Bookshelf v7.5: Access Mechanisms

Overview: Siebel eBusiness Application Integration Volume I > Understanding Integration Paradigms >

Access Mechanisms

When your business problem is accessing other applications from Siebel applications or accessing Siebel applications from other applications, you need to ask: Exactly what kind of data exchange do I require?

Data Sharing. You may need to share data that exists outside of the Siebel eBusiness Application. For example, you may have several legacy mainframe systems that you need to access with Siebel Call Center in order to provide customers with information on their accounts. You might not want to replicate this information in Siebel eBusiness Applications, but may want to dynamically share this mainframe data as needed and display it within a Siebel application. For data sharing, use Siebel's Virtual Business Components (VBCs).

Replication. Replication of data is often useful. For example, you might want to integrate data in SAP with data in Siebel applications, keeping order status information in both systems. For mass replication of the order status information in Siebel applications, use Siebel Enterprise Integration Manager (EIM).

Presentation Layer (UI) Integration. Integration at the presentation layer is useful in cases where you only need to look at the other application's user interface (UI). The data itself does not need to be retrieved to the Siebel applications. In these cases, you would capture just the screen from the external system using ActiveX Data Controls (ADCs) and represent it natively within a Siebel application. This is the least expensive form of integrating two applications, but it is the least flexible as well.

These Siebel solutions can be either real-time or batch. Figure 10 shows the various access mechanism options and where they fit into the integration process.

Figure 10. Siebel Solutions