming a vital aspect. At an early stage, A2K recognized this trend and embraced structural testing and professional test management (TMAP / ISTQB) and (of course) applied these to integration. At this time, we can say that there are few parties in the Netherlands with more experience in the field of chain testing.
By choosing the de-facto messaging standard in an industry, upscaling of enterprise application integration (A2A) to global eBusiness (B2B) is relatively straightforward. We have booked very good results with software like SAP Netweaver XI and Seeburger. We have learned time and time again that getting to proper agreements, availability of experts at the right time and taking responsibility across the complete chain is far more difficult than technical issues. An experienced project manager with the right balance between hard and soft skills is of vital importance and can make the difference between a success and a failure.
A2K has finished the first implementations of WebServices and A2K (cautiously) adopts the approach to SOA. We have realized this with WebSphere Interchange Server and WebSphere Process Server accessed from various web applications (see also Deferred Annuities service for a large Bank/Insurer). The integration heart beats faster by combining system services in a business service and making it available to the outside world. And this is just the beginning...