STRATandGO Technology PROCOS Professional Controlling Systems AG Gewerbeweg 15 FL- 9490 Vaduz Version: 1.4 Datum: June 2014 PROCOS Professional Controlling Systems AG
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Architecture 3 1.1. Database Server 3 1.2. Additional Servers 4 1.3. STRATandGO Application Server 4 1.4. Web Server, Citrix Server, Terminal Server 5 1.5. Clients 5 a) STRATandGO Smart Client 5 b) STRATandGO Silverlight Client 6 c) Web-, Mobile- and other custom clients based on STRATandGO Web Services 6 1.6. STRATandGO and Cloud Computing 7 2. Data Sources and Storage 9 2.1. Data Sources for STRATandGO 9 3. Data Import 11 3.1. DIMEX 11 4. Data Access 13 4.1. STRATandGO Logical Tables 13 5. Security and Permissions 14 5.1. Types of permissions 14 5.2. Connecting to external authentication providers 14 6. Client Service Technical Operations 15 6.1. Client Services - Architecture 15 7. Contact 17 Page 2 of 17
1. Architecture STRATandGO is a software suite based on the Microsoft.NET platform. It is completely written with the C# programming language and free of any legacy -components. The current release 8 uses the.net Framework 4.0 and Microsoft Silverlight 5.0. STRATandGO is based on a multi-tier architecture (see picture below). The main elements of the architecture are 1. A database server 2. Additional servers (optional) 3. The STRATandGO Application Server 4. An IIS Webserver (optional) 5. A Citrix or Terminal Server (optional) 6. Different Clients Architecture 1.1. Database Server STRATandGO uses a relational database to store master data, transaction data, settings, configuration, users and roles, permissions etc. Due to its high compatibility STRATandGO can be used with many relational database system available on the market (e.g. Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle etc. see Hardware and Software Requirements for further information). Basically STRATandGO only needs a table-space that enables it to create and maintain its list of relational tables. It does not need a complete, dedicated database engine but can re-use an existing one and share it with other applications. Furthermore the Page 3 of 17
database can be hosted on existing hardware or new hardware without loss of features. The decision for new/existing/dedicated databases is rather made based on performance considerations. This enables STRATandGO to perfectly integrate with an existing database infrastructure. 1.2. Additional Servers STRATandGO can communicate with additional servers to host or retrieve information. The use of those servers is optional and does not cause any loss of features or functionality. Authentication Servers Retrieve authentication information to e.g. support single-sign-on (Windows Authentication, LDAP etc.). See section Security and Permission for more information. OLAP Servers Provide live access to data cubes (Microsoft Analysis Service) for ad-hoc queries Sharepoint Server and File Servers Host documents that can be linked to elements like e.g. KPIs etc. 1.3. STRATandGO Application Server STRATandGO Application Server is a software service running on a Microsoft Windows Server. It is based on Microsoft.NET and completely written with C#. See Hardware and Software Requirements for a list of supported server operating systems. STRATandGO Application Server is the main access point for all clients. Clients send requests to the application server (either directly or indirectly, see below). The server reads and processes data, configuration, permission etc. and builds corresponding result objects (e.g. reports, add-hoc queries etc) which are then sent back to the clients. This means the server hosts and executes the business logics, calculations and rules that have been defined. The STRATandGO Application Server provides several layers of caching that help to provide desired performance: In-Memory database (see picture In-Memory Database ) An optional layer that can cache database information. It can be configured to host individual tables (based on requirements/server load) and can be turned on or off without loss of features. It is completely transparent for the end-user and works silently in the background. The main advantage is a greatly reduced load on the network and database server. Internal object caching STRATandGO intelligently caches frequently used data and objects in the background to speed up performance. No configuration or maintenance is required for this cache. The internal cache has a great impact on performance. Report repository (see picture Report Repository ) The report repository can be used to store frequently used reports. The reports in the repository are completely pre-built but provide the same features (drilldown etc) as a freshly built report. Reports are automatically retrieved from the repository i.e. the end user does not need any additional knowledge about it. It is completely transparent and works in the background. This results in a great performance improvement when requesting reports. Page 4 of 17
