What is EAI?

EAI refers to Enterprise Application Integration. EAI is the merging of applications and data from various new and legacy systems within a business. Various means are employed to accomplish EAI, including middleware, in order to unify IT resources, maximise new ERP investments, diminish errors and get everyone on the same page. EAI enables companies to link their existing software applications with each other and with portals. EAI provide the ability to get their applications to exchange critical data. EAI is usually close to the top of any CIO's list of concerns. There are different approaches to EAI. Some rely on linking specific applications with tailored code, but most rely on generic solutions, typically called middleware. XML, combined with SOAP and UDDI is a kind of middleware.