Since, in reality, the business processes do not occur in isolation, manual steps exist to integrate the applications. These steps introduce delay and add cost to the end product or service of the organization. Anything that can be done to replace manual integration with interprocess coordination is likely to speed up the company and reduce overhead. We want to go from the industrial revolution to Internet time. Carrying this idea a step further, companies are themselves steps in a complete process.
Few companies do everything to move a product from raw materials to finished goods.
Companies operate in a web of business relationships, with one supplying the other with what they need. Here, as with processing within a single organization, companies mostly interact through manual processes. However, if an inventory application in one company can place an order directly with the order entry process of a trusted supplier, the entire process can be streamlined. Finding a way to carry out EAI without having to rewrite mission-critical applications is the goal of this book. Microsoft BizTalk Server is a product that can perform this task for you, by coordinating the flow of message document files between applications.