Systems and/or methods for managing transformations in enterprise application integration and/or business processing management environments
In certain example embodiments of this invention, systems and/or methods for managing transformations in Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and/or Business Process Management (BPM) Environments are provided. In certain example embodiments of this invention, when a process and/or transform is defined, design-time encoding data is extracted and stored as metadata. When the process or transform is implemented, runtime data is captured and/or managed, and also stored as metadata. When new processes and/or transforms are defined, and/or when an already-defined process and/or a transform is executed, heuristics may be applied so as to suggest one or more already-existing transformation chains for use in accomplishing at least a part of the same and/or a similar process or transform.
1. A system for suggesting an enterprise application integration (EAI) transform and/or business process management (BPM) process flow for use in EAI and BPM environments, comprising:
a storage medium configured to store at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow;
a shared storage location configured to hold extracted data, the extracted data including at least design-time and runtime data extracted from the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow;
at least one processor configured to:
create a new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow; and
determine, based on a search criteria associated with a search strategy, at least one similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow for use with the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow, the search strategy including parameters that correspond to at least some of the extracted data, wherein:
the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow is created based at least in part on the at least one similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow, and
the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow is executable within both of the EAI and BPM environments.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the search strategy comprises matching an input, an output, and/or a functionality of the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow to an input, an output, and/or a functionality of the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow stored in the transform storage location.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the matching is an exact matching of inputs, outputs, and functionalities.
4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the search criteria further includes finding compatible data structures among the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow and the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow.
5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the search criteria further includes finding compatible functionality among the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow and the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to apply a heuristic to rank at least two determined similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flows.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to present the at least one similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow to a user to suggest usage thereof in connection with the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the extracted data is metadata.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the shared storage location includes chains of services, each said chain having an associated length;
the search strategy includes querying the shared storage location to retrieve the shortest one or more chains of services that have at least one input of a first service thereof and at least one output of a last service thereof match any inputs and outputs, respectively, of the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow;
the one or more chains of services retrieved is/are set as the determined similar predefined EAI transform(s) and/or BPM process flow(s); and
when there are plural determined similar predefined EAI transforms and/or BPM process flows, the at least one processor is further configured to apply a heuristic to rank the plural determined similar predefined EAI transforms and/or BPM process flows based on performance criteria associated therewith.
10. A method of suggesting an enterprise application integration (EAI) transform and/or business process management (BPM) process flow for use in EAI and BPM environments, the method comprising:
providing at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow;
storing data in a shared storage location, the data including extracted design-time and runtime data that is extracted from the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow during encoding and runtime, respectively;
determining by a processor, based on a search strategy, a similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow for use in connection with the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow, the similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow being determined from among the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow; and
creating a new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow based at least in part on the similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow;
wherein the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow is executable within both of the EAI and BPM environments.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search strategy further includes matching an input, an output, and/or a functionality of the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow to an input, an output, and/or a functionality of the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the matching is an exact matching of inputs, outputs, and functionalities.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the search strategy further includes finding compatible data structures among the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow and the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the search strategy further includes finding compatible functionality among the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow and the at least one predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow.
15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising applying a heuristic to rank the similar predefined EAI transforms and/or BPM process flows.
16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising ranking at least two of the similar predefined EAI transforms and/or BPM process flows based on deployment information.
17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising ranking at least two of the similar predefined EAI transforms and/or BPM process flows based on Business Activity Monitoring (BAM) related data.
18. The method of claim 15 , further comprising ranking at least two of the similar predefined EAI transforms and/or BPM process flows based on a predefined policy.
19. The method of claim 1 , further comprising ordering at least two of the similar predefined EAI transforms and/or BPM process flows based on user-defined criteria.
20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting a suggestion to a user that the similar predefined EAI transform and/or BPM process flow be used in connection with the new EAI transform and/or BPM process flow.