From the creators of SlashDB (http://www.slashdb.com). Enterprise evolution to Systems of Engagement will only succeed if they can leverage existing Systems of Record - databases. But database content can be difficult to discover and share. We are introducing the idea of Resource Oriented Architecture as a foundation for building enterprise systems of engagement. ROA is a data abstraction layer (API), which uses URLs as references to the data at source (database). - Triumph over data silos - Enable data science and self-service reporting - Develop enterprise mobile applications

1. Data API as a Foundation for
Enterprise Systems of Engagement
as demonstrated
with
SlashDB
TM
Victor Olex
Founder and President
VT Enterprise
victor.olex@vtenterprise.com
© Copyright 2013 by VT Enterprise LLC. All rights reserved.
VT, SlashDB and /db names and logos are copyright by VT Enterprise LLC. All other registered or unregistered logos, trademarks or pictures are property of their respective
owners, used here for illustration purposes only.

2. /db Upgrades Your Data Infrastructure
Triumph over data silos, unlock productivity
 Multiply return on your database assets
 Deliver data to web and mobile applications
 Fast time to market for mobile business apps
 Engage and interoperate with clients, partners or
vendors on data level
 Empower users to locate and work with data
on-demand

www.SlashDB.com

3. Traditional Data Integration Techniques

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Data duplication
Stale data
Brittle overnight
feeds
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Downstream Systems
Central bottleneck
Does not scale out
Not easily
accessible nor
searchable

4. Data sleeps in databases
Hard for non-IT personnel to use; must know
schema and SQL
 Poor native support for programmable web
 Hard to combine data from many servers
 Cannot even connect without the right driver
 Even harder if in the cloud (darn firewalls)
 But, they are great, reliable, time-tested,
transactional; often mission critical

www.SlashDB.com

5. /db Resource-Oriented Architecture
Simplifies Access to Enterprise Databases


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Uniform, on-demand access layer to heterogeneous data sources
Use in reporting, data feeds or integrate with NoSQL (big data)
www.SlashDB.com

6. /db ROA compares favorably to ETL
Resource Oriented Architecture

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On-demand access
Adapts to changes
Works with everything,
accessible by non-IT
Search engine ready
Encourages data sharing and
collaboration
Instantly web and mobile
compatible
Scales out and up
Easily cacheable
Traditional ETL and Data Warehouse




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Overnight copying
Manual redesign or code
Specialized interfaces,
programmer’s help needed
No support for search
Reinforces data siloes, causes
data duplication
Requires development of a
web service
Data warehouses only scale up
Hard to cache
www.SlashDB.com

7. Data Comes to Life in /db

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
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Uniform R/W access
to all databases
through RESTful web
service
Data formats that
suit every purpose
HTTP caching takes
load off the server
Search engine helps
locate the data
Easy to use even for
non-technical staff
www.SlashDB.com

8. Emergence of Systems of Engagement

Phrase coined in 2011 by Geoffrey Moore
Managing Director, TCG Advisors

Systems of Engagement and the Future of Enterprise IT
http://www.aiim.org/~/media/Files/AIIM%20White%20Papers/Systems-of-Engagement-Future-ofEnterprise-IT.ashx

Peer to peer communication and collaboration



Compelling user interfaces, quick and intuitive
But, not very useful unless they can leverage data
from Systems of Record

8
Mobile Apps, IM, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
ERP, CRM, HR, Orders, Research,
Accounting, Master Data
www.SlashDB.com

9. How to Bridge the Divide?
Enterprise Systems of Record
SQL, Client/Server
Systems of Engagement
REST/HTTP API
9
www.SlashDB.com

10. SlashDB Connects Enterprise & Web
Enterprise Systems of Record
Systems of Engagement
SQL, Client/Server
REST/HTTP API
Internal Firewall
10
External Firewall
www.SlashDB.com

11. Are you ready for the future?

“90% of what we do is business through APIs”
– John Watton, Expedia Affiliate Network, Travolution.co.uk, April 2012

Over 9,000 API listed
on ProgrammableWeb


11
1,000+ in Financial,
Payments, Enterprise or
Real Estate categories
/db automatically
constructs REST API out of relational databases so their
content becomes accessible to authorized developers,
affiliates, partners and clients.
www.SlashDB.com

