|
Integration of SAP R/3 and Lotus Notes is brought about by
using many approaches such as Lotus Enterprise integrator (LEI) and Lotus
Connector. Lotus Enterprise Integrator, a Lotus tool for server-to-server data
management is considered as "the middleware" for connecting and transferring or
synchronizing information between Lotus Connector enterprise sources on a
scheduled or event-driven basis. Lotus Enterprise Integrator (LEI) should be
positioned as complementing the live access capabilities provided by Domino
Enterprise Connection Services (DECS). Supporting high volume data exchange or
synchronization, LEI consists of three components:
- A Domino Application also called as the Lotus Enterprise Integrator
Administrator database.
- The LEI Server processes instructions, connecting to external data
sources and moving data according to Activity defined conditions.
- An LEI Server Log, which records data transfers and error messages.
The Lotus Enterprise Integration
technologies link Domino applications to a wide variety of existing enterprise
systems in customers' environments. This comprises of connectivity to popular
relational databases such as Oracle and DB2, as well as Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) systems like SAP R/3 and PeopleSoft.
Undoubtedly, the integration of
Lotus Notes with SAP R/3 is perfect. Focusing on high-volume and
high-reliability transactional applications, SAP R/3 is a client-server system.
On the other hand, Lotus Notes and Domino provide a general-purpose
infrastructure for distributed enterprise database applications and messaging
services.
These integration approaches are
broadly classified into two classes viz. End-User Interface and Developer Tools.
End-User Interface:
End-User Interface enables the end users to analyze, enhance
and distribute R/3 report data by using both the SAP R/3 and Lotus Notes.
Developer Tools: M
Developer tools are the links given to the programmers to
build applications in order to associate R/3 to Notes. In this approach
developers are provided with Business Application Programming Interfaces (BAPIs),
which are used as R/3 business objects by the Notes developer, so as to ensure
this link up.
|
