Extending the information system lifecycle through enterprise application integration: a case study experience

Enterprise application integration (EAI) technologies support a direct move away from disparate systems operating in parallel towards a more common shared architecture, where systems evolve and merge together. Such an emergence however, presents a paradigm shift in the way that information system (IS) lifecycles are viewed. The integration of IS in-line with the needs of the business is altering IS identity and extending their lifecycle. This makes evaluating the full impact of the system difficult, as it has no definitive start and/or end. The authors demonstrate, through a case study of IS applications within an e-government framework, that EAI can be used as a portfolio of technologies that improves infrastructure integration. However, in doing so, the authors create the need to re-think traditional IS-lifecycle norms.