Semantic integration of CRM and CIS
CRM system firmly entered life of many enterprises of any field of activity and scale. However CRM-sistema companies can not always satisfy all requirements of the company for automation therefore along with it also other corporate information systems (CIS) are often used. For example, the systems of accounting as which products 1C, the systems of an inventory accounting, or any own developments of the enterprise considering features of their business processes most often act. Thus, sooner or later before the companies implementing or using CRM there is a problem of their integration with other CIS. Each corporate information system at the enterprise can give an adequate picture of business, but only in that part for which she is responsible. Competently implemented integration of CIS allows to increase significantly return from systems used at the enterprise and to increase quality of the reporting in general.
At problem solving of integration of CRM systems with other corporate systems own forces of the customer are often used, or developers and\or implementers of CIS are attracted. Unfortunately, not always projects of integration are qualitatively implemented, especially when the integrated systems are written in different languages or based on different databases. Unfortunately, often not profile specialists are engaged in integration that leads to emergence of solutions which become by the principle "if only worked". Use of such solutions is fraught with serious problems in operation and support. Similar solutions are under construction without unified plan, most often represent unloadings in XML or separate web services. As a result, integration is very unstable – at change of a format of data or their volume all structure can cease to work. At more far-sighted approach such methods of integration, for example, implementation of a MDM system, or the message exchange bus like IBM WebSphere MQ, or high-quality implementations of service-oriented architecture of SOA are used.[1]
Advantages of each method are known, as well as their shortcomings.
Implementation of MDM (Master Data Management) of a system, for example IBM InfoSphere, allows to consolidate information from all enterprise information systems. A MDM system creates so-called "gold", or reference, records about each client of the company, and other information objects. From MDM this information can extend on other ICs.
Process is clear, but requires serious investments of time and means. For implementation of integration through MDM it is necessary to collect data from all CIS used at the enterprise, to clean them, to filter duplicates, and then to consolidate data in a single system. Besides, before setup of data transfer process, in MDM it is necessary to create and configure storages for each information type which ICs exchange. Taking into account features of MDM, not each information type will rationally store in it.
Use of SOA allows each information system to provide to other ICs a certain set of the services connected with specifics of the data which are stored in it. Each service allows to execute one certain transaction: for example, to receive details of the client. One of advantages of SOA – a possibility of on-line of information exchange between CRM and any other CIS. But procedures of data exchange through SOA can be developed by different specialists, often – developers and implementers of CIS. At this stage there can already be "a human factor" - it is not known, exchange will be how competently projected, and these will be used how uniformly.
Besides, use of SOA strongly is at a loss at integration of several information systems exchanging a large number of types of information. At the same time creation of service of unloading of data for each system and each type of information will be required. The more CIS and types of information, the more web services should be created, and the less they will give in to control. As a result additional implementation of the systems of cataloguing and monitoring of work of SOAP of web services can be required. Besides, any change of a data structure in one of systems, can lead to failure in work of all system of exchange.
Along with these methods of integration today actively develop, and are already implemented, simpler, functional and perspective solutions based on technologies of semantic data integration. Any data in the form of triplets allow to transfer semantic technologies: a subject – a predicate – determination. Each such triplet transfers one fact about any object. Advantages at such principle of coding of the transmitted data a set. In particular, if to use the ready-made solution – the data exchange server.
In this case, first, it will practically not be required to program something, to develop, create from scratch. From each of systems ready software modules – connectors are used. These modules operating on the party of each of systems will transform all necessary information to semantic triplets, and transfer her to the server, and the server, in turn, sends this information on other systems. Konnketor who obtained information will transform it from triplets to natural to this system of a form.
If there is no ready connector for any software product, it can be created. Can be engaged in development of connectors as the programmers servicing each of systems and specialists of the company providing integration solutions. If for data translation from, for example, CRM, her developers are engaged in writing of the connector, then they are not interested in program specifics of other systems at all. Their only task – to implement unloading of triplets from the system, and processing of the entering information stream.
Secondly, it is possible to include any quantity of systems in such exchange, and settings of the server to set data transmission conditions between systems: what information an opportunity to transfer and receive each CIS has.
Thirdly, integration of CRM with other systems using semantic technologies is steadier against any changes. Exchange does not lose working capacity if from one of systems the data structure changes, and it will be very simple to reflect such change in an exchange configuration. If exchange for some reason is interrupted – after its recovery it will be easy to repeat transfer of all missed information.
Thus, against the background of already usual methods of integration of corporate information systems, the data exchange method, expressed in a semantic form, looks the steadiest and perspective. If to speak about integration of CRM and other enterprise information systems, then use of semantic technologies allows to consider easily the fact that in different systems customer information is provided in different cuts (financial accounting, an inventory control), to perform filtering and merge of these data for the benefit of the end user working through CRM.
Gorshkov Sergey Vadimovich, director of the company Business of Semantics
Notes
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