A UNIFIED STRATEGIC MODEL FOR ISOLATED SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

Abstract

Several isolated systems are designed for the enterprise’s integrated automation. These systems not only support automation of salient processes in the enterprise but also resolve issues related to functional or nonfunctional requirements of the academic and non-academic problems. It is inevitable and enforces organizations to change with respects to time to align the changing needs of the organization without retiring the legacy of systems. Several isolated systems are usually developed for different needs at different times using different platforms and technologies. The current state of isolated systems consists of several challenges like data & operations redundancy, multiple authentication & authorization, system heterogeneity & complexity. This challenge leads to wastage of time, cost and efforts. Institutions are facing such challenges to establish a balance between uses of existing legacy systems along with adapting new systems in future expansion. As a case, Arba Minch University (AMU) is also facing such challenges where the study is focused to collect primary data for study and analysis. This research study is an effort to develop a unified strategic integration model for isolated systems with new features like Single-SignOn, centralized common database, integration and inter-operability. The study deeply investigated and analyzed the opportunities and challenges in terms of integration for single sign on, centralized database control and integration and interoperability. Finally, a unified strategic integration model for isolated systems USIMIS is designed with RESTful API and Centralized database for the functional modules using two selected systems i.e. simulated E-learning over Moodle and simulated SMIS over OpenSIS for functional demonstration and validation. The new knowledge based system was evaluated by user test data for its significance need, relevance and efficiency.