What is Pricefx IntegrationManager?
How does IntegrationManager work?
Who would be using IntegrationManager?
What are the common uses of IntegrationManager?
What is IntegrationManager?
The main role of IntegrationManager (IM) within the Pricefx data integration strategy is to allow the uploading of data from external systems (ie. SAP, etc) into Pricefx and exporting data from the Pricefx environment so that they can be further used in the external systems.
This two-way exchange (inbound and outbound processes) uses a data format that suits best the given scenario (CSV file, XML file, JMS message, calling a web service). The most prevalent data format tends to be CSV files.
How does IntegrationManager work?
Industry standard data integration utilizes a three-phased strategy known as Extract Transform and Load (better known as ETL). Seen from this viewpoint IntegrationManager is the core component of Pricefx’s ETL implementation. Its role can be viewed from an inbound perspective where it is used to import data as CSV files, map the data file to a Pricefx entity (Product, Customer, etc) and then upsert (either insert new records or update existing ones). Additionally, it can export specific data from Pricefx, like a price list, in a format accessible to a 3rd party system.
What are the benefits of using IntegrationManager?
IntegrationManager is a proven solution that uses industry-standard ETL design patterns that have been proven by many years of use in a wide variety of projects. Additionally, there is native integration with the Pricefx environment that will allow IntegrationManager to access Pricefx-specific objects like price lists and approval workflows.
One of the prime advantages of this tool is the availability of Pricefx Integration Templates to provide a user-friendly process to generate the necessary behind-the-scenes code to facilitate the data migration process. With some training from the Pricefx team, it will allow both technical and non-technical individuals to develop, deploy and execute their data integration processes.
What is the intended Audience for IntegrationManager?
The long-term vision of data integration for Pricefx is to create the tools and training to allow our customers and partners to participate in this process. It is a well-known principle that the data integration infrastructure and the processes that execute within it are quite technical in nature and to build integration from scratch would require considerable technical skills.
However, using IntegrationManager and the integration templates will allow subject matter experts (customers and partners) to build inbound and outbound data migrations. We are committed to the tools and strategy that will transform this highly technical black-box process into a learned series of tasks that will accelerate our projects and ensure data quality.
What are the common uses of IntegrationManger?
The Pricefx solution has several critical data requirements that need to be met before the project team can begin to implement a customer’s pricing requirements. These data requirements will be fulfilled by the IntegrationManager using Integration Templates and these templates are designed to support these common usages:
Data Requirement | Direction | Description | IntegrationManager Role |
|---|---|---|---|
Product data | Inbound | Create the product master table and load with product attributes | Use one of the IM Import Integration Templates to identify the source and product master target, denote the mapping from source to target, and perform the uploading into product master. |
Customer data | Inbound | Create the customer master table and load with customer attributes | Use one of the IM Import Integration Templates to identify the source and customer master target, create the mapping from source to target, and perform the uploading into customer master. |
Transaction data | Inbound | Create the transaction data source and load with transactional attributes | Use one of the IM Import Integration Templates to identify the source and transaction datasource target, create the mapping from source to target, and perform the uploading into transaction datasource. |
What are Integration Templates?
Data integration processes are normally created by developers and involve a range of technologies (ie. Apache Camel, Java, Spring, etc) and can require considerable experience to develop, debug and execute successfully. However, there is an industry-standard catalog of the integration patterns that are used across all projects and this provides Pricefx with the infrastructure to build upon.
The integration templates that can be found in the PlatformManager marketplace provide a user-friendly process for resolving the vast majority of data integration requirements.