A metadata repository model to integrate heterogeneous databases of hardware dependent legacy systems

In a large modern enterprise, it is almost inevitable that different parts of an organization use different systems to produce, store, and search their critical data. In addition, the maintenance of heterogeneous database systems is becoming an overhead and a big problem for companies. Meanwhile, it is only achieved by combining the information from these various systems so that the enterprise can use the combined value of the data they contain. One way to solve this problem is to replace the legacy applications with a single information system. Introducing the new software is not enough; it is also necessary to migrate the data from the old system to the new one. As data has been collected over many years and contains a lot of information and knowledge, this most important value of a company must be preserved. Here, we present a specific solution based on a metadata repository model that we applied which addresses an organization's operational need to integrate the custom databases of some specific hardware dependent legacy systems. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006