Category: Infor M3 Integration

Infor M3 customer and considering Multi-Tenant (MT) cloud in the future?

What to consider today regarding your integration strategy.

I decided to write this blog because recently we have been approached by multiple clients who has sought our advice on best options for EDI and integration if it should be compatible with Infor MT cloud in the future.

Naturally MT cloud will put some restrictions on what you can do, as you are sharing the same environment with many other customers. This becomes especially true when developing your interfaces and there are some pretty major changes that you need to consider. However, if you are aware of them you can start today to design any new interfaces accordingly and hopefully avoid having to re-write them when the time is right to move to MT cloud. I am going to try and explain a few important things you will need to keep in mind.

First of all, to put your mind at ease, Infor M3 e-Collaborator (IEC) appears to be here to stay, but there will be some changes. It will be much more tightly integrated with ION and the Partner Agreement tool will disappear in its current form. Initially it will not exist at all and the partner agreements are generated automatically from Meta data within the maps. ION workflow is replacing the communication channels and the traditional IEC Process flow.

However, we are told there will be a “light” version of the Partner Agreement Tool coming out in a phase 2, with most of the functionality currently supported in the on-prem version. The exception is the external communication which will still be handled by ION. Furthermore, any outbound messages are now being triggered by Event Analytics and M3 BOD Processor and not via the traditional Media Management in M3.

In terms of messages and naming, these must now be created as

Custom BODs (Business Object Documents) and follow the standard BOD design and nomenclature.

Finally, when it comes to the development of maps, there will also be some restrictions put in place. As you might be aware, IEC is currently an extremely flexible tool in terms of what you can do in your maps. It supports Java code within custom functions which basically allows you to write any code to be executed within the map when it fires. Examples include sending emails, writing your own database calls, creating external files, executing web services etc. This does not mean that it will be impossible to do these things, but it will become much stricter and limited in MT due to security reasons. You will need to use the tools and procedures provided to accomplish the same results.

I hope you found this article interesting and perhaps it can help you think more strategically in regards to your current integration plans.

Integration Wizards is an Infor Alliance partner that specializes in Infor M3 and Infor LN EDI and integrations. We want to make sure what we develop today will also work tomorrow and the next day, so we strive to keep abreast with the latest technology developments so we can give our clients the best advice and deliver long-lasting solutions.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing and based on our understanding from reading publicly available material, working on MT integration projects and speaking to various people. I am not an Infor employee, nor do I have access to Infor internal documents or information. Therefore, we take no responsibility for any actions taken based on this article alone. For more in-depth information you should speak to your Infor Account Manager.

Harnessing the Power of Events

This is my second post on this subject, but I think it’s worth mentioning again, because still when I speak to many of my clients they have not yet realized the potential of using the EventHub and EventAnalytics modules in Infor M3. This post will be more focused on different use cases for Events.

I’ll begin with a short explanation of the EventHub and EventAnalytics for those who missed my previous post.

The EventHub is part of Infor M3 and is basically listening for changes to any field in the Infor M3 database and triggers events, similar to a database trigger. It can also be setup to trigger events on batch programs, when it is started, exits, fails etc.

EventAnalytics works as a filter to analyze these events and lets you decide what specific events you are interested in. This could be a combination of multiple field values, to target a specific state and you can make it as granular as you wish with logical expressions. It also allows you to capture the field value before it was changed for even more precision.

An example could be to capture the event of an order allocation for a specific item. Perhaps for some reason you would want to log whenever item “ABC123” is allocated in warehouse 200. Then a rule could be defined in EventAnalytics to fire an event when the Item equals “ABC123”, Warehouse equals 200 and the order line status goes from 22->33 (allocated).

The next step is to define a subscriber to handle this event, and that is where M3 Enterprise Collaborator (MEC) comes in. EventAnalytics will produce an XML file containing Event Data. In this case the values of all the fields for the specific M3 file and record in which the change took place, including their values prior to the change. MEC can easily be configured to pick up this message and use these values to accomplish whatever tasks you wish to happen. Needless to say this opens up a host of opportunities and I’ll mention a few below, but only your own imagination sets the limits.

Automation

Anything that does not need any human intervention or evaluation could be automatically entered updated using the data supplied by an event.
If you for example enter an order for a specific customer, you could automatically populate any customer specific fields in the order and extract that information from the customer master file.

