Architectural design for opportunity management application software

• US 8,374,896 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2008
• Issued: 02/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Engler, Christoph, Schulte, Helge, Pfitzner, Ingo, Mohana, Priya, Gentes, Wolfgang, Shafiq, Shadab, Hota, Naga Chandra Sekhar, Wachholz-Prill, Andre, Lahr, Martina, Sudbrack, Andrea
• Primary Examiner(s): Gart, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): PARIKH, HARSHAD R
• Application Number:
  US12/233,075
• Publication Number:
  US 20100070329A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,608 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7, 705/8
• US Class Current: 705/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/1093 Calendar-based scheduling for persons or groups
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 90/02 Total factory control, e.g. smart factories, flexible manufacturing systems [FMS] or integrated manufacturing systems [IMS]

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for implementing a software architecture design for a software application implementing ad-hoc goods movement. The application is structured as multiple process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, and multiple service operations, each being implemented for a respective process component. The process components include, for example, a lead processing process component that handles the potential interests of a business partner and the interactions with the business partner over a certain timeframe; an opportunity processing process component that handles the development, processing, and monitoring of opportunities; a customer quote processing process component that handles the processing of quotes to customers offering the delivery of goods according to specific terms; and a sales order processing process component that handles the processing of customers'"'"' requests to seller for delivery of goods, on a specific date, for a specific quantity, and for a specific price.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising instructions encoded on a non-transitory, computer-readable medium, the instructions being structured as process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, the instructions operable when executed by at least one processor to:

define a plurality of process components, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable, granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component via a corresponding service interface, the plurality of process components including;

a lead processing process component for handling potential interests of a business partner and interactions with the business partner over a certain timeframe;

an opportunity processing process component for handling development, processing, and monitoring of opportunities;

a customer quote processing process component for handling processing of quotes to customers offering the delivery of goods according to specific terms;

a sales order processing process component for handling processing of customers'"'"' requests to seller for the delivery of goods, on a specific date, for a specific quantity, and for a specific price;

an activity management process component for handling recording of activities within an organization;

a groupware process component for handling integration of emails, tasks, and calendar events from a groupware server; and

a duet process component for providing a platform for allowing client-implemented business applications to use available enterprise software platform services and components to retrieve process and synchronize data with enterprise software systems; and

define a plurality of service interfaces, each service interface associated with exactly one process component and comprising at least one operation, each operation being implemented for exactly one process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the sending and receiving of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;

the groupware process component and the activity management process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the groupware process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

an email notification message from the groupware process component to the activity management process component, the email notification message comprising a notification to the activity management process component of new template data associated with a new email from the groupware server; and

an email cancellation notification message from the groupware process component to the activity management process component, the email cancellation notification message comprising a notification to the activity management process component of cancellation of a previously-notified email from the groupware server;

the activity management process component and the duet process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the activity management process component and the duet process component includes the transmission of;

an activity creation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity creation request message comprising a request to update an appointment activity or a phone call activity at the activity management process component;

an activity change request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity change request message comprising a request to modify a previously created appointment activity or phone call activity with new information;

an activity cancellation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity cancellation request message comprising a request to cancel a previously created appointment activity or phone call activity;

the duet process component and the activity management process component relating to a groupware task, where the pair-wise interaction between the duet process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

an activity task creation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task creation request message comprising a request to create an activity task based on synchronization with groupware data received from the duet process component;

an activity task change request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task change request message comprising a request to update a previously generated activity task based on synchronization with groupware data; and

an activity task cancellation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task cancellation request message comprising a request to cancel a previously generated activity task based on synchronization with groupware data; and

the duet process component and the activity management process component relating to a calendar event, where the pair-wise interaction between the duet process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

a calendar event notification message from the activity management process component to the duet process component, the calendar event notification message comprising a notification to the duet process component of a calendar event created within the activity management process component; and

a calendar event cancellation notification message from the activity management process component to the duet process component, the calendar event cancellation notification message comprising a notification of cancellation of a previously created calendar event within the duet process component.

2. The product of claim 1, wherein:

each of the plurality of process components is assigned to exactly one deployment unit among multiple deployment units, and each deployment unit is deployable on a separate computer hardware platform independent of every other deployment unit; and

all interaction between a process component in one deployment unit and any other process component in any other deployment unit takes place through the respective service interfaces of the two process components.

