CLI is one of the components of the Convertigo Enterprise Mashup Server (EMS)

The integration concept is based on "integrating" existing applications into the global information system of a company. This means that some applications will have to use the services provided by an other application.

For example, a new CRM application would be interested to pick sales figures in the company’s ERP to present a complete information to the end user.

Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) is the response to the integration headache IT architects have to solve:

• SOA is based on open standards as XML, SOAP and REST Web services
• SOA is widely supported by all the major vendors on the planet
• SOA is flexible
• SOA can be used to integrate internet and external applications

Unfortunately, most of the strategic applications as ERPs or corporate in house developed software running in the enterprise’s information system, system are not SOA aware,, as they have been developed before this technology was available. Analysts consider that 70 % of these applications still run on legacy systems as IBM Mainframes or iSeries (AS/400) and character based user interfaces UNIX systems.

Redeveloping these applications would cost a huge amount of money and would probably result in a loss in functionalities for end users..

This is why Convertigo Legacy Integrator allows access to legacy applications in a non intrusive way (With no modifications to the existing applications) by using their existing interfaces like 3270/5250/VT/DKU user screen interfaces or IBM's CICS COMMAREA to expose their internal business logic as modern SOA oriented Web services. (SOAP or REST)

In this way, the SOA architectures can now easily integrate Legacy applications providing valuable services to the whole corporate information system.