PROGRAMA PARA LA AUTOMATIZACIÓN DEL PROCESO DE INTEGRACIÓN ENTRE STERLING OMS Y UN SISTEMA EXTERNO

Transcription

1 ESCUELA TÉCNICA SUPERIOR DE INGENIERÍA (ICAI) GRADO EN INGENIERÍA ELECTROMECÁNICA PROGRAMA PARA LA AUTOMATIZACIÓN DEL PROCESO DE INTEGRACIÓN ENTRE STERLING OMS Y UN SISTEMA EXTERNO Autor: Ignacio Pérez de Rojas Director: Silfert van Oudheusden Madrid Agosto

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5 Declaro, bajo mi responsabilidad, que el Proyecto presentado con el título Programa para la automatización del sistema de integración entre Sterling OMS y un sistema externo en la ETS de Ingeniería - ICAI de la Universidad Pontificia Comillas en el curso académico 2016/2017 es de mi autoría, original e inédito y no ha sido presentado con anterioridad a otros efectos. El Proyecto no es plagio de otro, ni total ni parcialmente y la información que ha sido tomada de otros documentos está debidamente referenciada. Fdo.: Fecha: / / Autorizada la entrega del proyecto EL DIRECTOR DEL PROYECTO Fdo.: Fecha: / / Vº Bº del Coordinador de Proyectos Fdo.: Fecha: / / 5

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7 ESCUELA TÉCNICA SUPERIOR DE INGENIERÍA (ICAI) GRADO EN INGENIERÍA ELECTROMECÁNICA AUTOMATION PROGRAM FOR THE INTEGRATION PROCESS OF STERLING OMS AND AN EXTERNAL SYSTEM Autor: Ignacio Pérez de Rojas Director: Silfert van Oudheusden Madrid August

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9 PROGRAMA PARA LA AUTOMATIZACIÓN DEL PROCESO DE INTEGRACIÓN ENTRE STERLING OMS Y UN SISTEMA EXTERNO Autor: Pérez de Rojas, Ignacio Director: van Oudheusden, Silfert Entidad colaboradora: IBM S.A. Resumen Introducción La recepción y cumplimiento de pedidos (order fulfillment en inglés) se ha convertido en un mundo cada vez más difícil y competitivo. Los clientes, exigiendo una experiencia unificada a través de varios canales, están creando una cadena de suministro mucho más compleja de lo que la industria está acostumbrada. La demanda de nuevos servicios, como la compra en línea, el llamado "click & send" (entrega a domicilio en un plazo de 2 horas) o la recogida en tienda ha obligado a estas empresas a incorporar en sus sistemas informáticos nuevos procesos que apoyen estos requerimientos, necesitando una visibilidad global de inventario y organización dinámica de los pedidos de los clientes. [1] En consecuencia, incluso las empresas líderes se enfrentan hoy en día al problema de incluir en sus actuales sistemas de back-end nuevos procesos de negocio que respondan tan rápidamente como el sector exige. A medida que las órdenes se suministran a través de múltiples entidades y proveedores externos, se hace difícil gestionar todos los procesos que se necesitan a la vez que se proporciona una visión centralizada. Muchas empresas cuentan actualmente con procesos ineficientes o manuales para completar diferentes transacciones que de otro modo sería difícil automatizar. Al mismo tiempo, la falta de visibilidad de inventario a lo largo todos sus nodos puede resultar en un alto número de ventas incoherentes y una gestión ineficiente de inventario. IBM Sterling Order Management es una solución multicanal que permite el cumplimiento de pedidos personalizados basado en los requisitos de negocio definidos por el usuario final. Proporciona una visión global de todo el inventario para toda la cadena de suministro y permite cambios en los procesos de los pedidos de forma dinámica. Pero, a pesar de que IBM Sterling Order Management proporciona a los clientes una solución completa y centralizada de cumplimiento de pedidos, es común que los clientes licencien sólo algunas de las características que ofrece este programa, dejando las funcionalidades que sus sistemas informáticos ya cumplen intactas y a Sterling Order Management las nuevas funcionalidades de negocio que se desean implementar (como el click & send o el recogido en tienda, entre otras), como se muestra en la Figura 1.

