Learn About Connecting Your Mobile Apps to Oracle E-Business Suite

Several mobile apps are available that access Oracle E-Business Suite directly. However, when designing a custom mobile app it's better to use Oracle Mobile Hub to connect to Oracle E-Business Suite. Oracle Mobile Hub is designed specifically for use with mobile applications. It has security, push notifications, analytics, and the ability to host custom APIs. Furthermore, it can filter and shape data coming from E-Business Suite before sending it out to the mobile app.

You have many architectural options for connecting to Oracle E-Business Suite from Oracle Mobile Hub, each of which has its own set of advantages. One option is to connect directly to E-Business Suite from Oracle Mobile Hub. Another option is to connect with the help of Oracle API Platform Cloud Service, and a third option is to connect with the help of Oracle Integration Cloud Service.

Connect to Oracle E-Business Suite with Oracle Mobile Hub

Use Oracle Mobile Hub to connect directly to Oracle E-Business Suite.

Using this architecture, you create a custom API in Oracle Mobile Hub and expose it to your mobile apps. You write the API code in JavaScript in a Node.js environment. You then configure Mobile Hub to handle user authentication and authorization. The following diagram illustrates the architecture:

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Although it’s possible for a mobile app to bypass a service such as Mobile Hub and connect directly to the E-Business Suite REST APIs, several key features that Mobile Hub provides, such as payload shaping, caching, analytics, and push notifications, are not available.

This configuration requires you to open your firewall to connections from Mobile Hub, but it’s easier to manage because you’re not opening the firewall to multiple users and multiple mobile apps. To avoid opening your firewall altogether, you can use either Oracle API Platform Cloud Service or Oracle Integration Cloud Service in addition to Oracle Mobile Hub.

Connect to Oracle E-Business Suite with Oracle API Platform Cloud Service and Oracle Mobile Hub

Connect to Oracle E-Business Suite by using Oracle API Platform Cloud Service with Oracle Mobile Hub.

This approach has the same advantages as using Oracle Mobile Hub by itself, plus the additional features that are available in Oracle API Platform Cloud Service.

Oracle API Platform Cloud Service provides a gateway that can be installed on-premises. The gateway is typically installed in the DMZ. The API Platform Cloud Service console enforces security and policies to control the gateway and the APIs that E-Business Suite exposes. The following diagram illustrates the architecture:

Description of the illustration omh_api_platform_cloud_service.png

Connect to Oracle E-Business Suite with Oracle Integration Cloud Service and Oracle Mobile Hub

Connect to Oracle E-Business Suite by using Oracle Integration Cloud Service with Oracle Mobile Hub.

This approach has the same advantages as using Oracle Mobile Hub by itself, plus the additional features that are available in Oracle Integration Cloud Service. Oracle Integration Cloud Service provides native connectivity to Oracle Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, such as Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle Sales Cloud, and others. The following diagram illustrates the architecture:

Description of the illustration omh_integration_cloud_service.png

Because Integration Cloud Service Agent is installed behind your firewall, it can bypass the E-Business Suite API and provide direct access to the E-Business Suite database.