Integration

I always found that one of the limiting factors of creating integrations in M3 to be the reliance of the Media Management and the responsibility of the user to print a document to generate an MBM initiator message to MEC, which then triggers the outbound document.
With the EventHub you now have an alternative, and if you wish you can make the outbound message trigger by a specific field update, such as a status change. An invoice could be sent automatically when an order reaches status 66 (invoiced), and you could also log the information in a separate file of when, what and by whom the invoice was created.

Logging/Traceability

A few customers have asked me how they could easily log a change in a specific M3 field, without turning on the audit functionality in M3.
One example could be an address change for a customer, to log what the address was changed from and to, what date and time and by whom.
This is easily accomplished by setting an EventAnalytics filter on the Customer address lines and trigger whenever any are changed, then use a map in MEC to log this information in a database table.

Approval

Perhaps you wish to extend the approval functionality in M3 and you need a Manager to approve any purchases from a specific supplier, group of suppliers or a specific item. Using EventAnalytics to define this rule, you can setup MEC to put a hold on the order, then send an email message to the person responsible with an external link to M3 to complete the approval.
These were just some applications that I can think of right now, but hopefully by reading these you can come up with many more and I would love to hear about them. Please share how you have made use of EventHub in your enterprise.

If you need any help or assistance we are always willing to help. We work on Infor M3 EDI and integration projects around the world. Contact Mathias or visit us at www.integrationwizards.com.

EDI and Integrations – What you need to consider when upgrading Infor M3 ERP

In this blog I will touch on a few things to consider when upgrading Infor M3 ERP in regards to integrations. I apologize if this article is a bit technical. It is hard to do it any other way.

There are of course different ways in which you can integrate applications and EDI with Infor M3 and I will touch on the following areas.

– M3 ERP
– M3 e-Collaborator (MEC)
– Application Programming Interface (API)
– Web Services
– Direct to Database

I will do this in a point form to make it easier to find information which is relevant for your specific case.

1. Infor M3 ERP

The first thing is of course to try and find out what has changed between the old and new version of M3. The best source for this information is the net change report for the new version.
Depending on how old your current M3 version is, there could be minor changes or completely new programs. I recently completed a project where we integrated a mobile service solution to the old Service module. As you might know this was complete re-written in version 13, not even using the same programs or workflow, so when the company upgraded, the integration had to be re-written from ground up. This is an extreme example, but it could happen to you too.

2. MEC

MEC remained mostly unchanged between version 1.6 and 9.0, but with 9.1 there were some major changes. The Administration was moved into Lifecycle Manager (LCM) and the old MEC mapper was replaced by an Eclipse based mapper (although the old Mapper was initially still made available).
However, the database structure is not significantly different and Infor provides upgrade scripts to make life easier.
These scripts also converts the tables for the Partner Admin tool, so with a little luck your agreements will not need to be re-entered.

3. Application Programming Interfaces (API)

Using the standard M3 API’s are a great way to integrate to Infor M3. It is safe and always applies the correct business logic, so it’s a safe way to ensure
data integrity. It is also rare that an API is removed between version, instead new API’s are constantly added. Furthermore, if an interactive program is changed the API is also modified (or should be).
If existing API’s input or output fields are updated, the new fields are always added to the very end of the return text string, so it normally does not affect your integration. If you have used MEC for your integration and want to use some of the new fields there is a way to easily update the API meta-data in your map by right-clicking the API symbol in MEC Mapper tool and select “Update External API Function”. This will bring in the updated API metadata and the added fields.

4. Web Services

If you have been using the M3 Web Services Framework (MWSF) and you upgraded to a later version using the grid, you may need to re-create your web services in the new framework.
The easiest way to achieve this is to copy the location of your metadata file and then import this to the Web Services framework. Then deploy the web service
as you would with a new one. However, with the simplicity of creating web services it may be almost as fast to simply re-create the web service.

5. Database

This approach is generally not recommended for other purposes than extracting data, and then it should be pretty straightforward to figure out the possible
implications that could occur. The libraries will most certainly have changed and in the case a major re-write of the program has occurred (as with the example
of the Service module above) there may be completely different tables containing the data you need.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and maybe it can save you some headaches.

If you need any help or assistance we are always willing to help and we work on Infor M3 EDI and integration projects around the world.
Contact me directly or visit us at www.integrationwizards.com.

