SOA Integration - Evaluation of the Existing Solution

By evaluating the existing solution we came to the following conclusions:

• This is an integration solution that has grown up over time using a wide variety of different technologies.
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• A batch solution which does not allow real-time integration or which makes this very difficult.
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• Exchanging information in files is not really a state-of-the-art solution.
  • Data cannot be exchanged reliably, as FTP does not support transactions.
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  • Error handling and monitoring are difficult and time-consuming. (It’s not easy to determine if the IT app does not send a response.)
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  • Files must be read and processed by the external applications, all of which use different methods.
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• Integrating new distribution channels (such as web services) is difficult, as neither PL/SQL nor shell scripts are the ideal solution in this case.
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• Many different technologies are used. The integration logic is distributed, which makes maintenance difficult:
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  • Job scheduler (for orchestration)
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  • PL/SQL (for orchestration and mediation)
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  • Shell script (for orchestration and mediation)
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• Different solutions are used for files and queues.

Many of these disadvantages are purely technical. From a business perspective, only the first disadvantage represents a real problem. The period of a maximum of 30 minutes between the data being entered in the ERP system, and the external systems being updated, is clearly too long.

From a technical point of view, it is not possible to reduce this amount of time, as the batch solution overhead is significant and, in the case of shorter cycles, the total overhead would be too large.

Therefore, the decision was made to modernize the existing integration solution and to transform it into an event-driven, service-oriented integration solution based on the processing of individual orders.