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Decision Guide

The best integration method will depend on many factors, considering the requirements gathered as per section Gathering Requirements, but below tables for inbound and outbound indicate preferred methods considering future proofing for the capabilities in IFS Cloud.

Integration Options

Some integration capabilities that will be covered in more detail include:

Summary Advantages Disadvantages
REST APIs Use the RESTful APIs that come with IFS Cloud for inbound messages to IFS, and Event Actions or custom code for outbound messages Maximizes reuse of APIs available in IFS. This is where IFS Cloud is heading. Works well with Dell Boomi. Only available on IFS Application 10 (preferably with Update 8 that includes the API Explorer and other enhancements) and IFS Cloud. Granular messaging.
Migration Jobs Use scheduled migration jobs to read and write files Easy to configure. Flat files only. Some LUs (such as invoices) not easy to migrate to. Fixed file name. Can be more effort to monitor.
External Files Used scheduled External File Templates to read and write files Compared to migration jobs, more logic can be added (through customization). As above, plus but as easy to configure .But external files cannot be configured to the same extent as migration jobs. May require customization.

The BizAPIs that existed in Apps 10 and older versions are removed in IFS Cloud and replaced with structured integration REST APIs. If an older IFS version is upgraded to IFS Cloud any customized BizAPIs must be converted to REST APIs. If these BizAPIs are being consumed by 3rd party applications, the integrations have to be reconfigured to consume these new REST APIs. However if these 3rd party applications are incapable of interacting with REST services, IFS Connect can support legacy SOAP invocations by converting the BizAPI requests to projection requests along with necessary data transformations. IFS Connect framework has provided a new routing address type ("Projection") for invoking projections and a new transformer for converting XML data to JSON ("IFS_XML_TO_JSON").

Inbound

Condition Recommended Action in IFS Cloud
If middleware or service bus is available (such as Dell Boomi) Use Premium class integration REST APIs where suitable, else use Standard class REST APIs, and do orchestration in middleware.
Else if integrating system can make REST web service calls Use Premium class integration REST APIs where suitable, else build structured REST APIs through customization.
Else if integrating system can make SOAP XML calls Use SOAP gateway and route to Premium class integration REST APIs where suitable, or build structured REST APIs through customization. SOAP XML message has to be routed to the REST API using IFS Connect framework.
Else if data is received as files (XML,JSON) Use IFS Connect to poll for files, and route to REST APIs with necessary transformations.
In Other situations Further analysis is required. For transactional type interfaces, consider still using IFS Connect to poll for files, transform data using Java transformers, and route to REST APIs for batch type interfaces. (e.g. nightly/weekly load of master data such as suppliers, customers, etc.)

Outbound

IFS Cloud
If middleware or service bus is available (such as Dell Boomi) Use Event Actions to send an outbound REST call to middleware including key data. Middleware can retrieve additional data using IFS REST APIs if required.
Else if integrating system exposes REST web services Depending on complexity of data structures and data translation requirements, package outgoing message in Event Action or customization, and send using REST sender in IFS Connect, if required transforming using XSLT.
Else if integrating system exposes SOAP web services Depending on complexity of data structures and data translation requirements, package outgoing message in Event Action or customization , and send using HTTP sender in IFS Connect, if required transforming using XSLT.
Else if data is sent as XML files As above, but using File, FTP or SFTP Sender in IFS Connect. This assumes one-way integration. (A “response file” would have to be processed as a separate inbound interface.)
Otherwise Further analysis is required. For transactional type interfaces, consider still using Event Actions or Customization and IFS Connect, since XSTL can be used to transform from IFS internal XML to text files, such as CSV etc.) For batch type interfaces (e.g. nightly/weekly export of data), consider Migration Job or External File to produce the file on the database server, and using IFS Connect to move files to other file, FTP or SFTP directory.