1 Introduction and Executive Summary

Enterprise application integration is the process of linking applications within a single organization together in order to simplify and automate business processes to the greatest extent possible, while at the same time avoiding having to make sweeping changes to the existing applications or data structures.

There is no one integration approach that addresses all criteria equally well. There are multiple approaches for integrating applications that have evolved over time. Oracle Retail has focused on three main integration styles.

• Asynchronous

• Request/Response

• Bulk Data

Oracle Retail Enterprise Integration products provide the architecture and frameworks so the applications can choose the best style for a particular integration opportunity. Each style has its advantages and disadvantages. Applications or solutions may integrate using multiple styles so that each point of integration takes advantage of the style that suits it best.

• Asynchronous integration style (RIB)

  • Provides JMS based messaging.

  • Provides subscription style of integration.

  • Uses message queuing technology to integrate application asynchronously using either a pub-sub model or send-receive model.

  • Provides guaranteed delivery quality of service so even though messages are sent asynchronously there is assurance that messages will not get lost in transit.

• Web Service integration style (RSB)

  • Uses Web Services to integrate applications.

  • Use synchronous request-response calls using SOAP technology and can be used for real time transfer of information between remote applications.

• Bulk Integration style (BDI)

  • Uses batch jobs to move high volume of data from source to destination database.

  • BDI leverages the Oracle WebLogic Server provides robust infrastructure for scheduling and running batch jobs to move data.

This document is written to provide the assumptions and guiding principles for Enterprise Integration using the Oracle Retail Integration Cloud Service products provided by the SaaS Suite of Integration Cloud Services (RICS) and the customer applications and service that they serve.

With each style Oracle Retail has defined architectural patterns, best practices and built infrastructure products and supporting tools for the full life-cycle management of standardized, contract driven integrations. Because all integrations are contract driven, enterprise level governance is in-place to ensure consistent contracts written to published standards are followed.

Figure 1-1 Integration Styles and Integration Frameworks with Governance

Oracle Retail Integration Cloud Service Strategic Goals

• Develop products to enable existing application integration APIs to work without modification for Cloud, Hybrid-Cloud and On-Premise deployment topologies.

• Provide infrastructure products and tooling to decrease:

  • Time to release

  • Test timelines

  • Support costs

• Provide the right methods and tools to support the business requirements & SLAs RGBU applications and customers require.

• Enable partner/customer success by providing a consistent integration experience & tooling.

• Decrease Oracle mandated security (OSSA) burden on application teams by securing frameworks & tooling.

Enterprise Integration Frameworks and Products

Common Enterprise Integration Infrastructure products provide standards and guidance and remove the complexity from the business applications and provide an accepted solutions to recurring problems within a given integration context. Around these styles and patterns, Oracle Retail has developed a set of Enterprise Integration Infrastructure products and supporting tools.

These products expose hundreds of Oracle Retail Application API's as contract driven integration points exposed for integrations between Oracle Retail applications and customer 3rd Party and Legacy applications.

• Retail Integration Bus (RIB) – Asynchronous JMS Messaging

• Retail Service Backbone (RSB) – Request/Response Web Services.

• Bulk Data Integration (BDI) – Bulk Data Movement

• Retail Financial Integration (RFI) – Integration to Oracle Financial Products (EBS, People Soft Financials, Oracle Cloud Financials)

• Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud Service integration using the Universal Service Mapper product (USM) - allows the definition, mapping, and configurations needed to support the integration between two heterogeneous applications.

Note: All Integration Infrastructure products are fully cloud enabled and will be deployable as the Oracle Retail Integration Cloud Services and existing integration APIs work without modification for Cloud, Hybrid-Cloud and On-Premise installations.

Third Party and Legacy Integration

As used in this document; RICS, third party integrations is the common term used generically for any customer's custom legacy systems and/or customer purchased third party applications.

The list of these are as great as the customer list and RICS integration applications have evolved to make those integrations easier and to follow our contracts and integration styles by providing defined endpoints, guidelines, best practices, and support tooling.