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Defining Data Flows and Integration Requirements

This infrastructure planning step identifies how data will flow to and from the Siebel deployment.

An example of a key data flow would be customer contact updates that originate at several call centers and flow to the master customer contact database at a headquarters location.

This step identifies where the master copy of data records will reside. It also identifies the data interchange requirements for applications.

This topic is a step in Process of Infrastructure Planning.

To identify data flows and transaction volumes

1. Identify business data.

   List the types of business data that will flow through the system. Examples of business data are orders, customer contacts, product line information, and quotes.

2. Identify business data sources.

   For each type of business data, list the user types or business activities that can originate or update the business data. Group user types or business activities by business location.

3. Analyze data requirements of legacy applications.

   Identify all existing applications that will send or receive data from the Siebel deployment. Determine data volumes and group them by location.

4. Identify data formats and transformations.

   For each legacy application that will send or receive data from the Siebel application, identify the required data formats. Specify in detail all data transformation requirements.

5. Map the data flows.

   Create a model that shows all major business data flows. The model should include all data sources, repositories, and key business applications.

Figure 4 shows an example of a model of a data flow. The example shows a call center running Siebel Communications. The company maintains an ERP database and a phone number database separately from the Siebel database, which contains customer information.

Siebel Communications sends XML messages containing customer orders to the order fulfillment application, and receives order fulfillment status through an inbound HTTP adaptor. Siebel Communications also queries the Phone Number Management System for available phone numbers in real time. The Phone Number Database then receives assigned phone numbers from the Siebel database using Siebel EIM.

Figure 4. Example of a Data Flow Model