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Patterns for e-business
for new IT solutions

Attention - major enhancements to P4eb

The original P4eb web site design was built to support solution architectures for new IT solutions. This approach is still supported by using the left hand navigation bar on this and subsequent pages.

The 2010 revision of the P4eb web site design was built to support solution architectures for re-engineered or enhanced as well as new IT solutions. To learn the new approach please follow (and perhaps bookmark) the link to the revised home page.

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Navigating you to the next generation of e-business solutions

Patterns for e-business are a collection of reusable assets that can help speed the process of developing new e-business solutions. They provide solution architecture patterns at different levels of abstraction. These different levels are relevant to different viewpoints - business view, developer view, system view, implementor view. This site breaks down these reusable assets into the following elements:

  • Business patterns identify the interaction between users, businesses, and data. Business patterns are used to create simple, end-to-end e-business solutions. These have been revised to include new Business patterns enabled by modern middleware (see this article for an explanation).
  • Integration patterns (both Front-End and Back-End) connect other Business patterns together to create solutions with advanced functionality. Integration patterns are used to combine Business patterns in advanced e-business solutions.
  • Composite patterns are combinations of Business patterns and Integration patterns that have themselves become commonly used types of e-business solutions. Composite patterns are advanced e-business solutions.
  • Custom designs are similar to Composite patterns, as they combine Business patterns and Integration patterns to form an advanced, end-to-end solution. These solutions, however, have not been implemented with the frequency of Composite patterns, but are instead developed to solve the e-business problems of one specific company, or perhaps several enterprises with similar problems.
  • Application and Runtime patterns are driven by the customer's requirements and describe the shape of applications and the supporting runtime needed to build the e-business solution.
  • Product mappings to populate the solution. The product mappings are based on proven implementations.
  • Guidelines for the design, development, deployment, and management of e-business solutions.

The Patterns leverage the experience of IBM architects to create solutions quickly, whether for a small local business or a large multinational enterprise. As shown in the following figure, customer requirements are quickly translated through the different levels of Patterns assets to identify a final solution design and product mapping appropriate for the solution being developed.

Process of using the patterns

Select a Business/Integration/Composite pattern that meets the customer requirements and pick then the appropiate Application pattern, Runtime pattern and Product mapping.

The seven Business patterns have been revised. See the article 'The revised P4eb Business patterns and the scenario decomposition framework' on the explanation of the revised scenario decomposition framework.

For a full understanding of the relationships between the Composite, Business and Integration patterns, review the book Patterns for e-business: A Strategy for Reuse (See right column "New or updated").

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Business patterns

Business patterns highlight the most commonly observed interactions between Users, Businesses, and Data. They are the fundamental building blocks of most e-business solutions, and describe the interaction between the participants in an e-business solution. For the seven revised Business patterns see Business patterns for Simple Implementations or 'The revised P4eb Business patterns and the scenario decomposition framework'.

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Integration patterns

Complex e-business solutions can be built by combining multiple Business patterns together. This is accomplished by using Integration patterns as the "glue" between Business patterns. Integration patterns are differentiated from Business patterns in that they do not themselves automate specific business problems. Rather, they are used within Business patterns to support more advanced functions, or to make Composite patterns feasible by allowing the integration of two or more Business patterns.For the two Integration patterns see Integration patterns for Advanced Implementations.

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Composite patterns

Composite patterns combine Business patterns and Integration patterns to create complex, advanced e-business applications. Of course, there are numerous potential combinations of Business patterns and Integration patterns, but only a limited number of Composite patterns documented on this Web site. A solution design composed of these multiple building blocks is only considered a Composite pattern when it is recurrently employed to solve the problems of businesses across a wide range of industries. Examples of such Composite patterns include the four documented on this site:

