System Integrations — Course Overview, Syllabus & Completion Guide

Welcome to System Integrations — a FITech university course on integrating information systems, applications, and data. This page gives you everything you need before the first lecture: what the course covers, what you will be able to do after completing it, what the completion requirements are, and how your grade is calculated.

About the Course

Modern organisations run on dozens — sometimes hundreds — of separate systems: ERPs, CRMs, data warehouses, SaaS platforms, legacy mainframes, mobile apps, IoT devices. None of these were built to talk to each other. System integration is the discipline of making them do so — reliably, securely, and in a way that supports business decision-making.

This course treats system integration as both a technical and a business discipline. You will learn the concepts and terminology used across the industry, the design principles that separate robust integrations from fragile ones, and the practical skills needed to implement and evaluate integration solutions.

Format: 8 online Zoom lectures, 2 hours per session
Attendance: not mandatory, but lectures are not recorded
Max students: 15 adult learners (FITech cohort)

Full Course Contents

| # | Topic | What You Will Learn | |---|-------|---------------------| | 1 | Why we integrate systems | Business drivers, costs, risks, enterprise architecture context | | 2 | Integration styles and types | File, database, API, messaging, EDA — when each is appropriate | | 3 | What are APIs and how are they used? | REST, SOAP, GraphQL, API design, versioning, gateways | | 4 | System integration design principles | Loose coupling, idempotency, reliability, scalability patterns | | 5 | System integration monitoring | Observability, logging, alerting, SLAs, DLQ operations | | 6 | Local and cloud integration platforms | ESB, iPaaS, Azure Integration Services, MuleSoft, AWS | | 7 | Data integration strategy questions | MDM, CDM, data quality, lineage, governance | | 8 | Enterprise integration patterns | EIP catalogue, canonical patterns, Saga, CQRS | | — | Messaging systems | Queues, topics, brokers, Kafka, delivery guarantees | | — | Securing integrations | Authentication, authorisation, encryption, compliance | | — | Technical lab | Schema mapping, XSLT transformation, RPA, error handling |

Learning Outcomes

After This Course, You Understand:

The role of the system integration function in a company and in enterprise architecture
How integration-related decisions are made and who is responsible for them
How integrations can be managed and monitored in production
What questions a data integration strategy must answer
The purpose of schemas and why they matter for data exchange
Why error handling and monitoring are critical — and what happens without them
The responsibilities and risks associated with system integrations

After This Course, You Know:

What integration platforms are available (local and cloud)
The basic data integration types and architectural styles
System integration terminology used in industry and academia
The most common enterprise integration patterns and when to use each
How to model data flow and messaging between systems
What factors influence the choice of data exchange format and protocol
What Robotic Process Automation is and how it applies when no API is available
The risks associated with different integration types and how to avoid them

After This Course, You Are Able To:

Map data between systems using Altova MapForce
Create integration design diagrams for different types of integrations
Implement a simple publish-subscribe integration using Node.js and JMS
Transform and validate data in Java using XSLT and XML schema

Completion Requirements

Your final grade is composed of two equal halves:

50% — Exercises

You choose which exercises to complete. You do not need to complete every exercise — your grade reflects the number and quality of submitted answers.

Exercise types:

| Type | Skill Required | Tools | |------|---------------|-------| | Conceptual / design exercises | Analysis and written explanation | None | | Schema mapping exercise | Data modelling | Altova MapForce (free evaluation edition) | | Programming exercises | Intermediate programming experience | Java, JavaScript, or your preferred language |

Programming exercise prerequisites: file I/O, making HTTP calls, querying relational databases. Examples are provided in Java and JavaScript, but you may use any language.

MapForce exercise: install at minimum the free evaluation edition of Altova MapForce before submitting this exercise.

50% — Research Article + Opponent Report

Research article (25% of grade)

Select one of the given topic areas
Write a review of published research or industry literature on that topic
Recommended length: 5–8 pages
Must include proper citations; follow the citation format specified in Moodle

Opponent report (25% of grade)

Receive another student's research article for review
Write a constructive critical review of the article
Recommended length: 1–2 pages
Evaluate: clarity, accuracy, depth, relevance of sources, and conclusions

Grading

Your grade is determined by:

The number of exercises submitted
The validity and quality of your answers
The depth and rigour of your research article
The quality of your opponent report

Specific grade boundaries are provided in Moodle once the implementation details are published.

Tools and Software

| Tool | Purpose | Required? | |------|---------|----------| | Zoom | Online lectures | Yes | | Moodle | Course materials, exercise submission | Yes | | Altova MapForce | Schema mapping exercise | Required for that exercise only | | Java JDK | Programming exercises (XSLT, XML) | Optional | | Node.js | Programming exercises (Pub/Sub) | Optional | | Any text editor or IDE | Writing and code | Your choice |

Teaching Schedule

8 sessions × 2 hours = 16 contact hours

Full schedule is published in Peppi once implementation details are finalised. Sessions are held over Zoom. The lecturer's screen and presentation are visible; student cameras are optional.

Research Article Topic Areas

Research article topics are published in Moodle. Examples of the kind of areas typically covered:

Integration platform selection criteria for SMEs vs. enterprise
Security challenges in API-led integration architectures
Event-driven architecture adoption patterns
The role of Master Data Management in data integration strategy
RPA limitations and the transition to intelligent automation
GraphQL vs. REST in enterprise integration contexts
Microservices integration patterns and anti-patterns
Compliance and GDPR considerations in cross-border data integrations

You will be assigned a topic or select from the available list. Confirm with the lecturer before beginning your article.

A Note on This Course's Approach

System integration is a field where theory and practice are inseparable. Reading about messaging systems is useful; understanding what happens when a consumer crashes mid-processing — and designing for it — is essential. This course aims to give you both.

The exercises are designed so that even if you complete only the conceptual ones, you will understand the practical realities. If you have programming experience, the coding exercises will give you direct hands-on familiarity with the tools and patterns described in lectures.

The research article forces you to go beyond lecture material and engage with current literature — an important skill for any professional working in a rapidly evolving technical field.

Ready to start? Move on to Lecture 1: Why We Integrate Systems.