Real world uses for enterpride mashup suggestions please

Submitted by ettaaffe on January 24, 2009 - 10:15

I am looking for a solution to a typical integration problem and that is what lead me to ws02. I have an erp system that uses browser interfaces. I also have a CRM system running on a web server. When we receive an order this is handled via CRM first and needs to immediately create an order in the erp followed by an action to deliver on the order and all the other activities that stem form this. Currently this is two separate and annoying processes with a degree of overlap. One solution is to install and ESB and have the data automatically entered in the erp system. This is the most common way. Many problems with this include the lack of sufficient validation when data is entered at the data level or even the business rules level. I thought of exploring the idea of doing this at user interface level vi a screen scraper. I suppose I could keep it simple and just create a new order entry screen that does the job once and has basic http calls happening in the background to enter the data in the right places. I'd prefer to make it a bit more robust and have some errror handling as well as transaction management just in case part of the operation fails and also to make part of theis reusable, so I thought web services buitl as screensavers and then I stumbled on WSO2. Am I on the right track here, or is WSO2 intended for something entirely diffrent? Should I go back to the enterprise bus idea? sugestions welcomed.

The ESB might be a better fit for you

Submitted by keith on January 24, 2009 - 10:38.

Hi, From what I understood the ESB looks to be a better fit for your scenario than the Mashup Server. And the ESB could actually do the validation for you (Using a custom Mediator). If you need to go down the path of screen scraping then you should be using the Mashup Server though. Thanks, Keith.

Thanks and a few more thoughts

Submitted by ettaaffe on January 26, 2009 - 00:34.

Thanks for this. If I have SaaS applications in the mix will I still be able to use ESB or will it have to be a Mashup? We are looking at replacing the CRM with something like salesforce. That gets me thinking about another scenario: What is the benefit of ESB over a mashup? Is one faster to implement than another or more robust in some way?

You correctly observe that

Submitted by jonathan.wso2.com on January 27, 2009 - 06:09.

You correctly observe that in SOA it's not always easy to figure out what type of technology to use - a service host, a mediation engine, a mashup, a business process. With our new Carbon initiative we're trying to bring these capabilities closer together. As of now though, the Mashup Server is best for scenarios where you need to scrape a web page, or want to use Javascript to author your new services flexibly and quickly, or where you want to build user interfaces and share the service. The ESB is better for connecting exisiting services in a highly performant way, by defining a simple configuration in XML or using a visual pipeline editor. Either of these products sound interesting for your scenario, but if you can avoid screen scraping you will likely be happier and provide more stability in the long term, as services tend to change much less frequently than web pages. Thus if your scenario fits into the ESB neatly I would encourage you to use that.

Thanks for this help. I need

Submitted by ettaaffe on January 27, 2009 - 06:52.

Thanks for this help. I need to experiment. I'm familiar with using Tibco in the enterprise, but not connecting it to an external SaaS. I guess it can be done though. Publish and subscribe architecture has its own headaches and idiosyncrasies though My requirement at the moment includes simplifying the interfaces rather than just integrating a lot of systems. I have a strange feeling that end up with an enterprise bus hiding the interfaces of all these applications and acting like a business rules layer that I then create new interfaces for. I suppose I could look at exposing the functionality as web services and then creating UIs fairly fast with Gadgets etc. I'm not sure thy have grown up enough to work together like windows gadgets or swing though. I like what you're doing, I just need to get a sound grasp on what to use when. Many thanks again Ed

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