System integration as a process. Sequence of steps to achieve the required outcome.

              Examination of the company’s current and prospective need for information resources
Analysis of the company's activities from the point of view of the information support of its main processes. Processes (or business processes) mean a complex of interrelated operations required to achieve the shared objective. As a rule, one business process covers activities of different departments and units.
  • Discussion of prospects for developing the existing business processes and creating new ones.
  • Identification of information flows between the units, as well as incoming and outgoing flows from the outside. Determination of the data type, volume and rate, as well as modes of transmission and types of presenting the information for every flow.
  • Determination of volumes of existing data sources.
  • Assessment of prospects for information flows development: changes in the information volumes and rates, creation of new and termination of the current flows.
  • Identification of data requiring multiple access and operative modification because they require centralized storage.
  • Assessment of a trend for an increase in data source volume.
  • Examination of the information secure storage and transmission requirements, both within the enterprise and in the course of information exchange with the partners and branch offices. Analysis of the needs for remote access to information system (or the data stored therein) from public networks from the viewpoint of safety.
             Analysis of the current IT infrastructure
The existing information support means are analyzed on the basis of studying the formal model of the enterprise’s operation developed at the previous stage. The analysis depth is determined in cooperation with the customer.
  • Assessment of the extent of providing the current business processes with the capabilities of current software and hardware.
  • Identification of worn out and outdated systems whose maintenance and development is either impossible for technical reasons or inexpedient from the financial viewpoint.
  • Search for products with similar functionalities and acceptable value in the information services market. One of the criteria of such products selection is their openness from the viewpoint of their adjustment to the particular user requirements and universality of access to information, as well as availability and cost of the required licenses and compliance certificates.
  • Analysis of the possibility for integrating separate systems on the basis of state-of-the-art technological solutions.
             Development of new systems
  • Estimation of costsrequired for purchasing, installing and mastering a new system, and estimation of time limits for turnover phase including staff training.
  • Development of the plan of measures for transferring data from the old system to a new one.
  • Evaluation of the need for purchasing additional equipment to maintain the new system.
  • Evaluation of reliability and data rate of the existing communication channels and internal networks.
  • Evaluation of expediency of their modification or full replacement.
  • Evaluation of the required level of availability of applications and equipment.
              System integration project
  • Selection of state-of-the-art technological solutions for integration of every separate system or a group of systems.
  • Selection of hardware and software required to solve integration tasks.
  • Justification of the need for developing specialized integration means (both software and hardware) including estimation of the development costs and time limits.
  • Development of engineering infrastructure modernization project.
            Development of system components specification, placement of orders and planning of system components                 supplies
  • Selection of equipment suppliers based on the criteria of the equipment cost, delivery terms and warranties provided by the suppliers.
  • Development of a plan for ordering, delivering and placing equipment in the customer's premises.
  • Performance of the required engineering works.
  • Ensuring smooth transition to a new infrastructure.
  • Development of the plan of measures for stage-by-stage implementation of separate components of local integration (consolidation of several systems).
  • Development of methodology and program for delivery and acceptance tests of separate parts of the system and the system as a whole.
  • Pilot operation including updating of the information system and maintenance of hardware and software.