Ensuring data integrity in the process of integration with heterogeneous legacy systems has proven to be a very challenging task because of the "asymmetric" nature of the integration. This paper first identifies and describes the major issues in the integration process with legacy information systems. A generic five-stage integration approach is then proposed to address the issues in a systematic manner. The proposed data manipulation and infusion methodologies together with the schemata and how they can help isolate the heterogeneity of the integrated systems and provide high transparency to the applications are then discussed. In addition, we shall discuss how event-driven active mechanisms can be applied to ensure a high level of integrity, flexibility, availability and reliability for the asymmetric integration with heterogeneous legacy systems. The proposed framework has been validated in an industrial project, and has enabled the seamless integration and continuous information flow between a new corporate information system and the legacy production and material handling systems.
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