10 Mientras que IBM Sterling Order Management fue construido para ser capaz de integrarse y conectarse a casi cualquier otro sistema externo, el hecho de tener que reemplazar algunos de sus módulos con los que usa el cliente (que en algunos casos son incluso ad-hoc) hace que la implementación de IBM Sterling Order Management para los especialistas informáticos requiera mucho más tiempo que una implementación completa de la totalidad del producto, ya que las comunicaciones entre Sterling y el resto de sistemas tiene que ser construida y probada desde cero. Figure 1. Ejemplo de una implementación de IBM Sterling OMS El objetivo de este proyecto es diseñar un programa de ordenador (escrito en Java) que permitirá a los especialistas de Sterling Order Management por un lado reducir el tiempo necesario para hacer estas integraciones mediante la automatización de parte de este proceso de integración (en particular, la generación de servicios, que son responsables de la gestión de pedidos de IBM Sterling y las comunicaciones con el sistema del cliente) y por otro calcular cómo de customizado es el proyecto (es decir, el número de propiedades definidas por el usuario que se han implementado). De aquí en adelante, se nombrará a cada script de la siguiente forma: Sterling Customization Calculator: Calcula y agrega en un solo lugar la cantidad de personalización que ha requerido el proyecto, una vez haya terminado la integración. Esto se hará mediante una conexión a la base de datos de Sterling y extrayendo todos los objetos que no están incluidos en una instalación por defecto. Sterling Service Generator: Reduce el tiempo necesario para integrar IBM Sterling Order Management con el sistema del cliente mediante la generación automática de servicios extendidos consistentes de colas JMS. 10

11 Metodología Diferentes metodologías han sido utilizadas para el diseño de cada script. En cuanto a Sterling Customization Calculator, la forma en que se diseñó fue realizando primero un estudio en profundidad de IBM Sterling Order Management [2] para aprender qué partes pueden ser extendidas (es decir, definidas por el usuario) y luego hablar con los especialistas informáticos para entender correctamente las necesidades de un proyecto real y así extraer de la base de datos de Sterling los elementos que son realmente necesarios. Sin embargo, debido a que la automatización de la creación de nuevos servicios dentro de IBM Sterling Order Management no está documentada, Sterling Service Generator plantea el problema de tener que seguir un método inductivo con el fin de generar los archivos que se requerían para todo este proceso (más información en la sección 3.2. Sterling Service Generator). La falta de documentación sobre el impacto de la creación de nuevos servicios dentro de la base de datos de Sterling tuvo por consecuencia el tener que deducir cómo los archivos que se generan fueron diseñados inicialmente. Por último, ya que ambos scripts están escritos en Java y comparten el uso de la información de IBM Sterling Order Management, la forma en que el código fue desarrollado y el IDE utilizado fue el mismo para ambos casos (más información en el capítulo 3. Code Development). Resultados Tal y como se explica en el capítulo 5. Results de este documento, los dos scripts finales cumplen los requisitos funcionales y técnicos, consiguiendo un resultado favorable en ambos casos. La tarea más crítica dentro del primer script (Sterling Customization Calculator) es "Launch Sterling Customization Calculator" y, por tanto, la única que se puso a prueba en este documento. Con el fin de probar el peor caso posible, el archivo "extensions.properties" se rellenó con prefijos en blanco para que el script contara y mostrase absolutamente todos los elementos dentro de la base de datos como si todos fueran extendidos. Resultado final: Tiempo en completar la tarea: 18,63 segundos 11

12 Figure 2. Resultado de rendimiento para Sterling Customization Calculator El uso de la CPU pasó de 4% - 5% antes de ejecutar el script a un pico de 60%, mientras que la memoria pasó de 6,53 Gb a un pico de 6,69 Gb (de un total de 8 Gb). Estos resultados ponen de manifiesto la eficacia del programa, que no sólo es capaz de leer más de objetos de base de menos de 19 segundos, sino que también lo hace sin afectar en gran medida ni a la CPU ni a la memoria. Por tanto, los resultados se leen como satisfactorios y dentro de los requisitos definidos. Respecto a Sterling Service Generator, pese a que generar archivos XML no es tan exigente como la lectura de decenas de miles de objetos dentro de una base de datos, también se ha hecho un control del funcionamiento de este script. En este caso, no hay "peor caso posible", ya que los archivos generados sólo dependen de los parámetros dentro de archivo de entrada. Los resultados son: Tiempo en completar la tarea: 0,56 segundos Figure 3. Resultado de rendimiento para Sterling Service Generator El uso de la CPU pasó de 4% - 5% antes de ejecutar el script a un pico de 50%, mientras que la memoria pasó de 6,53 Gb a un pico de 6,57 Gb (de un total de 8 Gb). Estos resultados ponen de manifiesto una vez más la eficiencia del programa, que es capaz de generar todos los archivos XML y números de identificación necesarios para automatizar con éxito la generación de un servicio extendido en menos de un segundo. Por tanto, estos resultados se leen como satisfactorios y dentro de los requisitos funcionales definidos. Conclusiones A pesar de que este proyecto ha planteó diversos problemas al inicio, todos estos problemas se pudieron resolver a tiempo, completando con éxito todo el proyecto dentro del plazo inicialmente establecido. En este apartado se enuncian algunas funcionalidades menos críticas que se podrían añadir si así se desea en el futuro, así como cómo orientar el trabajo futuro en una hipotética segunda versión. 12

