Enterprise integration: Issues and methods

The necessity of maintaining lean operations and becoming an 'agile enterprise', in which the speed and flexibility at which a company functions matches that of its technology, is widely accepted. Information technology is providing the means for companies to integrate better their internal and external activities. This level of integration is achieved through 'enterprisewide systems' that reflect the current operations and processes of the business and allow decision-makers to digest information more rapidly and accurately, and with more flexibility. The objective of this paper is to review some of the current literature concerning enterprise integration and to identify and discuss the main issues that need to be considered before attempting to establish enterprise-wide integration.