University of Illinois System

AITS

Administrative Information Technology Services

Integration Services

Service Description

Application Integration Services are offered to make Enterprise data available to applications via web services, messaging, file transfer, or other supported programming interface. This service allows departmental or vended applications to integrate with enterprise data on a secure, consistent, and supported basis.

Web Services

Web Service API’s that extend Banner functionality, providing data validation services, facilitating SSO authentications, utilities such as sending email, and many others.

Messaging Services

Offering point-to-point and publish-subscribe messaging integration services for batch and web applications, where direct integration is the best fit. AITS can help integrate applications with messaging services via local integration, or by building custom connectors that provide data integration capabilities.

The messaging services environment consists of the following components:

  • Logging service – stores content and endpoint information for all synchronization messages sent in the enterprise
  • Routing – delivers messages to defined endpoints based on the content of the message
  • Proxy – validates that requests for enterprise data are sent from valid sources
  • Transformation – transforms and enhances the format and content of messages from the source system to the target system
  • Messaging brokers (e.g. Sonic MQ, Kafka) hosting point-to-point queues and publish-subscribe topics

Enterprise Objects

Enterprise objects use a standard object model to provide a common representation of business objects and the underlying data. The consolidation of data into a business object provides an easy to understand layout for use across distributed systems.

Hours of Availability

This service is available to customers 24/7, excluding planned outages, maintenance windows and unavoidable events. Maintenance windows are used only when needed for planned changes that have gone through the AITS Change Control Process. In addition to the standard AITS maintenance windows, site-specific and service-specific changes may be coordinated with customers at non-standard times.

Standard maintenance windows are defined as:

  • 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. each Sunday when application usage is at its lowest
  • After 5 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday, unless business needs to make a change during business hours
  • The second Wednesday of the month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. for patching Microsoft servers
  • 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. three Sundays a year for routine Windows and Linux maintenance

Customer Responsibilities

  • Identify a primary point of contact to work with AITS in coordinating the activities being performed by the service.
  • All new work over 250 hours that could potentially benefit other departments should be initiated through the ITPC process.
  • Support requests relating to the use of the service will be initiated by opening an incident or request ticket with the AITS Service Desk.

How Do We Charge?

Service Level Agreements detailing projected hours and cost will be worked out with each customer depending on the desired level of support.