r the MetaSolv Solution. EAI tools provide authentication, authorization, and encryption end-to-end for the entire business process and must integrate seamlessly with existing security implementations. Robustness. EAI tools provide automatic recovery/restart without loss of work in the face of system or application failure. They sometimes leverage the recovery capabilities of the transaction managers and databases that control the integrated applications. Manageability. EAI tools provide a single point of control for the management and administration of the resources added to the application environment. Management and administration tools allow for implementation, change control, performance management, and availability management. The Ultimate Guide to Building and Delivering OSS/BSS 15. EAI VS. POINT-TO-POINT There are several major advantages to an EAI-based approach to OSS integration: a) Connections to individual applications are reduced by EAI, which normalizes those connections to one technology set. This lowers long- term maintenance costs. b) New application releases, data, and API changes to an individual application can to a large degree be isolated to the EAI connector. c) Component applications can be treated as black boxes by EAI developers, reducing the knowledge requirement and dependency on individual developers. d) Components and functionality can be more easily added as business requirements change when an integration framework has been established. e) Cross-application processes (e.g. status, error handling and cross- reference tables) are easier to implement using an EAI framework. An EAI approach does, however, involve higher initial costs (i.e. the cost of the EAI tool and establishing the EAI environment). Another problem is that the entire set of application connectors required for any given OSS environment is unlikely to be available currently, necessitating either custom development or negotiation with vendors to provide the required connectors. An even more subtle issue may be that EA