Extending webmethods Using E2open Software on Demand for Multi-Company Process Management

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1 Extending webmethods Using E2open Software on Demand for Multi-Company Process Management

2 Contents Introduction... 3 Extending the webmethods Integration Platform... 6 webmethods Integration Platform... 7 Conclusion Extending webmethods Using E2open 2

3 Introduction Establishing and managing server-to-server relationships across trading partners spanning a multi-tier value chain can be very challenging and cost prohibitive. Trading partners have to manage many different exchange protocols, various transaction formats and multiple process choreographies as required by the business needs and the capabilities of their back-end systems. Extending webmethods Integration Platform with E2open's software on demand for Multi-Company Process Management (MCPM) software, organizations can quickly and cost effectively establish and manage synchronized, server-to-server integration between their back-end systems and the systems of their trading partners. E2open Software on Demand for Multi-Company Process Management E2open software on demand for Multi-Company Process Management (MCPM) is a fully-integrated solution for dynamically managing inter-company processes across multiple partner tiers. MCPM combines multi-company process management workflows, decision support tools, exception management capabilities and an open, service-oriented integration platform - delivered on demand (software-as-a-service) to significantly reduce the total cost of ownership and enable companies to minimize operational complexity. The E2open Multi-Company Process Management solution addresses three core areas: Extending webmethods Using E2open 3

4 E2open's Supply Chain Coordination Solution provides capabilities to enable companies to manage nextgeneration inter-company processes - including multi-tier visibility, vendor managed inventory, automated procurement, demand forecasting, and demand/supply planning. E2open's B2B Integration Solution significantly reduces the cost and complexity of implementing B2B, server-toserver integration with trading partners. E2open's Trading Partner Enablement Solution changes the economics of large scale trading partner enablement by lowering the cost and complexity of on-boarding trading partners both large and small, enabling a company to manage inter-company processes across 100% of its supply chain. Integrating with E2open E2open integration capabilities are enabled by the E2open Integration Platform software, which provides a comprehensive set of systems and partner integration capabilities and support for an array of communication protocols. Built on a standards-based, service-oriented architecture (SOA), the E2open Integration Platform is designed around key E2open technologies including: A UDDI-based Network Directory, which enables dynamic use and re-use of stored partner profile and process capabilities An engine for advanced translation, transformation and process choreography Extending webmethods Using E2open 4

5 Standards-based security and management software and practices Using E2open, an organization can rapidly synchronize their business processes and systems of record with all of the trading partners in their value chain. E2open and webmethods E2open has certified webmethods products to provide customer solutions for managing inter-company processes across the extended value chain. E2open solutions make use of webmethods Integration Platform components such as Integration Server, Trading Networks and Enterprise Server. Today, webmethods Integration Platform is in production at E2open customers establishing a reliable and secure connection to the E2open integration platform and exchanging thousands of business messages each day in support of multiple supply chain management processes including forecast collaboration, vendor managed inventory, self-invoicing and purchase order management as well as product lifecycle management (PLM) processes. E2open combines the inter-company process integration expertise of E2open and the robustness of webmethods products. The result is that the collective solution delivers more value to help your business be successful. Extending webmethods Using E2open 5

6 Extending the webmethods Integration Platform webmethods Integration Platform is a solution for process integration, workforce management and enterprise application connectivity. Built on open industry standards with components that work together seamlessly, webmethods Integration Platform software can accelerate a variety of integration requirements, including: This document examines one integration approach for how webmethods software customers can rapidly integrate and leverage E2open by extending the webmethods Integration Platform technologies. Creating and deploying new enterprise business processes Synchronizing business events in multiple back-end systems Integrating applications on diverse platforms Transforming information formats en-route between applications Companies that have already deployed webmethods software products such as webmethods Integration Server, webmethods Trading Networks, and webmethods Enterprise have numerous options for extending their existing investment by leveraging E2open. Extending webmethods Using E2open 6

7 The webmethods Integration Platform and E2open The webmethods Integration Platform provides the capability to unify the disparate, heterogeneous IT assets inherent to organization. The webmethods Integration Platform links business processes, enterprise systems, databases, workflows and services. It is a solution that can effectively integrate J2EE,.NET and legacy systems. The standards-based, scalable integration platform is uniquely equipped to help organizations build and manage enterprise-class integration networks. With the webmethods Integration Platform, organizations can: Model and automate business processes within the enterprise Integrate all facets of the enterprise and business Monitor processes, services and documents to get a real-time view of business processes Manage the environment and get a global view of every aspect of operations One of the features in webmethods Integration Platform is the flexibility of the solution in regards to transport protocols and payload definition. This provides multiple options for integrating with the E2open Integration Platform (see figure 1). The webmethods Integration Platform is an ideal choice for encapsulating and abstracting private processes within an enterprise, and selectively making these processes publicly accessible via the E2open Integration Platform. Extending webmethods Using E2open 7

