Patent ID: 7072898

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of integrating a plurality of heterogeneous applications, the method comprising the steps of: communicating an item from a source application to a target application in a series of phases; wherein said series of phases includes a first phase during which an integration system interacts with said source application to receive the item from said source application in a first application-specific format; wherein said series of phases includes a second phase, performed after said first phase, during which said integration system interacts with said target application to communicate the item to said target application in a second application-specific format; and wherein said series of phases includes a third phase, performed after said first phase and prior to said second phase; wherein one or more phases that precede said second phase convert said item to a canonical format that is independent of said first application-specific format and said second application-specific format; wherein during said third phase said integration system applies one or more business rules to said item in said canonical format, wherein both said canonical format and said business rules are application-independent.