"Herding cats" doesn't sound very technical, but as a description for trying to accommodate variances in IC workflow in the enterprise systems, it is most apt. Stephen Hughes, eRA Advocate for IT Technical Staff, is responsible for application program interfaces (APIs) which, he says, unlike herding cats, do accommodate these variances for each IC.

Steve said that APIs allow IC extension systems, which were developed to answer the specific needs of the IC, to communicate information to and from the IMPAC II system. API development also has provided the impetus for many ICs to develop innovative and sophisticated extension systems.

Steve noted that there are some negative aspects to APIs, particularly as we move toward IMPAC II compatibility and the enterprise concept. To be compatible with IMPAC II, extension system business rules must complement (not contradict) enterprise system business rules. In addition, with the exception of the IC Operations (ICO) application, IMPAC II was not designed as a pluggable system, and security must be coordinated to ensure that data is not compromised. Finally, an IMPAC II approval process for any changes that impact published APIs must be put in place. This could restrict or slow down enterprise architecture upgrades.

Looking ahead, the ultimate goal of IMPAC II is to take advantage of the design and functionality of the "best of the best" extension systems, modify them to transcend and meet the needs of all ICs, and integrate the functionality into IMPAC II.