DKIS ALP Group: The integration platform for enterprise management systems (ERP and i-ERP) on software of 1C

2020: The organization of an opportunity to send the request directly to the developer

Department of corporate information systems of ALP Group (ALP-IS LLC) — the Russian developer of the IT solutions for management of the large commercial and state organizations based on software products of 1C on December 10, 2020 announced emergence of additional functionality on formation of the user requests for introduction of corrections and changes in use of ERP systems based on 1C.

The main objective of service – to simplify communication between the developer and end users, to receive even more exact and fast feedback, to accelerate correction of critical errors and also to minimize distortions by transfer of a feedback from the user to the developer.

Traditionally, in a corporate segment creation of functionality and service of information systems was based on the wishes of the customer arriving in any form on different channels. Further processing and standardization of the acquired information, and start in development followed. Then, after testing, functions were put into operation to the client. After that either own support service of the customer, or these tasks was engaged in system maintenance were transferred to outsourcing. Thus, the developer remained out of this process, and necessary information arrived to it not directly, and through several "hands". So, if something did not suit the user in the current implementation, or he needed to expand functionality, he could send the address to the first line of technical support only.

For correction of this situation DKIS ALP Group offered the customers a set of the built-in interfaces allowing to direct service "ticket" at identification of errors of different types - the request directly to the developer. At the same time each address without fail is registered in the internal change management system (CMS) of ALP – according to the model of lean production admitted to the companies. The requests connected with critical errors are considered in the priority mode.

In turn, the user will be able directly to send standard requests for changes and expansion of functionality now from the interface of a subsystem with which it works, – for example, directly to place a request with an illustration (screenshot) and the comment in the system of tracking of ALP.

Specialists of DKIS ALP Group note that despite possible increase in a flow of incoming requisitions (including incorrect), such mechanism of routing completely is repaid: in fact, it provides continued production at the customer, helps DKIS to manage the internal resources, sharply reduces time for commissioning of functionality, and the critical failures arising occasionally become for the customer or at all imperceptible, or are eliminated in the shortest possible time.

2019: Release of the integration platform

On September 5, 2019 the Department of corporate information systems of ALP Group (DKIS) announced release of an import-independent technology platform for integration of software, consolidation and improvement of data, control and optimization of all integration infrastructure of the enterprise. Development of DKIS is completely integrated with products 1C (as sources and receivers of data). The DKIS integration platform includes the functions, important for large enterprise, necessary in any modern systems of the class ERP and i-ERP.

According to the developer, the DKIS integration platform represents a superstructure over the system of integration of business applications which is available at the enterprise in which any combinations of integration buses and modules of interface (connectors) providing direct information exchange between certain software products can be used at the same time. At the same time integration buses can be implemented based on products with the open code or the proprietary software having the open interface of application programming (API). Proprietary buses often limit functionality of such interfaces intended for third-party developers (for example, do not allow to check whether there was the actual data transmission). Buses based on software of Open Source have no such restrictions. All this allows to implement the DKIS integration platform over the existing IT infrastructure, without making cardinal changes to a landscape of an enterprise information system. At the same time key characteristics of a subsystem of integration of solutions significantly improve — to the level meeting the requirements of solutions of the class i-ERP.

According to the statement of the developer, in the integration platform both the automatic mode of work, and priority accomplishment of the emergency requests for data exchange is implemented. The first option ensures the full-time coordinated employment of all integration infrastructure on the basis of rules. These rules allow to describe sources and processes of extraction of data, their check and conversion (unification of units of measure, a binding to uniform subject heading lists, accomplishment of additional calculations, etc.) and also interaction algorithms with receivers of data, the schedule of operation of all elements, actions at emergence of emergency situations. The second option, without breaking the coordinated work of integration infrastructure, allows to fulfill effectively the requests requiring almost instant accomplishment (for example, urgent preparation of consolidated statements upon the demand of top managers of the organization).

Other typical case is connected with error handling, revealed at the end of data transmission chains. For example, the delivered data can refer to information which the receiver does not have. As noted in DKIS, such situation quite often arises because of collisions of old approaches to the organization of data exchange or in case of errors in rules of transfer (for example, by transfer of data on shipment from the system of operational accounting to accounting). The mechanism of the emergency requests allows to receive missing data, to enter them into the system and to normally complete the suspended data transmission, having prevented repetition of this error further. The integration platform automatically excludes repeated data transmission, earlier transferred in the emergency mode, saving at the same time integrity of data. Thus, it provides optimal interaction of the main and emergency mechanisms, emphasized in DKIS.

The DKIS integration platform contains instruments of visualization of the card of integration of software with the systems of a circuit of the enterprise and also a handshaking with the monitoring system which is built in the 1C Platform. It allows to control reliably work of all integration infrastructure, to timely reveal the arising problems and to find optimal variants of recovery of its normal work, claim in DKIS.

As noted in DKIS, the integration platform contains the built-in means of the analysis of all set of the service information (metadata) in which the actual structure, an operation mode and complete statistics of how actually all elements of integration infrastructure of the organization function is in details described. The analysis of metadata allows to be lifted from the level of analysis of separate IT incidents to the level of identification and elimination of the reasons of the repeating problems. And also to optimize information flows and to implement continuous improvement of an information architecture of all system of integration of business Poe. These tasks, according to the developer, are relevant for most the large Russian organizations where this system developed decades and is very far from perfect. Existence of the built-in tools of the analysis of metadata distinguishes the DKIS integration platform from other systems of integration for the 1C Platform.

According to the statement of DKIS, the integration platform allows the organization customer to enter an order to information exchange between business systems whatever difficult was the structure of communications. And it creates the necessary base for transition of the organization to management on the basis of data (data-driven management, or ddm). Besides, the organization has an opportunity to qualitatively improve management of the information system on one of the most difficult sections. All this creates competitive advantages which scale and value will increase in process of digital transformation of the enterprise and its embedding in processes of digitalization of economy and a state administration of the Russian Federation.