A director’s guide: How to integrate on-premise and

A director’s guide:
How to integrate on-premise and
cloud solutions using web services
An information guide from Access
consulting | software | solutions
www.theaccessgroup.com
Introduction
All IT directors know that their
organisations require access to the
latest, up-to-date business information
if they’re to remain agile and
competitive in their marketplace. And to
achieve this, tightly integrated business
and accounting solutions are a must.
With a wide range of on-premise and
cloud-based software on the market,
making the right choice can be
daunting. And the IT director is often
tasked with ensuring that all systems
are linked up.
Web services offer the IT function the
flexibility to make cloud computing a
reality for their business. They provide
the ability for on-premise and cloudbased systems to co-exist, without
having to throw out current solutions.
Through close integration, real-time
visibility of business data across the
organisation is possible – something
that you can help the business achieve.
This guide aims to introduce web
services, what they are, the
technology, the purpose they serve
and how they can benefit your
business, both now and in the future.
What are web services?
Web services are standard software
‘components’ – or Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) –
that allow communication between
different platforms and software
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packages using technologies such as
.NET, HTTP, XML and SOAP. Web
services can deal with any type of
operation from the simple, such as
weather reports and international
time zone information, to the highly
complex such as organisation-wide
ERP solutions.
Working on protocols such as SOAP
means that web services are
independent of any programming
language or operating system. So
whether a piece of software is written
in C++, Perl or Java, these systems can
talk to each other and exchange
information over the web. That’s the
beauty of web services – they enable
systems to speak the same language
and act as the glue that links disparate
systems together.
So in a nutshell, web services can be
used to integrate all your systems –
from finance through to CRM,
manufacturing, HR and ecommerce –
so that everyone has easy access to
the information they need to do their
job. And if they’re doing their job,
they’re helping the business serve its
customers better, which ultimately
impacts on the bottom line.
The technology
The technology behind web services is
pretty straightforward. We’ve included
a brief overview here so that you have
an idea of what it entails.
Because web services allow open
communication between different
solutions, regardless of platform or
programming language, it makes
integrating solutions across the
business a whole lot easier –
regardless of whether they are onpremise or cloud-based.
Web services use Extensible Markup
Language (XML) which is a flexible
means of sharing data on the web or
intranets in a humanly readable form.
In addition they also use three other
XML-based technologies: Web
Services Description Language
(WSDL), Simple Object Access
Protocol (SOAP) and Universal
Description Discovery and Integration
(UDDI). Here’s the part each plays in
the process:
Web services operate behind the
scenes with the user working from a
normal graphical interface (or GUI as
it’s known) so they can easily access,
edit and update information, as
security permissions permit; the
system simply calls the information
and delivers it right to the desktop – or
any other device.
• WSDL is a document that points to
where the web service is on the
internet and its function; it is
basically the interface which
allows interaction with these
services. It acts as a contract
between the web service and the
server. Because each abides by the
contract, data can be exchanged.
©Access 2011. E&OE.
• SOAP acts as an envelope that
wraps around the XML message,
sending this between the web
service and the application via
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
This is basically just a vehicle which
transfers data across the web. All
browsers support HTTP, which is
based on a synchronous request
response model. An alternative to
SOAP is RESTful.
• UDDI is a directory of web services.
It simply creates information about
an organisation and what web
services it provides. This searchable
‘directory’ can include listings that
are either public or private.
Web services often use Microsoft’s .NET
Framework although they can also use
Java. .NET is a common language that
allows for the rapid development of
APIs aimed at integrating any number
of solutions together. .NET solutions
simply point towards services and also
enable software developers to
programme against it quite quickly:
web services are ‘self describing’,
helping to reduce development time.
Together these technologies provide
the backbone that allows data
exchange to take place. The result is
web services that are scalable, agile,
and easy to understand. All of this
technology of course remains in the
background – all the end user will see is
a graphical interface that easily allows
them to review and update information
as their security level allows.
Building a case for web
services
When building a case for web services
within your organisation, you need to
look for the opportunities and solutions
it offers. Many businesses have staff
that operate remotely or are out of the
office for long periods of time. In other
cases it may pay to have an element of
your software in the cloud because of
its elasticity and scalability due to the
fact that you’re only paying for what
you use. Either way, it pays to link up as
many of your disparate systems as
possible across the organisation.
Here are just a few examples of the
types of business that can utilise web
services:
©Access 2011. E&OE.