13 Para cada script, existen dos vías diferentes de desarrollo: Sterling Customization Calculator: La primera mejora que se podría hacer sería hacer más tipos bases de datos compatibles con el script para poder trabajar con bases de datos libres como MySQL o PostgreSQL (entre otras). La segunda principal mejora que podría añadirse sería la extracción de las consolas de interfaz de usuario extendidas que no se extraen en la versión final de este script. Sterling Service Generator: En cuanto a este script, la primera principal mejora que a desarrollar sería añadir la posibilidad de añadir automáticamente los archivos XML generados en la herramienta Configuration Deployment Tool. La segunda mejora podría ser (aunque quizás podría ser una expectativa poco realista) ser capaz de generar cualquier tipo de servicio con tantos componentes en el interior del mismo flujo como el usuario quiera. Referencias [1] Martinez R., IBM Sterling Solutions for Commerce, An IBM Redpaper publication 2011 [2] Lee C., Chan Y., Dawisha F., Kalla S., Lam B., Majithia B., Oakley C., Patel P., Selling and Fulfillment Solutions Using WebSphere Commerce and IBM Sterling Order Management, An IBM Redpaper publication

14 AUTOMATION PROGRAM FOR THE INTEGRATION PROCESS OF STERLING OMS AND AN EXTERNAL SYSTEM Author: Pérez de Rojas, Ignacio Director: van Oudheusden, Silfert Collaborating organization: IBM S.A. ABSTRACT Introduction Order Fulfillment has become and ever-increasingly difficult world. Customers, who demand a unified cross-channel experience, are creating a much more complex supply chain than what the industry is used to. Delivering innovative services, such as buying online, the so called click & send (home delivery within a 2-hour period), picking up in-store or using drop-ship capabilities, has forced companies to incorporate new processes that support global visibility and customer order organization. [1] Consequently, even the leading companies are now facing the problem of allowing their existing back-end systems support these innovative facing business processes as quickly as the business requires. As orders are fulfilled across multiple entities and external suppliers, it becomes difficult to manage all the processes that are required to provide a centralized experience. Many companies currently have inefficient or manual processes to complete multiple transactions that are otherwise hard to automate. At the same time, a lack of inventory visibility throughout all locations can result in exceptionally high incoherent sells and inefficient inventory management. IBM Sterling Order Management is a cross-channel fulfillment solution that enables customized fulfillment of orders based on user-defined business requirements. It provides a global view of all inventory across the supply chain, and allows changes to order processes dynamically. But, even though IBM Sterling Order Management provides customers with a complete and centralized order fulfillment solution, it is common for customers to license only some of the features that this program offers, leaving some of their already-existing IT systems intact and up to Sterling the new business requirements that they want to implement (such as order & collect or click & send, for example), as shown in figure 1. While IBM Sterling Order Management was built to be able to integrate and connect to almost any other legacy system, having to replace some of its modules with the ones working at the customer (which in some cases are even ad-hoc) makes the implementation of IBM Sterling Order Management much more time consuming for IT Specialists than a complete implementation of the whole product, since the communications between Sterling and the other systems need to be built and tested from the ground up. 14

15 Figure 4. Example of a IBM Sterling Integration The purpose of this project is to design a computer program (built in Java) that will allow IT Specialists to reduce the time required to do these integrations by automating part of this process (in particular, the generation of the services that are responsible for the communications between IBM Sterling Order Management and the client s system) and then calculating how time consuming (i.e. how many user-defined properties have been implemented) the project has been. Henceforth, each script will be named as follows: Sterling Customization Calculator: Calculates and aggregates in one place how much customization the project has required, once the implementation project has been finished. This will be done by connecting to Sterling s database and extracting the key information that is not included in a default installation. Sterling Service Generator: Reduces the time required to integrate IBM Sterling Order Management with the customer s system by automatically generating extended services. Methodology In order to design both scripts, different methodologies were to be used. As for the Sterling Customization Calculator, the way it was designed was by first doing an in-depth study of IBM Sterling Order Management [2] to learn which parts can be extended (that is, user-defined) and then speaking to IT Specialist colleagues to correctly understand the needs of a real-life project which lead to aim at only extracting from the Sterling s database the items that are necessary. 15

16 However, because the automation of creating new services inside IBM Sterling Order Management is not documented, the Sterling Service Generator posed the problem of having to follow an inductive method in order to generate the files that were required to this whole process (more information on the section 3.2. Sterling Service Generation). The lack of any documentation regarding the impact of the creation of new services inside the Sterling s database had the consequence of having to guess and deduce how the files that were generated were initially designed. Finally, as both scripts are written in Java and they share the use of IBM Sterling Order Management information, the way that the code was developed and the IDE that was used for the same of them was identical (more information on the chapter 3. Code development). Results As it is explained in the chapter 5. Results of this document, both of these scripts were completed meeting their functional and technical requirements. The most critical task inside the first script (Sterling Customization Calculator) was the Launch Sterling Customization Calculator and thus, that was the only one tested in this document. In order to test the worst case scenario, the extensions.properties file was populated with blank prefixes to make the script output and count absolutely all the items inside the database as if they were extended. The final results were: Time took to complete task: 18,63 seconds Figure 5. Performance results for Sterling Customization Calculator The CPU usage went from 4% - 5% before running the script to a peak of 60%, while the memory went from 6,53 Gb to a peak of 6,69 Gb (out of a total of 8Gb). These results highlight the efficiency of the program, which is not only able to read more than 29,000 database objects under 19 seconds but also do it without heavily impacting the CPU or memory. The results are therefore read as satisfactory and within the defined requirement. As for the Sterling Service Generator, having to generate XML files is not as resourceconsuming as reading dozens of thousands of objects within a database, a performance check 16

