A whitepaper on writing a Host Integration Service for Azure Cloud:

Introduction: Among the services that move to the cloud from on-premises, those that serve to integrate external hardware and software with Azure Cloud services appeal to an organization’s bottom-line. With a specific example of the Host Integration Server, this whitepaper describes the right way to implement it.

Description: A Host Integration Server empowers enterprise developers to write applications faster and will less custom code than directly be writing it on IBM host systems. There is no requirement to know the IBM host system, development tools, or infrastructure. It also eliminates the need to convert data to and from data sources as the application can now connect directly to business intelligence tools. It supports five integration areas which include network, data, application, security, and message. 

There are five technology areas of integration for this service, and they are: 

1) Network Integration that connects application infrastructure to existing IBM mainframes and midrange system network architectures. This service connects desktops, devices, and servers to existing host systems while reducing costs. For example, the print service provides server-based printer emulation. 

2) Data integration component offers direct access to data stored in IBM DB2 management systems. It includes multiple data clients and one data service with support for a variety of data providers such as ADO.Net, OLEDB, and ODBC. 

3) Application Integration is provided by the Transaction Integrator which allows enterprise developers to call business rules in the host mainframe. It comprises a plugin designer, an administration tool, and runtime components.  

4) Message Integration is provided by the WCF channel for IBM WebSphere MQ which allows enterprise developers to send or receive MQ messages between WCF And heterogeneous or native IBM programs. 

5) Security Integration which is provided by Enterprise Single-sign on with AD integration to secure IBM host systems. It maps to their host credentials which are stored in a SQL Server. These mappings can be retrieved at runtime from both ESSO SDK and HIS features.

When these integration areas are reimplemented on the Azure control pane, we can leverage the Azure iPaaS solution which is a set of cloud services that are essential for mission-critical enterprise integration. These services provide four core technologies that are required for cloud-based integration – a way to publish and manage application programming interface, a straightforward way to create and run integration /workflow logic with the help of orchestration, some messaging that facilitates the loose coupling between applications and a technology that supports communication via events.

There are always other services that can be combined from other cloud technologies but the above four iPaaS offerings namely API management, Logic Apps, Service Bus, and Event Grid are sufficient to perform integration for services such as HIS. Both on-premises applications and cloud applications can be combined which makes these useful for integrations especially with off-site devices and legacy enterprise investments.