• Ecommerce organisations: whilst
you may prefer the finance system
to be operating on-premise, it’s
often more cost-effective to have
the ecommerce solution in the cloud
and integrated into the accounts
package. This is possible with web
services and avoids the expense of
any increased customer footfall to
the website; being cloud-based
means the company will not have to
directly deal with IT infrastructure,
any expansion or contraction in
requirements, due to seasonal
fluctuations, or any other associated
costs. This simple process allows
business to efficiently validate stock
levels and trading accounts, accept
orders and deal with order enquiries
– all linked back to the accounting
system in real-time.
• Wholesale and distribution
organisations: like ecommerce
organisations, business-to-business
(B2B) organisations, such as
wholesale and distribution, have
similar issues. If they receive a lot of
orders to their web portal/website
this puts the IT infrastructure under
a great deal of strain. If a site crashes
due to the demands being placed
upon it, it is the IT department that
suffers the blame for lost orders and
annoyed customers. By placing this
element of the system in the cloud,
web services can easily link into
other on-premise solutions such as
the accounting system.
• Manufacturing organisations:
many manufacturers have invested
a great deal in their IT infrastructure,
on-premise manufacturing solutions
and, for example, robotic control
systems and direct interfaces, with
time and attendance solutions that
need to be physically on-site. It is
often the case that their accounts
system is also on-premise. They may
however, want to combine these onpremise solutions with cloud-based
CRM, document management or HR
solutions. Web services will enable
the integration of these systems
without the manufacturing
organisation having to go back to
the drawing board. The IT
department is pivotal in helping
the business make the most of
investment in existing systems
where appropriate.
• Multiple companies: an
organisation could consist of, for
example, five or more companies.
By implementing web services
once, each database can talk to the
other. This means it’s possible to
open up conversations with, for
example, two or more companies at
the same time. It also means that
your FD(s) can gain full visibility of
the accounts systems across the
companies – or any of your other
integrated software solutions.
When conducting a review of existing
systems, businesses should not
assume that they have to throw these
out if they continue to fit the business
need. Businesses also don’t need to go
down the purely on-premise or cloud
route (although you can, if this is the
best solution for your business).
However, if the intention is to migrate
to fully on-premise or cloud-based
solutions then web services will help to
bridge the gap, whilst the organisation
is in migration mode. Hence web
services can also be an interim solution
as well as an end result.
Business benefits
The versatility of web services can
provide organisations with huge
benefits:
Ease of integration
Many organisations have disparate
systems that require integration. This
can often be an issue because the
different software solutions are not
written in the same language or don’t
store their data in the same place.
Web services APIs provide developers
and consultants with additional tools
to further extend their ability to
integrate different software packages.
They allow systems to talk to each
other because web services are
programming language and platform
independent so services and
information can be automatically
shared. This ease of integration is
brought about because neither
application needs to know how the
other is implemented or any
formatting of data. Web services help
to create more efficient business
processes because there should be no
duplication of effort.
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More choice
Web services open up options
surrounding the technologies that you
can employ, making it easy to find
solutions with the right business fit.
They allow businesses to integrate
with software solutions where it
previously would have been difficult –
or impossible – to do so due to
compatibility issues. Web services are
also a great way to connect businesses
with their customers, suppliers and
other partners.
Capitalise on existing investments
Organisations have often invested a
great deal in their systems which may
be on-premise, cloud-based or a
combination of the two. Regardless of
the route taken, web services will enable
these systems to be closely integrated.
This ensures the business gains the
maximum return on investment for the
commitments already made.
Flexibility
Web services provide the freedom to
choose the best software systems for
your organisation. They allow the
business to break out of the
technological confines of being
programming language and platform
dependent. The complexity of modern
organisations often mean they’re using
a myriad of technologies to meet
business needs. Because web services
are able to deal with this complexity,
organisations can ensure that the
systems they have in place are made
to work harder so the business gets
more value from them.
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Real-time data
If all systems are integrated together
it means that everyone is working off
the same data set and that decisions
are always based on the most up-todate information. The whole workflow
is also improved: processes are
streamlined and it’s easier to monitor
status and act where appropriate as
well as input information on the fly. In
effect, there is less time wasted.
Live data also takes away the onus on
volume. As web services introduce the
data, bit by bit, allowing everything to
catch up, there isn’t such a huge focus
on bandwidth.
Cost effective
The communication costs are lower
because web services use existing
internet capabilities. This wouldn’t be
the case with the older proprietary
options such as Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) or File Transfer
Protocol (FTP). And because web
services uses standardised technology
it means less investment and faster
deployment of systems because you’re
able to take advantage of existing web
technologies.
Web services provide benefits for all
organisations, no matter what their
size. However, for the smaller midmarket organisation, the ability to
automate processes by integrating all
their systems together, means they
can gain a similar level of competitive
advantage as a larger organisation.
