Business Object Model Interfaces for Cross-Industry Interoperability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current business interfaces are not consistent across industries and businesses, leading to difficulties in information exchange and requiring human intervention, as they are often industry-specific and lack standardization, making it challenging for heterogeneous systems to communicate effectively.
Innovation Solution
The development of consistent interfaces generated from a single business object model that defines business-related concepts, ensuring semantic disjointness and structural consistency across all interfaces, allowing for seamless information exchange between different business entities without human interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If industry-specific interfaces are used, then interfaces can be tailored to specific business needs, but consistency across different industries and businesses is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The interface is segmented into two distinct layers: a standardized core layer that ensures consistency across all businesses, and customizable extension layers that allow industry-specific adaptations. This segmentation enables both interfaces to coexist without conflict.
Solution Approach 2:
A universal base interface framework is created that can serve multiple industries and business types. This framework provides common functionality that can be extended and customized for specific industry requirements, making the same interface structure universally applicable while maintaining adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If heterogeneous programs with different semantics are used, then each business entity can use its own program for handling transactions, but information exchange between businesses becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
A standardized interface framework acts as an intermediary layer between heterogeneous business programs. This mediator translates and harmonizes different business semantics into a common language, enabling information exchange without requiring changes to the underlying business programs.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface framework allows dynamic parameter mapping and transformation between different business semantics. By changing and adapting parameters at the interface level, the system maintains flexibility for different programs while ensuring consistent information exchange.
3Reliability
If human interaction is required to facilitate transactions, then information exchange can be customized and verified, but transaction efficiency and automation are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The standardized interface framework enables systems to automatically negotiate and exchange information without human intervention. The framework provides self-service capabilities for transaction processing, validation, and error handling, maintaining reliability through automated consistency checks while significantly improving efficiency.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple inconsistent standards exist, then various industry-specific requirements can be met, but harmonization and interoperability across standards are lacking
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple industry-specific standards are merged into a single unified interface framework. The framework consolidates common elements from various standards while providing extension mechanisms for industry-specific requirements, reducing overall system complexity and improving interoperability.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems consistent with the present invention provide a data processing system having a business object model reflecting the data used during a business transaction. Consistent interfaces are generated from the business object model. These interfaces are suitable for use across industries, across businesses, and across different departments within a business during a business transaction.