Groupware Portlets for Portal Integration via Mediator Pattern

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Solution Overview

Problem

The integration of proprietary groupware and PIM systems with enterprise portals is challenging due to their proprietary nature, leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies, such as missing information and duplicated work, as employees toggle between different applications to manage emails, appointments, and contacts.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of groupware portlets that provide access to mail, appointments, contacts, and tasks through a personal messaging interface, using schemas and providers to abstract connectivity to collaboration servers, allowing seamless integration with various collaboration systems like Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino without requiring knowledge of their proprietary implementations.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If proprietary groupware and PIM systems are integrated with enterprise portals, then access to collaboration functionality is improved, but integration complexity and cost increase due to proprietary implementations

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveAccess to collaboration functionalityVSAvoidIntegration complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a portal server as an intermediary layer between enterprise portals and groupware systems. The portal server contains portlets that abstract the proprietary complexities of groupware implementations, allowing portals to access collaboration functionality without directly integrating with proprietary groupware systems. This mediator approach resolves the contradiction by hiding integration complexity while maintaining ease of access.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the integration architecture into distinct components: portals, portlets, and groupware systems. Each component operates independently with well-defined interfaces. The portlet layer segments the proprietary groupware functionality into manageable, reusable units that can be accessed by multiple portals without requiring full system integration, thereby reducing overall integration complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If employees use separate groupware and portal applications, then proprietary system functionality is maintained, but information consistency and productivity deteriorate due to data duplication

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveSystem functionalityVSAvoidWork efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges groupware functionality into the portal interface through portlets. Users can access email, calendar, contacts, and tasks directly within the portal environment rather than switching between separate applications. This merging maintains the reliability of proprietary groupware systems while eliminating the productivity losses associated with toggling between applications and managing duplicate information.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The portal server is designed with universal portlets that can access multiple groupware systems through a common interface. A single portal infrastructure supports diverse collaboration functionalities from different proprietary systems, allowing employees to access unified collaboration features without being tied to a specific groupware vendor, thereby improving productivity while maintaining system reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Ease of operation

If direct integration between portals and groupware systems is implemented, then seamless access is achieved, but system disruption and implementation cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveSeamless accessVSAvoidImplementation cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs lightweight portlets as disposable, easily replaceable components for accessing groupware functionality. Rather than implementing costly, complex direct integrations, the portal server uses simple portlet modules that can be deployed independently and replaced without affecting the core portal or groupware systems. This approach achieves seamless access while minimizing implementation and maintenance costs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

Data Source

PatentUS8463852B2Groupware portlets for integrating a portal with groupware systems

Publication Date: 2013.06.11 ORACLE INT CORP

AI summary

A set of groupware portlets can be deployed on an enterprise portal in order to add groupware functionality thereon. The groupware portlets can provide an abstract user interface to groupware functionality provided by several collaboration servers and can also allow users to navigate to specific groupware functionality provided by a collaboration server. The portlets can connect to the various collaboration servers by implementing a personal messaging application programming interface. The interface can include a schema for defining groupware functionality and a set of providers for instantiating the connections to the various collaboration servers. The providers can be implementations of the schema that allow the groupware portlets to interact with the collaboration server. New schemas can be defined to extend existing schemas to enable more specific functionality provided by each collaboration server. The new schemas can be supported by the providers due to Java class inheritance.