Equipping the Enterprise Interoperability Problem Solver

The maturity of the enterprise interoperability field does not match the importance attached to it by many, both in the public as well as the private community. A host of models, paradigms, designs, standards, methods, and instruments seems to be available, but many of them are only used in rather small circles. Also, they constitute a poorly structured field, divided along disciplinary boundaries and filled with competition and incompatibilities, which is therefore difficult to set foot in by enterprise interoperability problem owners. This chapter proposes a scope and structure of an enterprise interoperability profession by taking the enterprise interface as the pivotal concept. It then defines four perspectives on such interfaces: design, transaction, implementation, and suprastructure. These four perspectives each house a range of issues, which can be tackled by the enterprise interoperability professional by using models and instruments. This chapter identifies and classifies such models and instruments and sketches how a collection of these can be implemented and used.