Web Service Interface for Order Management System Decoupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Order management systems typically have static, pre-specified interfaces that limit customizability and accessibility, leading to inconsistencies across different sales channels when updates are made, as each instance of the system must be updated independently.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an order management system that provides order management functionality as a Web Service, allowing decoupling from sales channel modules and enabling access through Web Services, which can be translated into formats processable by workflows and business services, ensuring consistent user experience across channels without requiring duplicate functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If order management functionality is integrated with static, pre-specified interfaces, then the system provides a unified interface structure, but the customizability and accessibility for different sales channels is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the order management functionality from its interface, creating a separate service layer that can be accessed through multiple different interfaces. The order management system is divided into core business logic (service layer) and presentation layers (sales channel modules), allowing each to be independently developed and customized without affecting the other.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a service layer as an intermediary between the order management functionality and the sales channel modules. This service layer acts as a mediator that receives requests from various sales channels, translates them into standard order management operations, and returns results, enabling customized interfaces while maintaining a unified core system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If standard interfaces are used across all sales channels, then interface consistency is maintained, but functionality becomes inaccessible to certain sales channels
Solution Approach 1:
The service layer is designed with universal functionality that can serve multiple different sales channels through various interfaces. The core order management operations are made accessible through standardized service methods that can be invoked by any sales channel module, whether web-based, mobile, call center, or other channels, ensuring both accessibility and consistency.
3Adaptability or versatility
If order management functionality is duplicated for each sales channel, then each channel has independent access to functionality, but updates must be propagated to multiple systems increasing inconsistency risk
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the core order management functionality from the sales channel modules and places it in a separate, centralized service layer. This extraction eliminates the need to duplicate functionality across multiple systems, as all sales channels access the same underlying service. Updates to order management logic are made in one location and automatically reflected across all channels, ensuring data consistency while maintaining independent access capabilities.
4Ease of operation
If a single interface provides order management functionality, then system simplicity is maintained, but control over user interface presentation is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adds a new dimensional layer to the system architecture by introducing the service layer between the presentation layer (sales channel modules) and the core business logic. This dimensional change allows independent control over interface presentation at the sales channel level while maintaining simplicity in the core order management logic, enabling customized user experiences without complicating the fundamental system operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Various techniques for providing a Web Service interface to an order management system are disclosed. In one embodiment, a Web Service interface receives a hierarchical property set, which includes properties being input to an order management system. The Web Service interface accesses mapping information, which associates a variable in a flat property set with a hierarchical property set path. The Web Service interface uses the mapping information to convert the hierarchical property set to the flat property set, based upon the mapping information, and then causes the order management system to process the flat property set. The Web Service interface can also use the same mapping information to convert a flat property set generated by the order management system into a hierarchical property set.