Integration and the stairway to value

We’ve been looking at deployments of IBMs Cast Iron and Scribe and in particular we’ve been investigating how to best quantify the value from these integration solutions. The obvious benefit is the reduction in the time needed to integrate applications but the secondary benefit is the ability to keep current with the latest versions of the integrated solutions. The reality of integration is that the maximum value is achieved on the day you integrate and stays level until you upgrade your solution. Consider a graph with value on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis. Now draw a 45 degree line up and to the right. That line represents the maximum value possible at any point in time assuming you integrate the latest versions of the solutions. In the real world integration projects take time and resources. That expense means most organizations delay upgrading solutions to the latest versions to avoid integration issues. Your value line stays horizontal until the next integration effort when you jump back you to your 45 degree maximum value line. That area in the triangle represents the lost value and given that some clients admit to being many versions behind, that area can be significant. Integration solutions reduce the burden and allow you to capture this lost value.