Overview
As shown below, the e-Marketplace:: Sell-Side Hub variation is composed of multiple Business and Integration patterns. Architects use an extensive process to determine the exact Business and Integration patterns that match the functionality requirements of a Web-based application under development. Please review the IBM Redbook B2B e-commerce with WebSphere Commerce Business Edition V5.4, Patterns for e-business Series for a detailed examination of this process, including the use of a Solution Overview Diagram to identify the appropriate Business and Integration patterns for a given application.
When the Business and Integration patterns have been identified, architects must compare the specific business and IT requirements of a company with the Application patterns of each Business and Integration pattern making up the solution. Business and IT drivers vary greatly, so any two Sell-Side Hub solutions might utilize very different Application patterns to meet these requirements.
The following Application patterns are those identified in the IBM Redbook B2B e-commerce with WebSphere Commerce Business Edition V5.4, Patterns for e-business Series to meet the business and IT requirements of BASE Pty. Ltd, an imaginary company used there as an example. Please see this Redbook for a review of those business and IT requirements, and an explanation of how to use a Solution Overview Diagram to match other business and IT drivers to their appropriate Application patterns.
Self-Service::Router application pattern
Business and IT Drivers
- Reduce the latency of business events
- Easy to adapt during mergers and acquisitions
- Integration across multiple delivery channels
- Minimize total cost of ownership (TCO)
- Leverage existing skills
- Leverage legacy investment
- Back end application integration
- Minimize enterprise complexity
- Maintainability
- Scalability
Selection for the Sell-Side Hub pattern
The BASE solution has a product configuration, search, selection and order component enabled by the Self-Service business pattern. The business and IT drivers that distinguish the use of the Router application pattern above other Self-Service application patterns are a need to "easily extend for other purposes," including integration across multiple delivery channels. The Router application pattern provides isolation of function from the delivery channel. This enables functionality to change at some time in the future with little impact on the delivery channel.
An area that discounts the router channel is the fact that it uses a synchronous connection to the back-end, which would not meet the needs of BASE. Upon closer inspection, however, it appears that it does support asynchronous communications to the back-end as well.
The Decomposition and Agent application patterns were rejected because they provide for additional functionality not required for our business problem.
Self-Service::Stand-Alone Single Channel application pattern
Business and IT Drivers
- Time to market
- Minimize application complexity
Selection for the Sell-Side Hub pattern
BASE's example solution has a further need for the Self-Service business pattern in the component that allows customers and their representatives to register for applications offered via the Internet.
Initially, it would appear that the Router application pattern would be the best fit for this functionality. However, many of the characteristics of this Application pattern apply to an enterprise rather than an application view.
In this case, the Stand-Alone Single Channel application pattern is actually a good fit. The registration application is constructed on top of LDAP compliant directory technology from IBM, SecureWay Directory. The use of the directory provides an integration point for multiple access channels if required. Users connect directly to the registration system when there is a need to register for access to an application.
Collaboration::Directed Collaboration application pattern
Business and IT Drivers
- Time to market
- Improve organizational efficiency
- Reduce the latency of business events
- Easy to adapt during mergers and acquisitions
- Require instantaneous collaboration
- Many users
- Leverage existing skills
- Network addressing independence
- Managed service
- Maintainability
- Complex data types
- Significant network bandwidth
Selection for the Sell-Side Hub pattern
The BASE solution uses the Collaboration::Directed Collaboration application pattern to support an online customer experiencing difficulty by creating a connection with a Customer Service Representative (CSR).
Under these circumstances, the customer has no knowledge of the CSR user name or address. The interaction is controlled by a server, as customers can only seek support from CSRs that are currently available. With the agreement of the user during the collaborative session, some of the customer’s information is made available to the CSR. The shared data in this scenario is the conversation between the CSR and the customer representative. Order information is also shared to allow the CSR to provide assistance to the customer.
