Enterprise content/collaboration systems generally work with a mix of semi-structured and structured information. In many cases, the master copies of structured information are most effectively managed in enterprise databases associated with application domains including enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and sales force automation (SFA). CASAHL ecKnowledge provides an automated and enterprise-scale platform for seamlessly synchronizing content between those enterprise application and database systems and content/collaboration systems.
The same architecture that synchronizes resources among disparate content/collaboration systems, enabling the synchronization of those resources with enterprise application/database systems, uses ecKnowledge’s multi-source/multi-target capabilities to make it possible for enterprise developers to fully leverage structured information resources without having to understand the intricacies of each enterprise system type. Enterprise applications and a wide range of database management systems (DBMSs) simply appear as additional ecKnowledge source/target options. ecKnowledge supports both one-way and bidirectional data integration, and includes comprehensive update conflict detection and resolution services.
Common enterprise integration patterns include:
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Content/collaboration systems that start simple and expand over time to incorporate large amounts of structured data. Collaborative applications focused on customer support or enterprise asset management, for example, often start as basic form-driven workflow applications and expand over time to manage large data collections about enterprise entities. It’s often beneficial to be able to automatically synchronize the structured data with CRM and ERP systems (on-premises or software as a service) in order to minimize redundancy and improve overall data integrity.
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Content/collaboration systems that require integration with external data sources but for which it’s impractical to make real-time calls to backend systems due to performance, security, and developer productivity concerns. For this scenario, it’s beneficial to be able to automatically synchronize the backend data resources with lists managed by the content/collaboration systems, in order to address performance and security concerns while simplifying work for content/collaboration developers (for whom the structured data always appears as a native resource in the content/collaboration platform).
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Facilitating hybrid integration during multi-step migration projects. Enterprises migrating from legacy deployments of SharePoint and Notes/Domino, for example, often discover structured data resources managed in complex collaborative applications that can be more effectively managed in DBMSs (e.g., Microsoft SQL Server) or cloud database services (e.g., Microsoft Azure SQL Database). To minimize disruption, the old and new applications can be run in parallel for an interim period, with ecKnowledge automatically synchronizing data resources between the legacy content/collaboration applications and new, often cloud-based replacement applications, until the legacy collaborative applications can be fully retired.
Key benefits of leveraging ecKnowledge for enterprise integration include:
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Improved enterprise data integrity: ecKnowledge allows enterprises to carry out transitions with less data redundancy and DBMSs leveraged for integrity constraint enforcement. ecKnowledge can also perform a wide range of data transformations during synchronization, without any custom programming required.
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Increased developer productivity: content/collaboration-focused developers are able to take advantage of resources in enterprise application and database systems without having to directly interact with backend system-specific technical details (e.g., learning a vendor-specific SQL dialect or database API).
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Reduced application maintenance costs: using enterprise application and database resources when they’re a better form-follows-function fit for structured data in content/collaboration systems is less expensive and more effective than attempting to manage large amounts of structured data in content/collaboration platforms that are optimized for semi-structured document-based data.
CASAHL’s support for enterprise integration makes it possible to transition content to modern content/collaboration systems while maintaining the ability to employ and integrate with outside applications. Enterprises interested in learning more should feel free to contact us; for additional details on CASAHL’s offerings, please see: