BlueYonder leverages MuleSoft to deliver rapid workflows
Based in Scottsdale, AZ, BlueYonder (previously JDA Software) is a leading software and supply chain management firm. BlueYonder is built through a portfolio of acquisition building products encompassing more than 100 applications in 25+ different platforms. Many of these solutions are comprised of various data models, formats, and integrations (Database, SOAP, REST, JMS, Custom, etc.).
Profile:
Due to its diverse landscape, BlueYonder applications are hosted in BlueYonder Cloud, Google Cloud, Azure, and customer specific Data Centers. As a result, customer systems need an ability to securely connect to a significant number of data centers that could average almost 35 systems feeding data into and out of BlueYonder. Incoming transactional and bulk data to applications could range from several Megabytes to several Gigabytes, with multiple systems having their own representation or native format for its data.
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With this project, BlueYonder sought the rapid delivery of business workflows between internal and external applications. If successful, this project would reduce the TCO (total cost of ownership) and TCI (total capital investment) for customer integrations. Moreover, BlueYonder needed to develop fast paced ‘in the field’ integrations between customers’ backend systems and the customization of existing workflows.
The Solution
BlueYonder Cloud Connect is BlueYonder’s unique partner network system that allows users connectivity and visibility to key information. As such, BlueYonder Connect is an imperative aspect of BlueYonder’s overall architecture strategy. The Apisero team supported BlueYonder Connect by developing various solutions that cater to this overarching strategy. Suggested solutions for BlueYonder’s framework were comprised of various Adapters, MuleSoft Connectors, containerized services, an integration testing framework, and a CI/CD framework.
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The developed component adapters facilitate integration to specific products while adopting standard canonical GS1 data models. This was an essential aspect in the project as it decreases the time of development among BlueYonder’s diverse product landscape.
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The adapters chosen by Apisero included Mule solutions for BlueYonder’s wide portfolio of products including: Channel Clustering, Allocation, Enterprise Planning (EKBS), Size Scaling, Category Management, Assortment Planning, Luminate Control Tower (LCT), Enterprise Knowledge Base System (EKBS) etc. As part of BlueYonder’s products, these adapters also facilitated rapid customizations for customer specific integrations.
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Mule custom connectors added abstraction to BlueYonder products, thereby enabling rapid integration. Another advantage to custom connectors is that they can be easily added into Mule applications using visual plug-in components. Understanding this, Apisero developed connectors for EKBS, Bulk Data format transformation, and Category Knowledge Base (CKB) to assist in BlueYonder’s drive towards rapid integration.
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Finally, an integration testing framework and containerized services were added to facilitate end-to-end test scenario regression for several deployment components. A CI/CD framework was developed to facilitate configurations and deployment automations for future business requirements.Â
The Results
The solutions and services that the Apisero team developed have assisted BlueYonder in streamlining their application integrations throughout their diverse system landscape. These standardize integrations through canonical GS1 models facilitate rapid customization of product integrations for consumer requirements.
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Moreover, the integration testing framework and containerized services streamline deployment as part of an overall CI/CD framework, allowing BlueYonder to obtain configuration and deployment automations faster and easier than before.