In-Memory Database Report Repository 1.4. Web Server, Citrix Server, Terminal Server These servers are used to build a bridge between the STRATandGO Application Server and clients that can be used outside of the corporate network (browser clients, web service clients etc). No business logic is running on these servers. For a list of supported servers see Hardware and Software Requirements. The IIS web server can also host the STRATandGO Web Services. These are standardized software services that provide objects like reports or ad-hoc queries to external consumers. This enables customer to build their own frontends or applications that consume objects from the STRATandGO Application Server via the STRATandGO Web Services. See section 1.5 Clients for more information. 1.5. Clients Various clients can be used to access information that is provided by the STRATandGO Application Server. STRATandGO Smart Client o directly connected to application server o connected via VPN o hosted in Citrix or Terminal Server session o option to run as full client without server STRATandGO Silverlight Client Web-, Mobile- and other custom clients based on STRATandGO Web Services o clients for web browsers o clients for mobiles (iphone, Windows Phone, Android ) o clients for tablets and slates o clients on various platforms like e.g. java applet etc o clients for desktops and laptops o a) STRATandGO Smart Client The STRATandGO Smart Client is based on the Microsoft.NET framework than runs on hardware running the Windows operating system (for more information about supported operating systems see Hardware and Software Requirement ). The following modes of operation are supported: Connected to the STRATandGO Application Server (Smart Client) Page 5 of 17
o direct connection o connection via VPN or other networks Directly connected to the database without application server (Full Client, standalone mode ) Hosted in Citrix or Terminal Server Session The different modes are all covered by the same software, no separate installations are necessary. b) STRATandGO Silverlight Client The STRATandGO Silverlight Client is based on the Microsoft Silverlight browser plug-in and runs in a web browser without installation. The Microsoft Silverlight plug-in is provided free of charge by Microsoft and downloaded/installed automatically when needed. Silverlight is also installed and updated via Microsoft Windows Update in the same way as e.g. Microsoft Office or other Microsoft products. Silverlight provides a rich and responsive user interface with much better cross-browser support than classis HTML-based browser applications. For a list of supported browsers and platforms see Hardware and Software requirements. c) Web-, Mobile- and other custom clients based on STRATandGO Web Services STRATandGO Web Services supports custom clients/frontends that are built based on data provided by the STRATandGO Application Server. This enables customers to use custom tailored frontends in parallel to standard STRATandGO clients without the need to build business logics multiple times. Most modern development platforms provide support for accessing Web Services, so clients could e.g. be built for mobile phones (iphone, Android etc), tablets, desktops and laptops (.Net, Java), web browsers (HTML, ASP) etc. Web Services Page 6 of 17
Examples for the usage of STRATandGO Web Services Displaying data (e.g. KPIs) in web portals Applications that display STRATandGO data on mobiles, tablets or similar devices Small, fast and easy to use applications for top management (e.g. cockpit-viewer with a minimum amount of buttons/controls) Upload and download of plan data for offline planning Export of STRATandGO data to other systems for further processing (e.g. calculated figures). Some features / functions that are supported by STRATandGO Web Services: Requesting report data (completely processed according to shared business logic) Requesting drilldown information (e.g. detail reports) Requesting data for ad-hoc queries (completely processed according to shared business logic) Requesting images of charts, gauges, reports, maps etc. Requesting documents Upload and download of data in Excel sheets (e.g. for budget figures for offline processing) Upload of master data and transaction data Sample Web Service Client on mobile phone 1.6. STRATandGO and Cloud Computing Due to its flexible architecture STRATandGO is perfectly suited to run in cloud environments. The different layers of the architecture can be run at different locations and the communication infrastructure between them uses standard TCP/IP communication. None of the STRATandGO components requires proprietary hardware and runs perfectly on virtualized infrastructure. It does not matter how the different layer of STRATandGO are deployed and what platform they run with the system always provides the same features, the same usability and user interface. STRATandGO is not limited to or built for a specific cloud provider. It can basically run on any cloud system that provides infrastructure and/or platforms that meet the requirements for STRATandGO (see Hardware and Software requirements ). The picture below show a possible scenario of STRATandGO running in a cloud environment: Page 7 of 17
Silverlight Client (Web Browser) Smart-Client (Windows) STRATandGO Application Server Web Server (IIS) Database Server Citrix / Terminalserver Client OLAP Server File Server Citrix/Terminal Server STRATandGO in cloud environment. Webservice Client In this scenario the STRATandGO Application Server, Web Server and all servers that host data are run in the cloud. The user can access the STRATandGO application: Using a web browser (STRATandGO Silverlight Client or a custom client for the STRATandGO Web Services) Using the windows client (directly via VPN or Citrix/Terminal Server) Data uploads to the database can be achieved: By creating a secure channel between the database server in the cloud and another one in the company network. After connecting the two server data can be exchanged using STRATandGO DIMEX or any other ETL tool. By uploading data in files (e.g. Excel, CSV etc) to the cloud and running DIMEX directly in the cloud to transfer the contents of the files to the database. By uploading complete database files and mounting them in the database server. The above scenario is just one example. Another minimal and cost effective constellation could e.g. be A single combined server instance for o Database o Application server o Web server STRATandGO Silverlight Clients as frontend Page 8 of 17
2. Data Sources and Storage STRATandGO stores master data, transaction data, configuration, permissions etc. in relational tables on a database server. These tables will be referred to as STRATandGO Tables for the rest of the document. The master data and transaction data that is used by STRATandGO is often retrieved from ERPs, Data Warehouses or other systems that create or host that data. These systems will be called source systems for the rest of the document. Master data and transaction data stored in the STRATandGO Tables is not encrypted or locked and therefore supports read/write access with every tool that supports access to relational tables via SQL queries/commands. So no special driver or tool is required to write data into the STRATandGO Tables or extract data from it. As all information (data, configuration, settings, documents, permissions etc) can be stored in the STRATandGO Tables it is very easy to perform a full backup of the complete STRATandGO environment. A simple backup of the corresponding database file(s) is sufficient. 2.1. Data Sources for STRATandGO As mentioned above data is stored in the STRATandGO Tables. The STRATandGO Application Server will read and process such data in order to produce reports or other results. But the STRATandGO Application Server also provides an additional way of accessing data: Instead of transferring the data from the source systems to the STRATandGO Tables first, it can be read directly from the source systems (for certain scenarios and data): Direct access to OLAP cubes (Microsoft Analysis Services) for analysis/ad-hoc queries. Direct access to tables on the source systems via database views and STRATandGO Logical Tables (see further below). Furthermore STRATandGO provides features to collect data that does not exist in the source systems at all. This is done by creating data entry screens that enable the user to type in data manually. A report (or other object) in STRATandGO can contain mixed data from all possible sources without restrictions or loss of features. Page 9 of 17
Accessing data Page 10 of 17
3. Data Import The data in the STRATandGO Tables is stored in a non-encrypted relational form. Therefore any tool capable of writing such tables can be used to transfer data to the STRATandGO Tables. 3.1. DIMEX STRATandGO comes with its own ETL tool called DIMEX. DIMEX is optimized to read data from different sources, process and validate the data and finally write it to a target system (the STRATandGO Tables in general). DIMEX can also be used to export data from the STRATandGO Tables to the source systems. It is the preferred tool to create data interfaces from and to the STRATandGO tables. DIMEX can access the following sources Systems that provide data in a relational form via ODBC, OLE DB or native.net drivers (Read/Write) SAP o SAP BW (Read) o SAP Tables (Read) o SAP Queries (Read) o SAP RFC Calls / Modules (Read/Write) Microsoft Analysis Services OLAP Cubes via MDX (Read) Excel Sheets e.g. via OLE DB driver (Read/Write) CSV or other text formats e.g. via ODBC driver (Read) DIMEX jobs can be executed manually or automatically (via scheduling tools). The data mappings and processing is highly configurable and supports actions like: Mapping source and target fields Mapping keys to items and vice versa Validating and cleaning of data Merging and aggregating/compressing data Mapping items from different source systems Merge existing and new data Enhance data with external sources Page 11 of 17
DIMEX Page 12 of 17
4. Data Access Data that is internally used by STRATandGO like configuration or security information is stored in fixed/predefined tables. But master data and transactional data used for reports, ad-hoc queries and other objects does not have a predefined/fixed relational format. STRATandGO can adapt to nearly any relational table layout via the STRATandGO Logical Tables. 4.1. STRATandGO Logical Tables Logical Tables Master data and transactional data can be stored with an unlimited number of attributes and with a free-definable layout. The STRATandGO Logical Tables are then used to add semantic information for the data/attributes (data type, logical content, behavior etc). The STRATandGO Application Server reads data according to the settings in the logical tables and therefore knows how to handle and process it. Page 13 of 17
5. Security and Permissions STRATandGO has an integrated user and role concept. Users can be assigned to multiple roles and permission is inherited from those roles, but can be overwritten on user level. 5.1. Types of permissions The following types of permissions can be set for a user or role: Functional Permissions e.g. o Is the user allowed to modify reports o Is the user allowed to export data o Is the user allowed to design charts o Object Permission e.g. o Can the user run report A o Can the user access and modify table B o Can the user execute job C o Data Permission e.g. o Is the user allowed to see sales data for country USA o Is the user allowed to see plan data for KPI ROI o 5.2. Connecting to external authentication providers STRATandGO has built in features to create and maintain user and roles and assign corresponding permissions. No additional software is required to build a completely functional user/role system. But STRATandGO also provides options to retrieve users and roles from external authentication providers. This enables administrators to provide features like single-sign-on for STRATandGO users. The following external providers are supported: LDAP providers Active Directory (ADSI) Custom Providers (custom development) Page 14 of 17
6. Client Service Technical Operations The parts here are describing the options and features built in into STRATandGO to support recurrent operation tasks, keep the system running 24h a day and service down times as short as possible. Related parts are: Background / System architecture Manage the print queue Configure the print processing threads running concurrently on the machine Configure print output locations in distributed systems 6.1. Client Services - Architecture The following schema describes the general processing work flow of a user initiated print task (web/silverlight clients only). 1. A user request a print of a report within the web/silverlight client, that sends the request using a WCF (Windows Communication Foundation) service endpoint configured at the web server to the service back-end (Web Server). 2. The service called will now push the print request not directly to the application server (this was the case in earlier versions of STRATandGO), but put it to a Microsoft Message queue (implemented in STRATandGO starting with version 8.2). The message gets a additional header entry with the callback address of the service that stored the message in the queue (response address token). Then the service immediately returns to the client signaling the success (or failure) of writing the request to that queue and is ready again for other requests. Page 15 of 17
3. If the client service is up and running and ready for processing queued messages, it will pick up the print message for processing. Otherwise the message(s) are kept within the queue as it is configured. By default the configuration uses two concurrent threads that are able to process messages. If one thread has finished processing a complete print job, it is ready to pick up the next one. 4. The message processing thread now read the message and the message context (that contain the application server address and port to be used for further business and database processing) and send the request to the application server synchronously, means: it immediately awaits a response. 5. The processing thread gets the print response and store the resulting document STRATandGO 44 General Help 2013 PROCOS AG locally in a temporary system file folder. 6. Now the same thread call back the originally requesting WCF service (using the response address token from step 2). 7. That service (at the Web Server) in turn call back into the client service (here: using a WCF endpoint named in the callback and configured at the client server service) to request the result (stream). The result stream is stored locally (or at a network path shared by multiple Web Servers) for a configurable time. After that time the file(s) or document(s) will be removed by the Web Server automatically. 8. The client service thread processing the print requests now ends. 9. The Web Server WCF service called back now uses the configured option(s) to notify the end-user about the finished print task (direct push, using SignalR or internal mail or e-mail) providing a download link that targets the web service at a Web server, which redirects to the correct locally (or shared on a network path) stored document to be downloaded/viewed by the end-user. Page 16 of 17
7. Contact PROCOS Professional Controlling Systems AG Gewerbeweg 15 FL- 9490 Vaduz Tel. +423 237 66 33 Fax +423 237 66 34 info@procos.com www.procos.com Page 17 of 17