In any industry, the standards for that industry form the basis for design of products, and thereby for the elements which are used to assemble solutions for end users.
The enterprise engineering industry is relatively new, and therefore has few established and proven standards. In effect, when an enterprise system is assembled by a enterprise, they must either buy everything from one vendor (a strategy which several vendors promote), or deal with the difficulties of "interfacing" components which have been designed to different standards.
If the same were true of the home construction industry, lumber would be made to different dimensions by each mill, doors and windows would be made in different sizes and thicknesses by each craftsman, and plywood sheets would have different dimensions and specifications from each supplier. In effect, every home would therefore be "hand crafted", as indeed was the case before the industrial revolution. Needless to say, without current standards, homes would be much more expensive to build and maintain.
Benefits of Enterprise Integration Standards
By establishing enterprise integration standards, the cost and difficulty of installing enterprise systems can be dramatically reduced. Recent work by ISA, ISO, IFAC/IFIP, IEC, CEN and others is moving us toward this goal.