Competitive advantage
Integrating systems with web services
means businesses can have complete
visibility of information across the
organisation. This is beneficial on
many accounts:
• It can improve the customer
experience because staff can gain
easy access to customer
information and sales transactions,
therefore, having the right
information to hand at the right
time. Being able to leverage this
data intelligently can give an
organisation the edge over its
competitors.
• It is easier for staff to update
information in the system –
whenever and wherever they are
based.
• It provides instant access to data
from across the organisation on
which business leaders can make
more informed decisions.
• Organisations have the opportunity
to work faster, leaner and with
more agility in a post-recession
climate thanks to technology
advancements. And this is possible
by integrating all the internal
systems together – and even
linking with supplier and partner
systems.
• Organisations can react quickly to
their business environment – as
well as being proactive – and
develop stronger relationships with
partners and suppliers.
©Access 2011. E&OE.
Things to consider
Before going ahead with the
implementation of web services you
should consider the following:
• Who is providing the web services?
There are a couple of alternatives
here. If there are two or more
software solutions from different
suppliers, you can engage a
middleware provider to ‘connect’
the systems. Alternatively, if there is
a direct relationship between the
software suppliers, and they have
the ability to provide web services,
they will be able to carry out the
process for you. This is also the case
if you own or have access to the
code, either directly or through a
third party developer who has
created the solution on your behalf.
• If you are integrating to the cloud
using web services ensure you have
all the necessary security in place
first – this will mean involving your
IT team to ensure that everything is
in place before you start.
• When introducing web services into
an organisation and interacting
with the cloud, the server needs
open access to the internet. Web
services need to sit alongside the
firewall and act as the gateway.
Work in a confined and restricted
manner. Web services can be
secured down and it is better than
exposing the Microsoft SQL
database to the internet.
• Start with a small but important
area of the business, make sure you
have the bandwidth, prove it works
and become experts.
Summary
We hope this guide has highlighted
the opportunities and choices
available in the way that your systems
are delivered. With web services, both
on-premise and cloud computing
systems can operate in harmony, sideby-side, providing your organisation
with the visibility it needs to make
timely business decisions.
Whether you are looking for onpremise, cloud or a combination of the
two, if you do your homework and
ensure the financials make sense, then
you’ll be able to make the right choice
for your organisation.
What’s more you’ll be able to integrate
with the systems that you’ve already
taken a great deal of time and effort
to implement – helping your
organisation to capitalise on your
existing investment.
Access Transaction Broker is a
middleware application that facilitates
the flow of information from third party
applications into Access Dimensions. It
is an ideal solution for businesses
seeking to consolidate information onto
a single database, or requiring a costeffective, low maintenance approach to
company-wide integration. Using
Transaction Broker, integration is so
extensive that re-entering data
becomes a thing of the past.
About Access’ web services
Who we are
Access’ web services Application
Programming Interface (API) enables
our award-winning business and
accounting solution, Access
Dimensions, to be tightly integrated
with popular cloud computing
applications. These web services
extend our current Dimensions API
set, which allows our flagship
solutions to be easily integrated with
other on-premise third-party
applications.
Access will give you the advice, tools
and clarity you need to make effective
decisions, quickly and with certainty.
As both a business-focused
consultancy and a specialist software
developer, we combine our innovative
software with practical experience to
deliver a solution that’s exactly right
for you and your business.
Our web services API provides a secure
standardised interface linking directly
to third-party applications whether
they are on-premise or externally
hosted, including cloud solutions. They
operate within the .NET framework,
using the Microsoft-based Windows
Communications Foundation (WCF),
with XML and SOAP and are hosted in
Internet Information Services (IIS),
which is a web server application
supporting web protocols such as HTTP.
As part of the Access SDK, the
complete API set provides developers
with even more options in how they
integrate systems. This allows for the
development and integration of SQL
applications and a COM toolkit for
linking your accounts with all COM
compliant applications. In addition, we
provide Access Transaction Broker,
which is capable of integrating with
every other type of ODBC database
along with email, XML and Internet
applications.
We believe your solution must be ready
for the future, as well as right for today.
Because your business will constantly
evolve, we provide a software solution
that grows with you. Our modular
software covers a complete range of
business, financial and administration
processes and can be flexed to give you
the precise view of your business that
you need at any time.
With Access, you can be sure you’ve
got the clarity you need to reach your
business goals.
Further information
For further information on Access
solutions, please telephone us on
0845 345 3300, email
[email protected] or,
alternatively, visit our website at
www.theaccessgroup.com. You can
also follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/theaccessgroup
consulting | software | solutions
www.theaccessgroup.com