B2B Data Exchange
Please be aware of the approach using OpenAS2 instead of Informatica B2B. See the relevant chapter "GDSN Accelerator Setup with OpenAS2" in this documentation.
Introduction
B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator provides a packaged B2B Data Exchange solution that addresses common business-to-business GDSN integration use cases for vertical industries and reduces implementation efforts. It processes the exchanged messages, mediates communication between GDSN data pools and partners and tracks the correlation between messages sent to the data pool and the responses/acknowledgments received from the data pool through the reconciliation status.
B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator Components
B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator comprises of several Informatica products:
Managed File Transfer (MFT) - connect to GDSN data pool using AS2/SFTP protocols
Dashboards and Monitoring - manage and monitor data communication using B2B Data Exchange Operator Console.
Data Transformation (DT) - transforms data from one format to another. In the GDSN context, DT handles the transformation between the Product 360 format and the GDSN data pool message format.
PowerCenter - Integration layer with workflows containing DT services, B2B Data Exchange transformations, request-response data correlation, and more.
The image below shows the architecture data flow of the B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator in the Data Source scenario.
Item Management (IM) & Data Sync Engine (DSE)
Product 360 can exchange product data information with two different GDSN data pools - IM and DSE. These data pools handle different data formats, which is the basis of how the data is being represented and exchanged between Product 360 and GDSN.
This difference means that while most of the B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator components remain the same, the DT services are different when working with IM and DSE data pool.
Prerequisites
Before you install the B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator, ensure that you have a valid license with the GDSN options.
Ensure that you have installed the following products:
PowerCenter
Data Transformation
B2B Data Exchange
MFT (In case the customer has its own MFT solution, then Informatica MFT is not required.)
Note: Informatica product version may vary. The obtained B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator should be compatible with whatever Informatica product version you installed.
Installation
Configure Informatica application services based on the products and functionality that are required to deploy the GDSN Accelerator. For example, if you use PowerCenter to run the B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator, you need to configure the following:
PowerCenterRepositoryService
PowerCenter Integration Service
Web Services Hub Service
Install and configure the different components of the B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator - Follow the instructions as described in the Release Note document, which is included in the B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator package.
B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator configuration
DX Endpoints
Configure the DX endpoints to ensure correct data exchange between the different products that are involved in the GDSN solution.
The image below is from B2B Data Exchange Operator Console and it shows the DX Endpoints that are part of the GDSN Accelerator that needs to be configured.
For example, the DX endpoint "endpoint_gdsn_messgae_from_PIM_to_data_pool" specifies where B2B Data Exchange will receive the files that were exported from Product 360. Then, according to the B2B Data Exchange GDSN Accelerator specification, since the format of the exported file from Product 360 doesn't comply with the data pool expected format, B2B Data Exchange sends the file to a PowerCenter workflow for further processing and data transformation.
The image below is from theWorfklowManager client tool and it shows the PowerCenter workflows that are part of the GDSN Accelerator.
For example, the PowerCenterworkflow"wf_m_gdsn_message_to_data_pool" execute set of tasks to process the exported file from Product 360 before it's sent to the data pool.
Within the WorkflowManageryou specify the JMS, JNDI and Http connections that are required for the GDSN Accelerator to work. For more information, please refer to the Release Notes documentation that is part of the GDSNpackage.
MFT
In case the customer wants to use Informatica MFT product for data communication with GDSN data pool, then a set of steps are required to be performed in MFT and B2B Data Exchange.