10 simple ways to ensure your integration projects run on time and budget

 

In this article I will present 10 easy points to keep in mind to ensure that your integration project is a success. There is no research, statistics or other metrics behind this list. Just my personal experience after 15+ years of integration work with Infor M3 and MEC (M3 Enterprise Collaborator). The list is in no particular order.
Please feel free to leave a comment if you think I have missed something.

Let’s get started.

1. Write a detailed project specification

This may seem like common sense, but often as an integration consultant you are left with very little information to start with and you are expected to fill in the blanks. However, the fact is that as an integration consultant you work with all the different processes in the ERP system and it is impossible to be an expert in everything. Besides, every company have different process flows and configurations, making this task even harder. The integration will get done…eventually, after a lot of questions and requests for clarifications, which could have been avoided if the information in the initial specification had been more detailed.

2. Define the roles and responsibilities of the people in the integration project

Usually there is a person in every company that is responsible for the EDI and integration maintenace and might have been so for many, many years. This person may even have developed some of the interfaces way back.
Naturally this person will feel threatened by an external consultant coming along and proposing changes to his or her domain. He or she may even in extreme cases act as a gatekeeper to critical information, thus working against the success of the integration project.
It is important that the roles and expectations of the different people in the project are well-defined by the project leader or the project sponsor.
Everyone needs to pull in the same direction and in most cases all it takes is re-assurance that no ones job is on the line and that the change is ultimately for the better.

3. Provide support to the project from the top level management

Sometimes there is a lack of support by the business and the top level management. Although the integrations may have significant impact on how the business is run, it has quite low priority from management and may even be pushed aside or postponed due to the need to put out fires or to attend to tasks that are quite insignificant.

4. Prepare your IT infrastructure before the project

This is something that should really not be a problem, but sometimes it still is. Some common interuptions to an integration project is integration software which has not been properly installed. Consultant user profiles without the required permissions, unplanned restoring of test systems, wiping all the integration configurations or VPN services that are not working properly.
Individually these may not have a big impact on the project time frame, but many small streams make great rivers (swedish proverb).

5. Try to limit changes during the course of the project

Sometimes you realize things during the project you were not aware of when starting out, therefore it may have been impossible to plan for it. However, these changes can have significant impact on the time frame of the project. As an integration consultant, when reviewing a project specification, you have a general idea of how long time things will take. Especially if you have been doing
it for a while. You know what API’s are available and where you may need to create a web service or make a database call.
However, if these conditions change it is like trying to hit a moving target, and your initial estimate may need to be complete thrown out the window.

6. Clean up your data prior to the project

It is important to understand that garbage in, garbage out also applies in a B2B integration. There is no magical AI (not yet!) that will automatically clean and make sense of the data if it was entered inconsistently or incorrect. A common example are addresses, which can be entered in many different ways, but may have to be in specific defined fields in your B2B transaction. Often causing the transaction to fail at the other end and initially the interface is blamed for not “working” as it is supposed to. Other examples are when reserved fields in the ERP are used for something else than their intended purpose, and suddenly all sorts of strange information is sent in the interface.

7. Prepare for business process change

Often a B2B integration will have significant impact on the business process it supports and sometimes there has not been enough planning ahead for these changes. When it is close to go-live the roles within the process flow and who is responsible for what is still not clear. Even in a fully automated process, there is still potential for errors and exceptions, and it is important that someone is monitoring and taking care of these from day one. This person may not be the one taking action, but is responsible that action is being taken.

8. Provide resources and relevant test data for testing

This is quite common and is always time consuming. You may have finished the integration coding in a day or two, but there is no one available to help with the testing and no relevant data. Often a specific business process flow that needs to be followed (and as mentioned in the first point, every business is different), no one has the time to assist, because they are to busy with their day-to-day tasks. This is where you need the support of the top level management to free up the relevant process owners who understands the business process 100%, knows what to test, how to test it and what results to expect. These people will also play a crucial part in defining the test cases in the test specification and ensure that as many issues as possible are captured before going live.

9. Ask your business partners to respond in a timely manner

This is probably the most common cause of delayed integration projects, which is frustrating, because it is also the point which is the hardest to do something about. You are dealing with people outside the company you are working for, and although the business top-level management may still be able to put some pressure on their B2B partner (depending who the partner is of course) it is still very much out of your hands.
Sometimes it could take days or in extreme cases even weeks before you get a response from a business partner after submitting test data. This can have significant impact on the project time line and also means that everyone involved is getting increasingly disconnected with the project, making it even harder to pick it up again where it was left off.