17 has also been done for this script. In this case there is no such thing as worst case scenario since the generated files will only rely on the parameters inside input file. The results are: Time took to complete task: 0,56 seconds Figure 6. Performance results for Sterling Service Generator The CPU usage went from 4% - 5% before running the script to a peak of 40%, while the memory went from 6,53 Gb to a peak of 6,57 Gb (out of a total of 8Gb). These results highlight once again the efficiency of the program, which is able to run under a second and generate all the required files and ID numbers to successfully automate the generation of an extended service. The results are therefore read as satisfactory and within the functional requirements defined. Conclusions Even though this project posed several challenges as explained in the section 2.3 Constraints and Challenges faced, all these problems were eventually solved and the whole project was successfully completed within the deadlines that were initially set. Nonetheless, there are still some less-critical features that can be added in the future if desired and future work that might be implemented in a hypothetical future version. Two different type of development could be done for each script: Sterling Customization Calculator: The first improvement that could be done would be to add more databases compatibilities to allow the script to work with MySQL or PostgreSQL databases (among others). The second major improvement that could be added would be extracting the extended UI consoles that are not extracted in the final version of this script. Sterling Service Generator: As for this script, the first main improvement that might be developed would be to add the utility to automatically add the generated XML files into the Configuration Deployment Tool. The second improvement could be (although it might be an unrealistic expectation) to being able to generate any type of service with as many components inside the same flow as wanted. 17

18 References [1] Martinez R., IBM Sterling Solutions for Commerce, An IBM Redpaper publication 2011 [2] Lee C., Chan Y., Dawisha F., Kalla S., Lam B., Majithia B., Oakley C., Patel P., Selling and Fulfillment Solutions Using WebSphere Commerce and IBM Sterling Order Management, An IBM Redpaper publication

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20 Table of contents 1. Introduction Background Purpose and Motivation Methodology Problem Definition Sterling Customization Calculator Functional requirements Technical requirements Compatibility requirements Sterling Service Generator Functional requirements Technical requirements Compatibility requirements Constraints and challenges faced Code development Sterling Customization Calculator Main.java DatabaseConnection.java ReadAllTables.java and ReadAllTablesOracle.java ReadIndexes.java ReadServices.java ReadUserExits.java External resources External libraries Sterling Service Generator Main.java GenerateIDs.java FLOW.java SUB_FLOW.java ORGANIZATION.java RESOURCE.java RESOURCE_PERMISSION.java GRAPH_UI.java

21 External resources External libraries Documentation Sterling Customization Calculator Sterling Service Generator Results Console output Sterling Customization Calculator Sterling Service Generator Performance results Sterling Customization Calculator Sterling Service Generator Limitations and future work Bibliography Appendices A. Sterling Customization Calculator Code B. Service Generator Code

22 Table of figures Figure 1. Ejemplo de una implementación de IBM Sterling OMS Figure 2. Resultado de rendimiento para Sterling Customization Calculator Figure 3. Resultado de rendimiento para Sterling Service Generator Figure 4. Example of a IBM Sterling Integration Figure 5. Performance results for Sterling Customization Calculator Figure 6. Performance results for Sterling Service Generator Figure 7: Eclipse Mars edition, loading page Figure 8. Ranking of Relational DBMS by Figure 9. Manual service creation using the Sterling s GUI Figure 10. Main.java workflow Figure 11. Handling of file Currentdatabase.txt in Main.java Figure 12. Switch inside a do-while loop in Main.java Figure 13. Service table query in Main.java Figure 14. User Exits table query in Main.java Figure 15. Update of the current database upon success Figure 16. Update of the current database upon success Figure 17. Establishment of a connection to a remote database in DatabaseConnection.java Figure 18. Read and count extended tables in ReadAllTables.java Figure 19. Read and count extended tables from ReadAllTablesOracle.java: Figure 20. Read and count extended indexes in ReadIndexes.java Figure 21. Read and count extended services in ReadServices.java Figure 22. Read and count extended services in ReadUserExits.java Figure 23. Load of a.properties file in Main.java Figure 24. ID number generation Figure 25. Random number generated in GenerateIDs.java Figure 26. FLOW.java workflow Figure 27. File generation in FLOW.java Figure 28. Performance results for Sterling Customization Calculator Figure 29. Performance results for Sterling Service Generator