12. Engage Partners and Clients with API
Enterprise Systems of Record
Systems of Engagement
SQL, Client/Server
Enterprise End-Users
REST/HTTP API
12
REST/HTTP API
External Firewall
www.SlashDB.com
Partners, Clients, Vendors
REST/HTTP API

13. How does a RESTful web service work?

Concept directly borrowed from web browsing

REST (Representational State Transfer)
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Presents available data resource upon request
Invokes change in client’s state i.e. renders new page on click
Transparent to client how resource is stored on server
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One webpage can combine information from several URLs
Plain HTTP request, no need for opaque SOAP service
/db works in a similar fashion (resource-oriented)

URLs retrieve information from a database
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Representation in standard data formats (XML/XSD, CSV, HTML, JSON)
URLs are simple to understand (unlike database queries)
URLs can be combined for higher order data abstractions
www.SlashDB.com

14. Database Content as HTTP Resources

/db automatically makes hyperlinks directly to data
http://demo.slashdb.com/db/Northwind/Customers/CustomerID/ALFKI.xml
Service location
• On the intranet, or
• In the cloud

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Database name Table to query
to reach.
Supports:
• MS-SQL,
• Oracle
• MySQL
• PostgreSQL,
• Sybase,
• and more
Field to filter
Value to
look-up by
• Text
• Number
• Date
Combine
several
Data format
• XML
• JSON
• HTML
• Commaseparated
Related records are hyperlinked thus search engine ready
Custom queries also possible (SQL Pass-thru)
www.SlashDB.com

15. Empower End-Users to Access Data

Spreadsheets on live data without coding VBA or SQL

http://demo.slashdb.com/db/CDOReference/Deal/ALESCO.xml
15
www.SlashDB.com

16. Using /db URLs in Programs is Easy

C# .NET
XmlDocument myXMLDocument = new XmlDocument();
myXMLDocument.Load("http://.../db/Northwind/Customer/City/London.xml");

PERL
use LWP;
my $browser = LWP::UserAgent->new;
my $doc =
$browser->get('http://.../db/Northwind/Customer/City/London.xml');

VBA
Dim req as New WinHttpRequest
Dim doc as String
req.Open "GET", " http://.../db/Northwind/Customer/City/London.xml"
req.Send
doc = req.ResponseText
16
www.SlashDB.com

17. Powerful features to suit every purpose

Data Discovery

End user friendly
Intuitive URL scheme
 No code to use in Excel
 No SQL coding
 Easy to use with Matlab,
Mathematica, UNIX shell
 Preserves complex relations
 Configurable traversal depth  Scalability
 Stateless design
 SQL Pass-Thru
 Caching
 Supports any valid SQL or
stored procedure
 Available as Virtual Appliance
 Maps query params to URL
 Supports leading RDBMS

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Convenient data formats

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XML, CSV, JSON, HTML
www.SlashDB.com

18. One /db, many beneficiaries


Quantitative researchers and data scientists can focus on models and
analysis by leveraging /db’s uniform access to heterogeneous databases.
Enterprise CIOs employ /db’s resource oriented architecture do
overcome data silos and shorten time to market for new or changing
business processes.

Database administrators value /db for its easy integration with search
engines and caching; save time on questions from end-users and conserve
database server resources.

Mobile enterprise application developers use /db as a gateway to
legacy databases to deliver business features in an engaging form.

CTOs and Directors of IT Infrastructure deploy /db to deliver business
data to mobile applications or HTML5 websites.

Data vendors use /db to expand business by offering flexible data
packages and enabling prospects to self-discover available data products.
18
www.SlashDB.com

19. Add /db and Experience Progress

Deliver data to mobile and web
applications

Break data silos to unlock
business process efficiency

Empower users to directly
engage with data

Interoperate on data-level with
clients, affiliates and developers

Leverage investments already
made in databases to expand
business in API economy
19
www.SlashDB.com

20. Questions?
SlashDB
TM
Fits your database, accelerates your business.
Victor Olex
Founder and President
VT Enterprise
victor.olex@vtenterprise.com
To learn more and to see a live demo,
please visit our website at:
http://www.SlashDB.com
© Copyright 2012 by VT Enterprise LLC. All rights reserved. Confidential.