Secure Legacy Application Integration with NCES (SLAIN)

Our solution is a gateway, referred herein as "SLAIN", as an "Edge Application" as defined in the NCES architecture, in that it implements the protocols required to communicate with any of the NCES services. A SLAIN Portal mechanism is provided if there is no programmatic method to access a legacy system's IA information - we know this to be true and it is understandable given the lack of net-centric requirement levied on these legacy systems. The SLAIC implements a plug-n-play framework so that protocols, QoS, IA interoperability, policy synchronization and information translation can be easily upgraded to support evolving systems integration experienced in today's FORCEnet initiative. This approach is key to having a configurable SLAIC - akin to the cell phone paradigm where protocol, IA and QoS upgrades are performed over the network. This enables SLAIN to adapt to a new legacy system requiring new functionality without taking SLAIN to the Original Equipment Manufacture and being charged millions of dollars for an upgrade.