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24 Introduction 1. Introduction 1.1. Background IBM Sterling Order Management is a cross-channel fulfillment solution that enables customized fulfillment of orders based on user-defined business requirements. It provides a global view of all inventory across the supply chain, and allows changes to order processes dynamically. Customers, who demand a unified cross-channel experience, are creating a much more complex supply chain than what the industry is used to. Delivering innovative services, such as buying online, the so called click & send (home delivery within a 2-hour period), picking up in-store or using drop-ship capabilities, has forced companies to incorporate new processes that support global visibility and customer order organization. The main problem that these companies are facing is that existing back-end systems struggle to support these innovative facing business processes as quickly as the business require. As orders are fulfilled across multiple entities and external suppliers, it becomes difficult to manage all the processes that are required to provide a centralized experience. Many companies currently have inefficient or manual processes to complete multiple transactions that are otherwise hard to automate. At the same time, a lack of inventory visibility throughout all locations can result in exceptionally high incoherent sells and inefficient inventory management. Through the use of an intelligent sourcing engine, a central order repository, and the aggregation of global inventory, IBM Sterling Order Management helps companies become more competitive by orchestrating global order and service fulfillment throughout a dynamic business network of suppliers, partners and customers. IBM Sterling Order Management includes the following main components: 24

25 Introduction IBM Sterling Distributed Order Management: IBM Sterling Distributed Order Management collects orders from different order capture channels and provides a single source of information across channels. This module enables companies to present a single face to the customer by allowing information about any order from any channel or division to be made available when and where a customer needs it. IBM Sterling Distributed Order Management also simplifies administration and maintenance of customer orders, allowing a single record to be accessed, modified, or cancelled through simplified integration between any order capture system and the IBM Sterling Distributed Order Management application. All information and activity related to that order are contained in a single repository, presenting a single version of the record. IBM Sterling Distributed Order Management identifies the applicable fulfillment process for each order and seamlessly splits or consolidates order lines and sequence activities. It brokers documents and requests to the appropriate internal or external fulfillment participants and incorporates user-defined events to effectively track fulfillment activity based upon the unique conditions of each order line. IBM Sterling Global Inventory Visibility: IBM Sterling Global Inventory Visibility provides a single comprehensive view of all inventory by aggregating inventory information from all locations and providing a view of what is available internally and at all partner locations, what is being supplied, what is in transit, and what the current demand is. This extensive visibility ensures that customers are receiving an accurate promise date for all orders and that inventory is used efficiently. IBM Sterling Global Inventory Visibility handles the tactical process of determining what is currently available throughout both internally-owned and externally-owned inventory and also includes a forward-looking, time-phased inventory view that is accessible through a comprehensive inventory console. Use of this inventory visibility solution presents a 25

26 Introduction central inventory repository which can collect real-time data from other systems and then serve as a single source that can be accessed by multiple users. Inventory in multiple locations can be monitored to ensure the most efficient utilization and the prevention of obsolete inventory. On-hand inventory monitors can also be timetriggered to ensure that items do not spoil or become obsolete. Event-based monitors can trigger replenishment to reduce the likelihood of stock-outs without having to rely on large safety stocks. IBM Sterling Reverse Logistics: IBM Sterling Reverse Logistics is a condition-based returns processing solution that enables efficient handling of returns processes, such as individual customer returns, complex bulk returns, return dispositions, and a repair-and-return process. It helps reduce costs by enabling more efficient returns processing with a simultaneous increase in inventory visibility that can increase sales volume and profit totals. IBM Sterling Reverse Logistics enables the effective tracking of items throughout the return-and-repair process and automates the procedure that returns items to stock. Moreover, real-time status updates from service-and-repair personnel allow companies to use the reverse logistics cycle to their best advantage as a record of the ongoing supply source. By providing integrated control over all orders that are related to the return (for example, the original sales order, the replacement order, or the repair order), IBM Sterling Reverse Logistics uses real-time information to improve the quality of customer service and eliminate inventory buffer stocks and costly manual processes. 26

27 Introduction IBM Sterling Delivery and Service Scheduling: To maintain a competitive advantage and increase revenues, many businesses are pursuing service-oriented, revenue-generating strategies that require complex fulfillment processes for final delivery to the customer. These strategies include offering either one-time or ongoing additional services such as delivery, installation, and setup, along with the sale of a product. IBM Sterling Delivery and Service Scheduling gives companies the tools to maintain a wide network of service specialists across various locations and provides a centralized, consolidated view of their calendars and schedules. These service specialists can be internal employees, external resources, or a combination of both, depending on the geography. The availability of these resources can be viewed and scheduled when entering an order for an item or as a separate order transaction. IBM Sterling Delivery and Service Scheduling facilitates rules-based promises to select the best individual service provider or to allocate an entire crew at each individual step of the project. IBM Sterling Delivery and Service Scheduling also allows for the management of all customer service-related questions to be addressed and updates to be performed from a central point. This function enables the user to not only set up rules that help determine the best service provider for the job based on item being sold, but also service scheduling and any special training needed to deliver or install the item. Based on the availability of this person or group, you can promise a date Tracking, executing, and managing the relationships between product fulfillment and service appointments as part of the perfect order are no longer a disjointed set of operations. Even when outsourcing service to a third-party company using IBM Sterling Delivery and Service Scheduling, a seller can execute and manage fulfillment throughout its service network to ensure that all customer expectations are met and that any scheduling issues are managed proactively. 27

