Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Integration architecture
Also known as: systems integration architecture
German: Integrationsarchitektur
In enterprise and plant IT, integration architecture is the structure of how systems exchange data and invoke each other's functions, including integration styles, middleware components, interfaces, data models and the principles governing them.
- System integration
In one sentence
Integration architecture defines how systems exchange data and call each other's functions: styles, middleware, interfaces and data models.
Example
The plant's integration architecture specifies OPC UA from machines to edge gateways, MQTT to the event broker, and REST APIs between MES and ERP.
How it applies
- Architecture: A deliberate integration architecture avoids the growth of undocumented point-to-point links. It defines which integration styles are allowed where (file transfer, shared database, remote calls, messaging) and which components provide them.
- Security: Integration paths cross security zones. The integration architecture and the zone and conduit model of the OT security concept must match.
- Documentation: Maintain an integration map showing systems, interfaces, protocols and data flows, with owners. It is the entry point for impact analysis when a system changes and for onboarding new team members.
Integration architecture vs. integration platform
The integration architecture is the design. An Integration platform is a product or technical component that implements parts of it. Platforms change over time; the architecture principles should outlast them.