5 Tools of an Integration Engineer
There are job or task specific tools that will have a high importance to each integration task. When working on an SAP system, your SAP tools will be very important. But there are tools and skills that are also important regardless of the systems and technologies that you are working on. For me, these are the top 5 tools that an Integration Engineer should be able to use proficiently. Do you use any of these? Do you have others?
1. A big Whiteboard
This is probably my number one requirement. When I am thinking, I like to draw it out. I haven’t found an application that gives me the same creative release and adaptability as my whiteboard. After starting to 
do some of my work from home, I went out and acquired a 10 X 4 whiteboard to put in my home office. Having the extra room is essential. I can get a call, and walk over to the whiteboard and start drawing out what needs to be built to solve the problems while I am still on the call.
You may not need a white board as big as mine. And you may have an electronic solution that you like better. If so, please let me know, I like to try out gadgets.
2. Spreadsheet
Now this may not sound earth shattering, but we are not just talking about the basics. You will need to learn to write filters, import data, link cells and perform calculations. If you think that a spreadsheet is like a ledger, then you are missing the power of a spreadsheet. If you don’t think you have the skills you need, here are some links to tutorials for the two most popular spreadsheet software.
- Very Basic Open Office Tutorial http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/
- More specific/advanced tutorials http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/
- Some basic and advanced help for MS Excel http://www.internet4classrooms.com
3. Text editor.
Familiarity with more than one is needed as you will find yourself on Windows and Unix servers and they will have different sets of tools. One of the things that is the most frustrating is to not know how to use the native editor of the system you are on. So get familiar with Notepad, and then get familiar with VI. You can add in other tools like UltraEdit, TextPad, and more, but you should know the native ones first, if not best.
- Ultra Edit is a popular tool in some circles. http://www.ultraedit.com/
- Text Pad is also popular. http://www.textpad.com/
- Believe it or not, notepad has some tutorials. http://bink.nu/news
- And here is a cheat sheet for VI commands. http://downloads.techrepublic.com
4. File compare.
One task that will need to be done is to compare a file with another file to detect changes or differences. This happens in both new integrations, and in trouble shooting or investigating existing ones. Some systems have native comparison tools, others don’t. And there is much variety in how they work. Here are some of the tools I have seen and used.
- Wiki has a great list. I don’t know that I can improve on.
5. DB query
Much of the time, integration involves a database somewhere sometime. To work on an integration and not have to have a DBA sitting in your lap, you need to be competent to query the database. And this involves using some tool. Sometimes systems will have native tools, other times you will need to connect your own. Here is a list of tutorials for DB Query tools that I have seen and used.
- Squirrel SQL http://squirrel-sql.sourceforge.net/
- SQL Worksheet
- TOAD
Summary
This is by no means attempting to be a comprehensive list of tools. Such a list would be long, if it were possible. And I don’t think that it is. There are however some tools/skills that help us to be more effective as Integration Engineers. Seeing what others use is helpful especially when we find that the tool we used to use is not longer around.
What tools, applications, or skills do you find you are falling back on often, on more than one project? Or what new tools have you found that you think you will use often in the future?
