System Integration Glossary

Welcome to our system integrations glossary, your go-to resource for understanding the most important words and phrases used in the industry.

Whether you're a seasoned integration professional or just getting started, our glossary will help you navigate the complex landscape of system integration and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies.

A

API (Application Programming Interface)

A set of protocols, routines, and tools for building software and applications. It specifies how software components should interact and APIs allow for communication between different systems.

API Gateway

A layer of software that sits between client applications and backend services, acting as a reverse proxy to handle incoming requests and outgoing responses. An API gateway can perform various functions, such as authentication, rate limiting, caching, and protocol translation, and can help to simplify the management and security of an organization's APIs.

API Management

The process of designing, publishing, monitoring, and securing APIs throughout their lifecycle. API management platforms provide tools and services to help organizations manage their APIs effectively and ensure they are delivering value to their users.

B

Business Intelligence (BI)

The process of converting data into actionable insights and knowledge for decision making.

Business Process Management (BPM)

A method of designing, modeling, executing, monitoring, and optimizing business processes.

C

Cloud Integration

The process of connecting different cloud-based or on-premises systems and applications with cloud-based services and infrastructure.

Connectors

Software that connects different systems and applications together, allowing them to share data and functionality.

Containerization

A technique used to package software code and dependencies into a single unit, making it easier to deploy and manage.

Certified Integrator

A quality standard for system integrations, providing best-practice guidelines for more secure and reusable integrations.
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D

DevOps (Development and Operations)

A culture and set of practices that combines software development and IT operations to shorten the systems development life cycle.

Data Lake

A centralized repository that allows storing structured and unstructured data at any scale.

Data Pipeline

A set of processes that move data from one system to another, including extracting, transforming, and loading data.

Data Warehousing

The process of collecting, storing, and managing large amounts of data from various sources for reporting and analysis.

E

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)

A standard format for exchanging business data electronically between different organizations.

Endpoint

A network address that represents the location of a specific service or resource in an integration architecture. Endpoints are used to send and receive messages between systems and applications. They can be physical or logical, and can be accessed through different protocols, such as HTTP, FTP, or SMTP.

ESB (Enterprise Service Bus)

A middleware tool used to connect different systems and applications within an organization.

ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)

A process used to extract data from one or more sources, transform it into a format that can be used by another application or system, and load it into the target destination.

Event-driven Architecture

A software architecture pattern in which events trigger the flow of data and actions between different services and systems.

Event Streaming

A data processing and communication pattern in which events, or messages, are produced, processed, and consumed in real-time. Event streaming can enable organizations to make faster, data-driven decisions and respond quickly to changing conditions.

F

Flow

A sequence of actions and processing steps that occur in an integration architecture to achieve a specific outcome. Flows may involve the movement of data or messages between systems and applications. Flows are often used to model and automate complex business processes in an integration architecture, and may be designed using a visual modeling tool.

In Starlify, the relation between references is called a Flow. These represent the integration.

H

Hybrid Integration

The process of connecting on-premises systems and applications with cloud-based services and infrastructure, as well as other external systems and partners.

Hybrid Integration Platform

An integration platform that supports a combination of cloud-based and on-premise integration scenarios, enabling organizations to connect and integrate systems and applications across different environments and deployment models.

I

Integration

The process of connecting different systems or applications together, so that they can exchange data and work together seamlessly. Integration can be achieved through various techniques, such as APIs, middleware, messaging, and file transfers. It is a critical aspect of system architecture, enabling organizations to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and gain greater insights into their data.

iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service)

A cloud-based platform that enables organizations to integrate applications and systems without the need for on-premise hardware or software.

ICC (Integration Competency Center)

A team or department within an organization that is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining the organization's integration architecture and solutions.

ICOE (Integration Center of Excellence)

A centralized team or department that provides leadership, expertise, and best practices for integration across an organization, often working closely with ICCs.

ISET (Integration Strategy Empowerment Team)

An ISET is responsible for designing, implementing, and delivering the Hybrid Integration Platform (HIP). The team provides training, support and consultation to everyone involved in the integration project. Part of the ISET’s task is to put self-service integration capabilities into place.

J

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation)

A lightweight data interchange format that is easy for humans to read and write, and easy for machines to parse and generate. JSON is often used in web and mobile applications and is a popular alternative to XML for data exchange.

L

Low-Code Development

A software development approach that uses visual interfaces and drag-and-drop tools to enable non-technical users to create applications.

M

Microservices

A software architecture pattern in which a large application is broken down into smaller, independent services that can be developed, deployed, and scaled separately and communicate with each other through APIs.

Middleware

Software that acts as a bridge between different applications or systems, allowing them to communicate and exchange data.

Monolithic Architecture

A software architecture pattern in which an application is built as a single, self-contained unit, with all components tightly coupled together. This architecture can make it difficult to scale and update individual components of the application.

MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport)

A lightweight protocol that allows devices to publish and subscribe to messages in real-time.

R

Reference

A pointer to a particular resource or service in an integration architecture. References are used to facilitate communication between different systems and ensure that messages are routed to the correct destination.

In Starlify, a reference node connects systems, services, and endpoints. A system consumes a service or an endpoint through a reference. These are commonly known as "contracts" and "subscriptions”.

REST (Representational State Transfer)

A software architectural style that defines a set of constraints to be used when creating web services.

REST API (Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface)

A type of API that uses HTTP requests to retrieve, update, and delete data. REST APIs are designed to be stateless, meaning that each request contains all the information necessary for the server to understand and fulfill it.

S

SaaS (Software as a Service)

A software delivery model in which applications are hosted by a third-party provider and made available to customers over the internet.

Serverless

A cloud computing model in which the cloud provider manages the infrastructure and automatically allocates resources as needed, allowing developers to focus on writing code.

Service

A component of an integration architecture that performs a specific function or task. Services may expose interfaces or endpoints that other systems or applications can use to access their functionality.

In Starlify, a Service node represents an API endpoint, event topic, message queue, or similar.

Service Bus

A messaging infrastructure that allows different services to communicate with each other in a loosely coupled manner.

Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)

A software architecture pattern in which software is composed of services that communicate with each other using a common protocol.

SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol)

A protocol for exchanging structured data in the implementation of web services in computer networks.

SSO (Single Sign-On)

A method of authentication that allows users to access multiple applications with one set of login credentials.

Starlify

An integration productivity platform that synchronizes teams and organizes integration landscapes. Starlify brings insight by collecting an organisation’s system integration assets all in one place. 
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System

A collection of interdependent components and services that work together to achieve a specific goal or function within an integration architecture. Systems may be composed of multiple applications, databases, middleware, and other components.

In Starlify, System nodes provide services or consume services provided by another system.

W

Webhooks

A way for an app to provide other applications with real-time information. A webhook sends a HTTP request to a specified URL when an event occurs.

Workflow Automation

The use of software tools to automate repetitive tasks and streamline business processes.

Web Service

A software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network, typically using XML or JSON message formats and HTTP or SOAP protocols.

Web Socket

A protocol that provides a persistent, bi-directional communication channel between a client and a server over a single TCP connection. Web Sockets are commonly used in real-time web applications to enable low-latency, high-bandwidth data transfer.

X

XML (Extensible Markup Language)

A markup language that is widely used for structuring and storing data in a format that can be easily exchanged between different systems and applications. XML is often used in web services and other integration scenarios.

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