Patent ID: 7536697

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of exchanging information among applications, the method comprising: providing a plurality of transformers, each transformer corresponding to a unique transformation from one format into another; using a first transformer to transform a data object from a format understandable by a first application into a common format data object; determining a business event type for the common format data object, the business event type representing one or more of a type of function and activity performed by a business; selecting, from among multiple communication channels defined in an integration hub, a communication channel corresponding to the determined business event type, each of the multiple communication channels defined in the integration hub corresponding to a single business event type and being configured to communicate those common format data objects in the integration hub that correspond to the single business event type; publishing the common format data object to the selected communication channel that is defined in the integration hub to correspond to the single business event type determined for the common format data object and configured to communicate those common format data objects in the integration hub that correspond to the single business event type determined for the common format data object; prioritizing communication of the published common format data object on the selected communication channel based on a relative priority associated with the selected communication channel; subscribing to the selected communication channel to retrieve the published common format data object; and using a second transformer to transform the published common format data object into a format understandable by a second application, wherein the common format data object includes data needed to perform the one or more of the type of function and activity represented by the business event type determined for the common format data object, and wherein using the second transformer to transform the published common format data object into the format understandable by the second application comprises translating the data needed to perform the one or more of the type of function and activity included in the common format data object to a vendor-specific format used by the second application in processing data objects to enable the second application to perform operations completed in performing the one or more of the type of function and activity represented by the business event type.