  • Electronic Commerce
  • e-Marketplace
  • Portals
  • Account Access

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Custom designs

Custom designs, like Composite patterns, combine Business patterns and Integration patterns to create complex, advanced e-business applications. Custom designs are solutions that have not been implemented to the extent of Composite patterns, however. Custom designs can be developed to solve one specific company's e-business problems, or perhaps several enterprises with similar problems. This purpose can prove incredibly valuable, of course. But, Custom designs do not meet the higher qualifications of a Composite pattern, and do not give as great a reassurance of reusability, because they have not been "recurrently employed to solve the problems of businesses across a wide range of industries." However, as the Custom designs detailed on the Patterns for e-business Web site are used more and more by diverse developers, vocal about the benefits and limitations of these solutions, these custom designs might eventually achieve the status of Composite patterns.

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Application pattern

Atomic application patterns provide a further decomposition of eleven of the Logic patterns.

These more specific patterns can be used to perform both a decomposition of the existing IT subsystem and a decomposition of the planned enhanced IT subsystem. In the latter case the Atomic application patterns can provide a linkage to discover possible product mappings and related assets for implementing these products as part of an enhanced new or existing subsystem being developed.

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Runtime pattern

The Runtime pattern uses nodes to group functional requirements. The nodes are interconnected to solve a business problem. An Application pattern leads to an underpinning Runtime pattern.

Begin the process

Depending on your experience with the P4eb web site and the progress of the application development process, review:

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A note on reusing graphics or content

You're welcome to reuse the pictures or content from the developerWorks Patterns for e-business Web site if you display the IBM copyright notice with them.

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© IBM Corporation 2004, 2010. All rights reserved. Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos used on this site are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. All statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.

New or updated

  • Patterns for e-business Timeline

    Updated: 10-20-2010
    The Patterns for e-business Timeline keeps track of updates to the Web site.

  • P4eb revised for new and enhanced IT solutions

    Updated: 10-20-2010
    Added a revised home page for P4eb describing the revised solution architecture process for addressing new & enhanced IT solutions.

  • Renamed Integration patterns

    Updated: 10-20-2010
    The Access Integration and Application Integration patterns have been renamed Front-end and Back-end Integration patterns respectively.

  • New PBE book published

    Updated: 09-01-2010
    A new PBE book is published with the title "Patterns-Based Engineering: Successfully Delivering Solutions via Patterns".

  • New Application pattern

    Updated: 09-01-2010
    The Extended Enterprise patterns have been refreshed and extended.

  • MS Visio Shapes

    Updated: 09-01-2010
    MS Visio Shapes for Visio Professional 2003 Version: 11 for e-business Patterns are available to download at the Patterns resource page.

  • Revised Scenario decomposition framework

    Updated: 03-13-2010
    Revised the Scenario decomposition framework to make it easier to apply.

  • New Application pattern

    Updated: 03-12-2010
    The Content-Centric BPM pattern has been added as a variation to the Enterprise Process-Centric::Parallel Workflow pattern.

  • Revised Application patterns

    Updated: 03-12-2010
    The Collaboration application patterns have been revised.

  • New guidance

    Updated: 03-12-2010
    Added guidance on the use of the revised P4eb Scenario decomposition framework.

  • Revised Business patterns

    Updated: 03-12-2010
    This article introduces the reader to the revised Business patterns of P4eb. See Process-Centric and Event-Centric business and application patterns for details.

  • Pattern Solutions Website

    Updated: 09-30-2005
    The Pattern Solutions web site provides a one stop entry point for pattern solutions content and resources that will assist you in automating the development of complex enterprise applications.

  • Order the Patterns book

    Patterns for e-business: A Strategy for Reuse is out of print but you can order it second hand from any of the booksellers at bestwebbuys.com.
    This book documents proven designs and new directions in reusable e-business architectures.

Resources

  • Updated: 03-12-2010

    The Patterns Resource page provides links to Patterns development resources: Redbooks, White papers, Screen Cams, WebCasts, Customer references and the zipped translated web sites. All these resources are now centrally located on the Patterns Resources page for easy access.

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