10.  Keep it simple!

I’ve seen many examples when far too much business logic has been implemented in interfaces. Especially when the functionality is missing in the ERP and it is faster and cheaper to develop it as part of the interface. This is dangerous and after a while the integration becomes a black box and no one really knows what it does.  So my advice is to keep it simple and it’s also good practice to insist on keeping up-to-date documentation on your integrations, so you know down the track what they do, without having to call in external consultants everytime to find out.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and please feel free to share it if you like it.

If you would like more information or want to discuss an upcoming Infor M3 EDI or integration project, please contact us at Integration Wizards or get in touch with me directly on Mathias Wallgren.
We can assist you at any stage of your integration project, from planning and execution to training and documentation.

Infor MEC – 15 Years on

In this article I am going to talk about Infor M3 Enterprise Collaborator (MEC), an integration platform that has survived for over 15 years and is still as relevant as ever.
It all started at a Swedish software company called Intentia R&D around the turn of the century. As you might remember, this was just about the time when business’ were starting to see the benefits of Internet for more than just static web pages.
At the time I was part of the e-Business team, and it was an exciting period with many new products in the pipeline, such as webshops, e-procurement, web portals and of course M3 Enterprise Collaborator, or Movex e-Collaborator as it was called then.

Our mission was, taken from the original marketing presentation, “to create a solution that enables business-to-business (B2B) e-collaboration in terms of both intra-enterprise and inter-enterprise through Application-to-Application (A2A) integration.

We needed something that were flexible enough to both support traditional EDI based B2B transactions, but would also be able to handle XML (eXtensible Markup Language), which was the new document format that everyone was talking about. A separate project was launched to develop business documents for different business processes and these where initially called MBD (Movex Business Documents), but later renamed MBM (Movex Business Message). The rumour was that MBD abbreviation had the unfortunate association with “Minor Brain Damage”, but I’m not sure if that was true or not.

The MBM documents where initially meant to be generic business documents, based on an open standard such as OAG or RosettaNet, since these were thought to gradually replace traditional text based EDI files. However, later they became based on traditional EDI in an XML format, since it appeared EDI was going to stick around for a while. Interestingly the recently launched BOD’s (Business Object Documents) are back on track with Business Process oriented documents, so perhaps we were just ahead of our time?

Although the original MEC was limited in functionality, most of the components were still the same as they are today. There was a Partner Admin tool, a Mapper and of course the runtime server. The server was running in a command window and not as a service, so someone had to always be logged in and he or she better not close that window.
The Flatfile conversion tool was the only part missing, but the functionality was still there. However, you had to manually define the XML files for each XML to flat translation.

I often hear criticism of MEC, but the fact that it is still around 15 years on, must mean that we did something right.
I think it is important to understand what MEC is and what it isn’t. The most common argument is that it is overly complicated and time consuming and that if you are a programmer you could easily write code to connect to any of the available Interfaces directly. However, I think that then you are missing the point. MEC is more than just an IDE for developing an interface.
It is the sum of its parts that makes it so powerful, and if you wanted to add the same functionality in your custom interface, you would essentially need to build another MEC.

I’m going to list some of the benefits of MEC to a custom interface and I am expecting to get some comments in line with  “you can do that with a custom interface too”, but be aware that MEC is meant to be maintained by business people, not programmers, so if it is not intuitive it is not an option.

  • Graphical mapper IDE in Eclipse, with a palette of drag-and-drop functions, such as all the available APIs (Application Programming Interface).
  • Full version control and simple process to switch between different versions of an interface (also referred to as a maps). Unlimited flexibility, since user-defined java-functions can be created within your maps.
  • Re-usable maps, which are independent of M3 ERP version and can be imported/Exported to multiple environments.
  • Complete Administration, Maintenance and Monitoring platform, where the status and content of each transaction can be easily viewed and appropriate action taken if necessary.
  • A Partner Agreement tool that allows you to define specific workflows and communication requirements for individual partners. It also helps you organize and group all your different integrations in a logical manner.
  • A full set of predefined process steps at your fingertips, including but not limited to ION integration, a Document Asset Management integration, XSL transformations as well as multiple communication protocols for receiving and sending.
  • Already used successfully by a large customer base and developed over 15 years for stable and secure High-Availability, High-Performance and High-Throughput.

The list could go on, but I think the benefits above is enough to expected MEC to be here for some time to come.

Hope you enjoyed reading this article and please feel free to comment or contact me if you have any questions.