Introduction to Sterling B2B Integrator

Data transformation is the cornerstone of electronic commerce. With Sterling B2B Integrator, you can manipulate data transformation easily.

Supported data formats include Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), positional, variable-length-delimited, Japanese Center for Informatization of Industry (CII), and Extensible Markup Language (XML). Using Structured Query Language (SQL), Sterling B2B Integrator can read, write, and update databases.

Sterling B2B Integrator provides sophisticated transformation logic, including if-then-else, boolean logic, conditional operators, look-up tables, user-defined constants, and user exits.

With support for pre-existing and emerging standards in place, you are prepared to meet new requirements as they develop. You can add complexity to existing structures and build new structures into your translation processes using the configurable components.

A Java translation engine provides scalability, fault tolerance and reliability—all of which powerful assets for sophisticated translations. You can respond quickly to changing translation requirements, improving your quality of service through data integrity.

A graphical user interface is provided for the design and collaborative development of data transformation maps. This interface simplifies map creation by enabling you to build translation maps using point-and-click technology. You can reuse the maps that you have already created, cutting data management costs.

The Graphical Process Modeler (GPM) depicts predefined system activities by using icons, so you can easily create links between them to design comprehensive process flows, called business process models.

You can achieve your automation goals with reusable code that you can configure through the easy-to-use graphical interface.

The GPM converts your graphical representation of business processes to well-formed business process code, saving you the effort of writing code. Your process models are immediately executable, and the process development cycle time is short.

You can perform a search in the system by process, partner, and document content, and can configure persistence into your processes to ensure message delivery.

The following figure shows a simple sample business process model as it is displayed in the GPM.

To reduce costs, you must replace manual intervention points in your business processes with automated capabilities.

Exception management such as escalation and transaction reconciliation, error handling, and content-based routing are classic examples of automated capabilities.

With Sterling B2B Integrator, you can create online forms for reviewing, entering, and otherwise interacting with the data in a process. You can even enable your business partners to access custom-created online forms so that they can interact as part of your process.

For example, you can create self-service payment, order, and shipment status forms, and use them to improve partner and customer collaboration through secure, selective data sharing online.

Even when your processes are integrated, day-to-day monitoring and management of activities can be complicated and redundant. To eliminate complications and get maximum value from your integration technology, you need a central hub from where you can ensure end-to-end transaction visibility, configure and manage operations, and transactions.

To provide full-spectrum transaction visibility, Sterling B2B Integrator interoperates with other enterprise system management products, including IBM Tivioli, BMC Performance Manager, and Computer Associates' Unicenter.

You can integrate applications by using batch, synchronous, and asynchronous processes to support your end-to-end integration goals.

The following figure shows the processing engine coordinating the communications to your trading partners through communication adapters. This is based on data transformation and processing involving other integrated systems, all accessed through adapters.