Collaboration::Managed Collaboration application pattern
Business and IT Drivers
- Time to market
- Improve organizational efficiency
- Reduce the latency of business events
- Easy to adapt during mergers and acquisitions
- Require instantaneous collaboration
- Require deferred collaboration
- Require workflow-aided collaboration
- Many users
- Leverage existing skills
- Network addressing independence
- Managed service
- Maintainability
- Complex data types
- Significant network bandwidth
Selection for the Sell-Side Hub pattern
The solution being developed for our example company, BASE Pty. Ltd., must allow an approver to certify an order that has exceeded a predetermined monetary value. The order placement and perhaps the monetary value of the order itself is the trigger. This has a workflow element to it as the approver is not required until the order is placed and the order will not proceed until approved. In this scenario, there is no direct collaboration between users; the interaction between users is indirect, the direct interaction being between the server and user environments. The Managed Collaboration application pattern provides for BASE’s notification collaboration requirements.
Information Aggregation::Population-Multi Step application pattern
Business and IT Drivers
- Improve organizational efficiency
- Reduce the latency of business events
- Distill meaningful information from vast amounts of structured data
- Extensive reconciliation, transformation, and restructuring of structured data
- Minimize total cost of ownership (TCO)
- Promote consistency of Operational Data
- Maintainability
Selection for the Sell-Side Hub pattern
The Information Aggregation::Population-Multi Step application pattern can be used to enable two distinct application components within the broader BASE solution.
Component 1
The solution being developed for BASE Pty. Ltd., must populate a product catalog from the disparate sources of information already within the BASE organization’s environment: the product management system, and the price and inventory systems.
Relatively complex rules need to be applied to transform the data from the individual sources BASE already has in place to the single target satisfying the catalog view. Each of the inventory, product management and pricing systems needs to provide information to the ordering system at a rate that is appropriate for the typical rate of change experienced by that source system. We can expect the in stock count from the inventory system to update continuously throughout the day as orders are placed and fulfilled. The business is competitive, so price information could change throughout the day. Product descriptions, etc. would seldom change.
The information in the source systems is not in the same XML format expected by WebSphere Commerce Business Edition. Therefore, relevant information provided by source systems must be transformed before it can be loaded into WebSphere Commerce Business Edition.
The terms "extensive reconciliation", "transformation" and "restructuring of structured data" are used to describe the Multi Step application pattern. As such, it fits the business and IT requirements of the BASE solution perfectly.
Component 2
The BASE solution needs to aggregate data to a technical documentation repository system already in place within the operational environment. Again, relatively complex rules need to be applied to transform data from the individual source we have in place to the single target because the data is not in the same format expected by the technical documentation repository. Therefore, relevant information must be transformed before it can be loaded into the technical documentation repository. The product descriptions and associated technical documentation seldom change.
As such, the Population-Multi Step application pattern is a suitable solution for this business problem as well.
Access Integration::Web Single Sign-On application pattern
Business and IT Drivers
- Provide single sign on across multiple applications
- Reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- Reduce user administration cost
Selection for the Sell-Side Hub pattern
The BASE solution must integrate with the existing corporate single sign-on infrastructure. There are two Single Sign-On application patterns within the Access Integration pattern, one of which offers extended security into the back-end applications. As there is no requirement to provide the extended level of security for the solution being constructed to satisfy BASE Pty. Ltd’s business requirements, the simple Application pattern has been selected.
This is one of the more complicated elements of the example solution discussed in the IBM Redbook B2B e-commerce with WebSphere Commerce Business Edition V5.4, Patterns for e-business Series. Please review this Redbook for more information about the issues surrounding user identity integration in this solution.
Application Integration::Direct Connection application pattern
Business and IT Drivers
This Application pattern is appropriate for business situations where only two applications are being integrated with a standard or mutually implemented interface or message format. This Application pattern represents very small scale integration activities or starting point integration activities.
Selection for the Sell-Side Hub pattern
The Application Integration patterns are the patterns that operate to link all of the other patterns together. The architects developing the example solution for our imaginary company, BASE Pty. Ltd., identified twelve separate integration points between distinct applications within the overall solution.
For different reasons each time, the Direct Connection application pattern was chosen for all of these connection points. For more information on the integration requirements of the BASE solution, and the functionality of the Direct Connection application pattern, please review the IBM Redbook B2B e-commerce with WebSphere Commerce Business Edition V5.4, Patterns for e-business Series.