28 Introduction 1.2. Purpose and Motivation Even though IBM Sterling Order Management provides customers with a complete and centralized order fulfillment solution, it is common for customers to license only some of the features that this program offers, leaving their already-existing IT systems intact and up to Sterling the new business requirements that they want to implement (such as order & collect or click & send, for example). While Sterling Order Management was built to be able to integrate and connect to almost any other legacy system, having to replace some of its modules with the ones working at the customer (which in some cases are even ad-hoc) makes the implementation of IBM Sterling Order Management much more time consuming for IT Specialists than a complete implementation of the whole product, since the communications between Sterling and the other systems need to be built and tested from the ground up. The purpose of this project is to design a computer program (built in Java) that will allow IT Specialists to automate part of this integration process and also calculate how time consuming (i.e. how many user-defined properties have been implemented) the project has been. The purpose of this project is therefore twofold: a) Reduce the time required to integrate IBM Sterling Order Management with the customer s system. It will be explained in greater detail how this integration process is currently done and how the script developed helps the IT Specialist to be more efficient. This script will be called Sterling Service Generator. b) Calculate and aggregate in one place how much customization the project has required, once the implementation project has been finished. This will be done by connecting to Sterling s database and extracting the key information that is not included in a default installation. This script will be called Sterling Customization Calculator. 28

29 Introduction This project has a very specific marketable motivation that can lead customers to accelerate their IT systems and help the everyday job of IT Specialists responsible for the development of IBM Sterling Order Management implementation projects Methodology In order to design both scripts, different methodologies were to be used. As for the Sterling Customization Calculator, the way it was designed was by speaking to IT Specialist colleagues to correctly understand the needs of a real-life project and therefore aim at only extracting the information that it s important to know. However, the Sterling Service Generator posed the problem of having to follow an inductive method in order to generate the files that were required to automate the generation of services (more information on the section (3.2. Sterling Service Generation). This was caused by the lack of any documentation regarding the impact of the creation of new services inside the Sterling s database and having consequently to guess and deduce how the files that were generated were designed. Finally, as both scripts are written in Java and they share the use of IBM Sterling Order Management information, the way that the code was developed and the IDE that was used for the same of them was identical (more information on the chapter 3. Code development ). 29

30 Problem Definition 2. Problem Definition This chapter aims to explain in greater detail the technical and functional requirements that both scripts will have to meet in order to be used. Since the development of this project itself presented several constraints and challenges to be faced (which are also explained at the end of this chapter), some of these requirements had to change and meet with what it could actually be done Sterling Customization Calculator Functional requirements Since the goal of this script is to calculate and aggregate in one place how much customization the project has required, the main functional requirement that will be tested will be whether the final script can access a Sterling Order Management s database and successfully extract such information. At the same time, due to the multiple parameters that need to be inserted by the user in order to only search for and extract the extended information that they might want, the program will need to interact with the user (through the console) to decide: The database that they would like to connect to: the program will have to be able to connect remotely (using JDBC protocol) to any specified oracle or DB2 database as long as they know the parameters needed to perform such connection (database s name, user, password, host name, port number and drivers). Any modifications or updates that they might want to do to such databases: this might include changing a certain parameter, creating a new database connection, connecting to another database or even verifying that a connection to a certain database works correctly in order to debug any issues that might occur. Launch the Sterling s Customization Calculator tool: once everything is set up and the database has been chosen, the user will be able to launch this script, which is the main goal of the whole program. 30

31 Problem Definition This script will scan the whole database searching for 5 specific items that will give the final IT Specialist a whole picture of how customized the project has been: Extended tables: These are the tables that do not come as out of the box from a standard Sterling Order Management s installation and had to be added manually by an IT Specialist to add a custom feature to that particular client. Extended columns: Just like tables, columns can also be extended. The reason is also to add any special feature that the client might desire to add and is not in the out-of-the-box features of Sterling Order Management. Extended services / custom APIs: Services, which are defined flows triggered by actions in order to communicate with external systems, can be extended manually using built-in Service Definition Framework or by directly updating the corresponding tables in the Sterling s database (though this method is not recommendable). Extended Indexes: Extended columns (user-defined) are created with no indexes related to them, which can lead to performance issues. Sterling Order Management also has the possibility of extending indexes in order to significantly improve the queries related to such columns (or even any other out-of-the-box columns that might be especially relevant in each client). Extended User Exits: User exits, which allow the user to override any default logic that Sterling Order Management might have by creating Java interfaces that introduce custom logic components, are queried very simply by looking into a particular table where they are all stored in one place. 31