3. The product of claim 2, wherein the deployment units comprise:

a customer relationship management deployment unit that includes the lead processing process component, the opportunity processing process component, the customer quote processing process component, and the sales order processing process component.

4. The product of claim 1, wherein:

each of the process components includes one or more business objects; and

none of the business objects of any one of the process components interacts directly with any of the business objects included in any of the other process components.

5. The product of claim 4, wherein the business objects comprise a business process object.

6. The product of claim 4, wherein none of the business objects included in any one of the process components is included in any of the other process components.

7. The product of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of process agents, each process agent being either an inbound process agent or an outbound process agent, each inbound process agent being operable to receive a message from a corresponding inbound operation, each outbound process agent being operable to cause a corresponding outbound operation to send a message, each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

8. The product of claim 7, wherein each inbound process agent comprises a first inbound process agent operable to start an execution of a business process step requested in a first inbound message by creating or updating at least one business object instance.

9. The product of claim 7, wherein the outbound process agents comprise a first asynchronous outbound process agent that is called after a business object that is associated with the first outbound process agent changes.

10. The product of claim 1, wherein the operations comprise synchronous and asynchronous operations.

11. A system, comprising:

a computer system comprising at least one hardware platform for executing computer instructions, the computer instructions structured as a plurality of process components interacting with each other through service interfaces, each hardware platform including at least one processor for executing the computer instructions;

at least one memory storing a plurality of process components executable by the respective processor of the particular hardware platform, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component via at least one service interface, the plurality of process components including;

a lead processing process component for handling potential interests of a business partner and interactions with the business partner over a certain timeframe;

an opportunity processing process component for handling development, processing, and monitoring of opportunities;

a customer quote processing process component for handling processing of quotes to customers offering the delivery of goods according to specific terms;

a sales order processing process component for handling processing of customers'"'"' requests to seller for the delivery of goods, on a specific date, for a specific quantity, and for a specific price;

an activity management process component for handling recording of activities within an organization;

a groupware process component for handling integration of emails, tasks, and calendar events from a groupware server; and

a duet process component for providing a platform for allowing client-implemented business applications to use available enterprise software platform services and components to retrieve, process, and synchronize data with enterprise software systems; and

the memory further storing a plurality of service interfaces, each service interface associated with exactly one process component and comprising at least one operation, each operation being implemented for exactly one process component, the operations comprising inbound and outbound operations, the outbound operation for a first process component being operable to send a message to a second process component of the plurality of process components, the second process component having an inbound operation for receiving the message, the sending and receiving of messages between an inbound and an outbound operation defining a message-based pair-wise interaction between the respective process components of the respective operations, the pair-wise interactions between pairs of the process components including interactions between;

the groupware process component and the activity management process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the groupware process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

an email notification message from the groupware process component to the activity management process component, the email notification message comprising a notification to the activity management process component of new template data associated with a new email from the groupware server; and

an email cancellation notification message from the groupware process component to the activity management process component, the email cancellation notification message comprising a notification to the activity management process component of cancellation of a previously-notified email from the groupware server;

the activity management process component and the duet process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the activity management process component and the duet process component includes the transmission of;

an activity creation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity creation request message comprising a request to update an appointment activity or a phone call activity at the activity management process component;

an activity change request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity change request message comprising a request to modify a previously created appointment activity or phone call activity with new information;

an activity cancellation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity cancellation request message comprising a request to cancel a previously created appointment activity or phone call activity;

the duet process component and the activity management process component relating to a groupware task, where the pair-wise interaction between the duet process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

an activity task creation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task creation request message comprising a request to create an activity task based on synchronization with groupware data received from the duet process component;

an activity task change request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task change request message comprising a request to update a previously generated activity task based on synchronization with groupware data; and

an activity task cancellation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task cancellation request message comprising a request to cancel a previously generated activity task based on synchronization with groupware data; and

the duet process component and the activity management process component relating to a calendar event, where the pair-wise interaction between the duet process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

a calendar event notification message from the activity management process component to the duet process component, the calendar event notification message comprising a notification to the duet process component of a calendar event created within the activity management process component; and

a calendar event cancellation notification message from the activity management process component to the duet process component, the calendar event cancellation notification message comprising a notification of cancellation of a previously created calendar event within the duet process component.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein:

each of the process components includes one or more business objects; and

none of the business objects of any one of the process components interacts directly with any of the business objects included in any of the other process components.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein none of the business objects included in any one of the process components is included in any of the other process components.

