© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

INTEGRATION STRATEGIESFOR SUCCESSFUL MOBILE APPLICATIONS

Gordon Van HuizenChief Technology Officer, DSI

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

2

1 WHAT’S DIFFERENT ABOUT MOBILE?

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

3

ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

4

ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS

Feature Breadth and Depth

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

5

ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS

Feature Breadth and Depth Interaction Model

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

6

ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS

Feature Breadth and Depth Interaction Model

Connectivity Modes

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

7

ROLE AND ENVIRONMENT DRIVE REQUIREMENTS

Feature Breadth and Depth Interaction Model

Connectivity ModesDevice Selection

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

‣Variable Bandwidth‣Network Latency‣Intermittent Connectivity‣Extended Periods Off-line

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

9

2 WHAT ARE TODAY’S BEST PRACTICES FOR MOBILE INTEGRATION?

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

10

LAYERS OF AN OMNI-CHANNEL ARCHITECTURE

Source: Gartner “Address the Limitations of a Mobile-First Application Strategy With a Multichannel Architecture”

(December 2013)

DevicesSmartphones, Tablets, Desktop PCs

Interaction LayerProvide Channel-Optimized User Experiences

Composition LayerProvide Channel-Independent Services

Back-End ServicesEnterprise Systems, Third-Party Services

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

11

Also Improves Responsiveness of “Always-Connected” Apps

ADDRESS OFF-LINE REQUIREMENTS

DATA SYNCHRONIZATION TRANSACTION QUEUING

Between mobile devices and middleware tier or back end

Between mobile devices and middleware tier

Required for full off-line mode of mobile apps

Can be augmented with transactional queuing to update back-end systems

Supports functional integration with back-end systems

Can be more complicated to implement

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

12

CONFLICTS CAN AND WILL OCCUR OFF-LINE

ANTICIPATE AND ADDRESS OFF-LINE CONFLICTS

‣ Detect synchronization conflicts

‣ Unwind actions taken, as needed

‣ Inform all appropriate parties

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

13

APIS: THE UNIVERSAL INTEGRATION MECHANISM

WEB APIs ARE UBIQUITOUS, BUT MAY REQUIRE AUGMENTATION

‣ Publish the service orchestration and logic you build in the middle tier as reusable APIs

‣ Leverage Web APIs to connect to back-end systems and third-party services

‣ Ensure that off-line, transactional integrity, performance, scalability and security requirements are met

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

14

THE KEYS TO SUCCESS

‣ Plan from the beginning to support multiple devices, form factors and interaction models

‣ Perform integration and create business logic in a channel-independent layer

‣ Leverage Web APIs, but enrich them as needed to meet enterprise and mobile user requirements

‣ Address connectivity challenges, including conflicts than will occur when users continue to work off-line

© 2014 Data Systems International, Inc.

VISIT US AT dsiglobal.com

Gordon Van HuizenGordon.VanHuizen@dsiglobal.com