B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

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Integration Patterns 67
Figure 3.17. — XML transformation over data oriented integration
3.2.6. Data oriented integration and B2Bi
Data oriented integration can either be real-time (such as synchronous
replication, stored procedures, virtual data warehouses) or non-real-time
(such as asynchronous replication, batch transfer, scheduled extraction
and transformation). The level of integration, transformation and
timeliness of data are decided by the data oriented integration solution
implemented by a company with its partners. A Fortune 500 company,
typically, uses a combination of all the above solutions to achieve its
integration goals.
One of the most challenging tasks of data oriented integration is
synchronizing the semantic discrepancies that exist in different data
sources. Each data source may be supporting one or more business unit
of the company. The data elements in these data sources may have the
same names and formats, but have different meaning and association,
based on the business unit they support.