Popular industry terms frequently lose their exact definitions over time. Specific, niche technical concepts are often hijacked or coined by software providers to fit their own use cases, creating widespread confusion. Our new ‘frequently asked questions’ blog series tackles these issues. We spoke to our experts and addressed common misunderstandings to provide clear, actionable insights. 

In this blog, we will clarify the question of integrating Systems Engineering applications.

This is the last part of our four-part series. You can catch up on:

• Part 1: What is an OTL intended for?
• Part 2: What is the relationship between an OTL and a Requirements Library?, and
• Part 3: How do digital libraries relate to applications? 

You should also follow us on LinkedIn to not miss an update when we share other blog posts!

Should Systems Engineering applications be integrated?

Applications always have their own protocol (API) for sending and receiving data coming from outside the application. In the world of Systems Engineering, we use various protocols to allow applications to share data one-to-one, such as OSLC, which SE tools like DOORS, D3S, Windchill, and Polarion work with.

However, we’ve noticed that the market wants to minimize inter-application integration because:

• Interfaces incur ongoing costs (including maintenance costs for changes).
• Lock-in is reinforced (because the interface is managed by someone else).
• Shared data must be stored and presented in a software-neutral manner.

The solution for using Object Type Libraries and requirements libraries in SE tools is therefore not integration between two applications, but the use of a neutral exchange standard to enable information to be used in any application. Otherwise, you have to agree on (and maintain) a new API for every integration.

Ready for the next step?

We can assist you with distributed and federated data use, where various data products for different purposes are used both independently and in conjunction within applications. We also help integrate applications more intelligently, without physically sending data back and forth. Let’s discuss your case here!