32 Problem Definition Technical requirements The technical requirements of this script were much more loose than the functional ones because at the end of the day, what really matters for IT Specialists is whether the script properly works or not. The main point to keep in mind was that, since IBM Sterling Order Management is completely written in Java, the program described in this document also had to be written in Java to be fully compatible with Sterling Order Management. The Java execution environment version which has been used was the 1.8 version (which is the most recent one) although some capabilities might work under the 1.7 version of the Java SE. The IDE chosen to compile and develop the code was Eclipse (Mars Edition). This powerful, open-source IDE does not only provide the programmer with a complete Java EE environment, but also has loads of built-in libraries and a big community of users who provide online support whenever anyone has a doubt about any of its features. Figure 7: Eclipse Mars edition, loading page 32

33 Problem Definition Compatibility requirements The scope of this program aims to be as universal as possible, and thus be compatible with as my databases as possible. After doing some research and speaking to some colleagues, I quickly came to the conclusion that the program would require to be able to connect both to Oracle s and IBM s (DB2) databases. Even though some other open-source databases (such as MySQL or PostgreSQL) have gained a lot of traction in the recent years, the lack of official corporate support from these solutions and the fact that virtually every single client that IBM works for already has a functioning database, makes it very difficult for these free databases to enter the big-corporation market. Oracle database: Oracle database (Oracle DB) is a relational database management system (RDBMS) from the Oracle Corporation. Originally developed in 1977 by Lawrence Ellison and other developers, Oracle DB is one of the most trusted and widely-used relational database engines. The system is built around a relational database framework in which data objects may be directly accessed by users (or an application front end) through structured query language (SQL). Oracle is a fully scalable relational database architecture and is often used by global enterprises, which manage and process data across wide and local area networks. The Oracle database has its own network component to allow communications across networks. Oracle DB is also known as Oracle RDBMS and, sometimes, just Oracle. As of 2013 Oracle holds #1 DBMS market share worldwide based on the revenue share ahead of its four closest competitors (IBM, Microsoft, SAP and Teradata). For the testing and debugging of this program, the Express Edition (XE) of this database has been used in a Red Hat 6.4 Enterprise Linux virtual machine. This lightweight and free (but limited) version allows remote connections, although only one schema can be created, which is enough for a single-schema installation of Sterling Order Management. 33

34 Problem Definition DB2 database: DB2 is a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) originally introduced by IBM in 1983 to run on its MVS (Multiple Virtual Storage) mainframe platform. The name refers to the shift from the then prevalent hierarchical database model to the new relational model. Although DB2 was initially designed to work exclusively on IBM mainframe platforms, it was later ported to other widely used operating systems like UNIX, Windows and presently in Linux. DB2 is an integral part of IBM s information management portfolio. It is a full-featured, high-performance database engine capable of handling large quantities of data and concurrently serving many users. An important feature of DB2 computer programs is its error handling. The SQL communications area (SQLCA) structure was once used exclusively within a DB2 program to return error information to the application program after every SQL statement was executed. The primary, but not singularly useful, error diagnostic is held in the field SQLCODE within the SQLCA block. For the testing and debugging of this program, the version 10.5 (without the Blu Acceleration activated) of this database has been used in a Red Hat 6.4 Enterprise Linux virtual machine. Although this is a paid-version, IBM offers its employees versions of all its products without any cost for personal use and education in support of IBM s business. Although both databases look very similar from the outside and the installation method of Sterling Order Management for both of them is very alike, their differential architectures makes the queries run by the program totally different in most cases and thus, having to carefully inspect and learn about each RDBMS before trying to query any of the information that the Sterling Customization Tool requires to find. In the future, if any other database type needs to be added to the original program, it will be able to be done fairly easily once the programmer knows which specific tables of such database need to be queried because the original program already counts with a DB_TYPE variable that distinguishes oracle from DB2 (and ultimately, any other database manager desired) 34

35 Problem Definition Figure 8. Ranking of Relational DBMS by

36 Problem Definition 2.2. Sterling Service Generator Functional requirements Since the goal of this script is to reduce the time required to integrate IBM Sterling Order Management with the customer s system, the main functional requirement that will be tested will be whether the final script can access a Sterling Order Management s database and successfully automate part of this integration process. The way this script will automate these integrations will be by generate all the required files in order to automate the generation of a new service in IBM Sterling Order Management. Once the XML files have been created, they will have to be implemented in Sterling Order Management using the Configuration Deployment Tool (more information on the section 3.2. Sterling Service Generator ). At the same time, due to the multiple parameters that need to be inserted by the user in order to only search for and extract the extended information that they might want, the program will need to interact with the user (through the edition of a text file) to decide the parameters of each particular service that will be created. The files that will need to be created are: Flow_name: This is the name that the name service will have. It is recommended to start the name of the service with a certain prefix such as "EXTN" to then be able to differentiate the services that come out of the box from the ones that have been extended. Queue_name: This is the name that the new JMS queue will have. If written using the format ${MY_QUEUE_NAME}, Sterling will search for the property called MY_QUEUE_NAME. This means that a new property will need to be created in customer overrides (if it hasn't already been created) MY_QUEUE_NAME=NAME_GIVEN_TO_JMS Provider_URL: It refers to the configuration information for the service provider to use. The value should contain a URL string. 36