14. The system of claim 11, further comprising a plurality of process agents, each process agent being either an inbound process agent or an outbound process agent, each inbound process agent being operable to receive a message from a corresponding inbound operation, each outbound process agent being operable to cause a corresponding outbound operation to send a message, each process agent being associated with exactly one process component.

15. The system of claim 11, the system comprising one hardware platforms, wherein:

the lead processing process component, the opportunity processing process component, the customer quote processing process component, and the sales order processing process component are deployed on one hardware platform.

16. A computer-implemented method for developing a computer software application, the method comprising the following steps performed by at least one processor:

obtaining, in a programmable computer system having at least one processor, a storage medium, and an interface, digital data representing an architectural design for a set of processes implementing an end-to-end application process, the design specifying a process component for each process in the set of processes, each of the process components comprising a modular and application-independent package of reusable granular software implementing a respective and distinct business process, the business process comprising functionality exposed by the process component, and the design further specifying a set of process component interactions based on messages transmitted between two or more of the process components, wherein;

the specified process components include;

a lead processing process component for handling potential interests of a business partner and interactions with the business partner over a certain timeframe;

an opportunity processing process component for handling development, processing, and monitoring of opportunities;

a customer quote processing process component for handling processing of quotes to customers offering the delivery of goods according to specific terms;

a sales order processing process component for handling processing of customers'"'"' requests to seller for the delivery of goods, on a specific date, for a specific quantity, and for a specific price;

an activity management process component for handling recording of activities within an organization;

a groupware process component for handling integration of emails, tasks, and calendar events from a groupware server; and

a duet process component for providing a platform for allowing client-implemented business applications to use available enterprise software platform services and components to retrieve, process, and synchronize data with enterprise software systems; and

the process component interactions include interactions between;

the groupware process component and the activity management process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the groupware process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

an email notification message from the groupware process component to the activity management process component, the email notification message comprising a notification to the activity management process component of new template data associated with a new email from the groupware server; and

an email cancellation notification message from the groupware process component to the activity management process component, the email cancellation notification message comprising a notification to the activity management process component of cancellation of a previously-notified email from the groupware server;

the activity management process component and the duet process component, where the pair-wise interaction between the activity management process component and the duet process component includes the transmission of;

an activity creation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity creation request message comprising a request to update an appointment activity or a phone call activity at the activity management process component;

an activity change request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity change request message comprising a request to modify a previously created appointment activity or phone call activity with new information;

an activity cancellation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity cancellation request message comprising a request to cancel a previously created appointment activity or phone call activity;

the duet process component and the activity management process component relating to a groupware task, where the pair-wise interaction between the duet process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

an activity task creation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task creation request message comprising a request to create an activity task based on synchronization with groupware data received from the duet process component;

an activity task change request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task change request message comprising a request to update a previously generated activity task based on synchronization with groupware data; and

an activity task cancellation request message from the duet process component to the activity management process component, the activity task cancellation request message comprising a request to cancel a previously generated activity task based on synchronization with groupware data; and

the duet process component and the activity management process component relating to a calendar event, where the pair-wise interaction between the duet process component and the activity management process component includes the transmission of;

a calendar event notification message from the activity management process component to the duet process component, the calendar event notification message comprising a notification to the duet process component of a calendar event created within the activity management process component; and

a calendar event cancellation notification message from the activity management process component to the duet process component, the calendar event cancellation notification message comprising a notification of cancellation of a previously created calendar event within the duet process component; and

generating, using the at least one processor on the computer system, a computer software application to perform the set of processes based on the obtained design including the specified process components and the specified process component interactions.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein each process in the set of processes is a business process transforming a defined business input into a defined business outcome.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein obtaining digital data representing the architectural design further comprises editing the design before using the design.