Extended Enterprise

The Extended Enterprise business pattern, which is also known as the Business-to-Business pattern or B2B pattern, addresses the interactions and collaborations between business processes in separate enterprises. This pattern can be observed in solutions that implement programmatic interfaces to connect inter-enterprise applications. In other words, it does not cover applications that are directly invoked using a user interface by business partners across organizational boundaries.

• Cross Industry Examples
  • Buy Side
    • Direct Procurement (SCM)
    • Indirect Procurement (MRO)
    • Supply chain execution
  • Sell Side
    • B2B e-commerce (Distributors)
    • B2C e-commerce (Consumers)
  • Trading Partner Modernization
    • EDI Modernization
  • Exchange Participation
    • Private e-exchanges
    • Public e-exchanges
• Industry Specific Examples
  • Manufacturing
    • Supply chain planning
    • Supply chain execution
    • Vendor Managed Inventory
  • Travel
    • Checking flight or room availability
    • Making or modifying reservations
  • Retail
    • Checking supplier inventory
    • Placing replenishment orders
    • Paying suppliers automatically
  • Financial
    • Transferring payments
    • Checking account balances
    • Obtaining credit information
    • Loan Origination
    • Processing securities
  • Telecommunication
    • OSS Integration
    • Cross organization order management
    • Managed service provider interconnect

If you're not yet sure that your business problem can be solved by the functionality enabled through an Extended Enterprise solution design, the Extended Enterprise general guidelines page provides additional information on choosing this Business pattern. Business and IT drivers, the e-business context appropriate for this solution type, and additional solution details are discussed here.

If you've determined that the Extended Enterprise business pattern can provide an appropriate solution design for your business need, the next step is to select an Application pattern. The Extended Enterprise business pattern can be implemented using any one of three different Application patterns with a number of variations, providing solution flexibility so that the determined Business pattern can address the specific needs of the business process being automated.

• Patterns for e-business naming conventions

• Updated Extended Enterprise pattern

  Updated: 08-13-2009
  Added new product mappings to the Extended Enterprise::Exposed Broker and Router application patterns using WMB V6.

• Updated Extended Enterprise pattern

  Updated: 06-12-2006
  Added new product mapping to the Exposed Direct Connection and Exposed Router application patterns based on three SOA scenario redbooks.

• Updated Extended Enterprise pattern

  Updated: 04-13-2006
  Added new product mapping to the Exposed Serial Process application pattern using WebSphere Process Server V6.

• Feasibility:
  This material will help you determine the high-level shape of an Extended Enterprise solution, and can ensure your approach looks similar to other successful implementations. Reuse of prior approaches can be an effective way to begin most major projects. Obviously, modifications will be needed for any unique requirements of a given set of partners. This pattern provides a drill-down from high-level architecture to low-level designs and guidance.

• Risk:
  Basing new projects on prior designs and ideas helps to lower the risk of failure. Creating or inventing approaches for each project tends to result in a lower success rate. Frequently, projects begun "from scratch" simply do not work and have major exposures in such areas as security, performance, availability, undefined requirements, and cost overrun.

• Cost-benefit:
  By starting with reasonably complete architecture you can save considerable development time and can obtain assurance that the end solution will have a much higher chance of success. Actual savings will vary, but project teams have realized a 10% to 50% reduction of work effort in their design and architecture phases alone.