8 Software Requirements Integration with the E2open Integration Platform requires webmethods Integration Platform which provides the core messaging capabilities across multiple protocols. In addition, the webmethods Integration Platform manages the processes between internal applications and the extended business processes enabled via the E2open integration platform. The webmethods Integration Platform provides organizations the ability to coordinate business activities, measure their efficiency, and optimize them over time. Message Formats The webmethods Integration Platform can process a wide array of document types including; XML (RosettaNet, xcbl, cxml, and others), EDI, text files, and even binary files. All of these document formats, and more, are directly supported by the E2open Integration Platform. This flexibility allows the customer to choose the format that best fits their specific implementation requirements. Extending webmethods Using E2open 8

9 Transport Protocol The most common integration approach for webmethods and the E2open Integration Platform is over one of three message handling systems including RNIF (RosettaNet), AS/2 and Web services. These protocols can be used over transports such as HTTP, HTTP(S), s/ftp or SMTP with the respective industry standard packaging. The webmethods Integration Platform and the E2open Integration Platform can simultaneously support RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF) versions 1.1 and 2.0, and RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes (PIPs) both in DTD or XML Schema format. webmethods includes support for Web services and provides the run-time support necessary to generate and execute XML Web services necessary to integration with E2open. How the Integration Works The flexibility of the webmethods Integration Platform in connecting with the E2open Integration Platform allows for two primary implementation options. RosettaNet PIPs can be exchanged over either RNIF 1.1 or RNIF 2.0 protocols. Alternatively, Web services can be used for transaction exchange between webmethods and the E2open Integration Platform. When the E2open Integration Platform sends a business message to the webmethods, a Web services method is invoked on the webmethods Integration Server. In most applications, several Web services methods are made available. Extending webmethods Using E2open 9

10 The E2open Integration Platform supports both synchronous and asynchronous invocation. Both request-only and request-response Web service invocations are supported. When webmethods Integration Platform sends a business message to the E2open Integration Platform, the document exchange is handled in the same way. E2open exposes a method as a Web service. webmethods invokes the service, again supporting both synchronous and asynchronous invocation. Summary The webmethods Integration Platform is a comprehensive and effective integration tool with all of the necessary features for transmitting documents securely to the E2open Integration Platform. The flexibility of the webmethods Integration Platform in connecting with the E2open Integration Platform provides a webmethods customer with a number of options to connect to E2open. If a webmethods customer has already installed and is operating B2B connections via RosettaNet then this would be the preferred method to integrate the two platforms. RosettaNet PIPs can be passed between the integration platforms with minimal implementation effort. Existing B2B connections can be ported to the E2open Integration Platform, or can remain and be operated in parallel with the RosettaNet connection to E2open. Extending webmethods Using E2open 10

11 Conclusion As organizations expand their business processes across their extended supply chain, they need to share information and work collaboratively with their customers, suppliers, and partners in complex processes that span many organizations. A critical element to enabling this process is providing robust integration capabilities for each trading partner in the ecosystem. Organizations that have deployed the webmethods Integration Platform already have the technology to integrate with their trading partners via the E2open Integration Platform. Leveraging industry standards like HTTP, XML, SOAP, JMS and more, companies can reliably and affordably create the partner integrations required to enable multi-company, multi-tier process management, a requirement for building more responsive and competitive supply chains. E2open provides solutions that leverage webmethods implementations to enable customers to meet the demands of today's increasingly complex business environment. With webmethods and the proven Integration Platform from E2open you get affordable and scalable access that helps you integrate securely and dynamically both within your organization and across the value chain. Extending webmethods Using E2open 11

12 About webmethods webmethods (Nasdaq: WEBM) is the industry's first Web services infrastructure company. Solutions from webmethods' enable more than 1,000 enterprise customers worldwide to run, measure and optimize their business. Recognized in 2003 as the fastest growing software company in North America by Deloitte, webmethods is headquartered in Fairfax, Va., with offices throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia Pacific and Japan. About E2open E2open is the leading provider of supply chain management software-as-a-service for visibility and control over global supply networks. Industry leaders that power their supply chain with E2open include The Boeing Company, Celestica, Hitachi, IBM, LG Electronics, LSI Corporation, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Motorola, Seagate Technology, Spansion, Vodafone and Wistron. E2open s softwareas-a-service model offers faster payback, larger ROI and reduced risk while requiring less IT and business resources. Over 15,000 companies worldwide currently use E2open. Headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., E2open is a privately held company. Further information can be found at Extending webmethods Using E2open 12

13 E2open, Inc Seaport Blvd., Suite 500 Redwood City, CA E2open and the E2open logo are registered trademarks of E2open, Inc. All other marks are trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. All rights reserved. #WPWBM1007 Extending webmethods Using E2open 13