© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.
INTEGRATION STRATEGIESFOR SUCCESSFUL MOBILE APPLICATIONS
Gordon Van HuizenChief Technology Officer, DSI
© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.
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1 WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT MOBILE?
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ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS
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ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS
Feature Breadth and Depth
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ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS
Feature Breadth and Depth Interaction Model
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ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS
Feature Breadth and Depth Interaction Model
Connectivity Modes
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ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS
Feature Breadth and Depth Interaction Model
Connectivity ModesDevice Selection
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COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES
‣Variable Bandwidth‣Network Latency‣Intermittent Connectivity‣Extended Periods Off-line
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2 WHAT ARE TODAY’S BEST PRACTICES FOR MOBILE INTEGRATION?
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LAYERS OF AN OMNI-CHANNEL ARCHITECTURE
Source: Gartner “Address the Limitations of a Mobile-First Application Strategy With a Multichannel Architecture”
(December 2013)
DevicesSmartphones, Tablets, Desktop PCs
Interaction LayerProvide Channel-Optimized User Experiences
Composition LayerProvide Channel-Independent Services
Back-End ServicesEnterprise Systems, Third-Party Services
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Also Improves Responsiveness of “Always-Connected” Apps
ADDRESS OFF-LINE REQUIREMENTS
DATA SYNCHRONIZATION TRANSACTION QUEUING
Between mobile devices and middleware tier or back end
Between mobile devices and middleware tier
Required for full off-line mode of mobile apps
Can be augmented with transactional queuing to update back-end systems
Supports functional integration with back-end systems
Can be more complicated to implement
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CONFLICTS CAN AND WILL OCCUR OFF-LINE
ANTICIPATE AND ADDRESS OFF-LINE CONFLICTS
‣ Detect synchronization conflicts
‣ Unwind actions taken, as needed
‣ Inform all appropriate parties
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APIS: THE UNIVERSAL INTEGRATION MECHANISM
WEB APIs ARE UBIQUITOUS, BUT MAY REQUIRE AUGMENTATION
‣ Publish the service orchestration and logic you build in the middle tier as reusable APIs
‣ Leverage Web APIs to connect to back-end systems and third-party services
‣ Ensure that off-line, transactional integrity, performance, scalability and security requirements are met
© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.
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THE KEYS TO SUCCESS
‣ Plan from the beginning to support multiple devices, form factors and interaction models
‣ Perform integration and create business logic in a channel-independent layer
‣ Leverage Web APIs, but enrich them as needed to meet enterprise and mobile user requirements
‣ Address connectivity challenges, including conflicts than will occur when users continue to work off-line
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