37 Problem Definition Agent_QCF: Also referred to as _Connection Factory_ in the Sterling console, it is a resource that enables JMS clients to create connections to JMS destinations. Service_owner: This option will set who the owner of the new created service is. Please ensure that the user specified in this field is an existing user with enough permissions in order to let the program work properly. Figure 9. Manual service creation using the Sterling s GUI Technical requirements The technical requirements of this script (just like with the Sterling Customization Calculator) were much more loose than the functional ones because at the end of the day, what really matters for IT Specialists is whether the script properly works or not. The main point to keep in mind was that, since IBM Sterling Order Management is completely written in Java, the program described in this document also had to be written in Java to be fully compatible with Sterling Order Management. The Java execution environment version which has been used was the 1.8 version (which is the most recent one) although some capabilities might work under the 1.7 version of the Java SE. The IDE chosen to compile and develop the code was Eclipse (Mars Edition). This powerful, open-source IDE does not only provide the programmer with a complete Java EE environment, but also has loads of built-in libraries and a big community of users who provide online support whenever anyone has a doubt about any of its features. 37

38 Problem Definition Compatibility requirements The scope of this program aims to be able to implement the generated files into the Configuration Deployment Tool, which is installed in a normal IBM Sterling Order Management normal installation, and therefore it must be able to be compatible with the format this tool uses. The Configuration Deployment Tool enables an IT Specialist to migrate configuration data, as during incremental configurations of IBM Sterling Order Management, changes are typically developed in a test environment and then they are rolled out into production. Migrating configuration data can be fairly cumbersome and time consuming. This tool ensures data integrity while reducing the system downtime to transfer data and minimizing the effort needed to ensure accuracy. This tool is designed to migrate data that is modified as part of a normal day-to-day operation. Note that the Configuration Deployment Tool can be used to deploy configuration data that is the result of an upgrade, but it should not be used to perform the data upgrade itself. The Configuration Deployment Tool provides the following capabilities: Transfer complete and partial sets of configuration data or discrete logical portions. Transfer data to and from XML files or databases. Transform certain data-like IP addresses and port numbers that are different in two environments, depending upon network configuration. Generate a report of configuration differences by comparing the two systems. 38

39 Problem Definition 2.3. Constraints and challenges faced One of the main challenges that this project posed from the very beginning was the technical knowledge that it required. This went from knowing about DB2 and oracle databases to being savvy-enough in Java to code the whole program alone. There were also many other lessermentioned technologies that also play a crucial role inside the code such as JDBC protocol, SQL language, text and properties files manipulation (read/write) or XML parsing. At the same time, the deep technical knowledge that was needed in order to install, configure and customize IBM Sterling Order Management delay the initial development of this project a few weeks. Nevertheless, these initial formation weeks were latter crucial to fully understand how the IBM Sterling Order Management s database worked and how to property query the data that was needed. Other of the major problems that were to be faced was the handling and manipulation of files inside the java code, as the paths to read / write those files could not be programmed as absolute paths. Absolute paths have the inconvenience of having virtually no portability and thus, the final program would only work on the computer that it was developed on. To solve this issue, relative paths were to be used which were unknown to me at the beginning of this project. Regarding the Sterling Service Generator, the main problem that was to be face was having to do reverse-engineering in order to guess how all the key id numbers were generated and what each attribute s role was. This is where all the knowledge that was learnt during the first weeks came in really useful, as a combination of wittiness and technical savviness from IBM Sterling Order Management was needed to replicate the XML files that would later automate the generation of extended services. Hopefully, all these problems were eventually solved and the whole project was completed within the deadlines that were initially set, although there are still some less-critical features that can be added in the future if desired, as it is explained in the section 7. Limitations and future work. 39

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41 Code development 3. Code development Once all the program requirements have been set, it is time to explain in greater detail (and with a much more technical approach) how these goals have been fulfilled Sterling Customization Calculator The first thing that s worth mentioning, it s that, just like in the following script, the Sterling Customization Calculator relies on multiple java files in order to work. While it is possible to write the whole program in a single file, it was thought that it was a better idea to split the code into flies to make it as easy as possible to debug in case any problem occurred or to update it in case anyone would like to add any new feature Main.java The main file in this program is Main.java. Its goal is mainly providing the interface that will interact with the final user. Graphically, this process can be summarized as follows: Show user the options available Ask whether they would like to do something else Start the task chosen by the user Output the final result and end the task Interact with user in case such task requires it Figure 10. Main.java workflow 41