JD Edwards is an incredibly powerful software system that is designed specifically to help companies run their business. Despite all it has to offer, however, there are many features in JDE that are often overlooked. One of those is Business Services, a set of functions that allows for the surfacing of and interaction with data between JDE and external systems. We have found Business Services to be a huge asset when integrating JD Edwards to an eCommerce site.
For many companies, Business Services is an almost mythical functionality that people have heard of, yet no one knows exactly what it does or how to implement it. Therefore, most companies have not set up Business Services, and few of those that have are using them well. It comes down to the fact that many companies do not truly understand how powerful Business Services can be.
According to JD Edwards, Business Services are “objects that enable interoperability between JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and other Oracle applications or third-party applications and systems.” As our own Bill Onion has discussed in past blog posts, Business Services help to facilitate complex eCommerce integrations by allowing companies to securely access JDE data and business logic and link with the eCommerce platform. This sets the stage for a seamless shopping experience.
Using Business Services allows you to leverage established business processes and investments in other facets of the business, specifically eCommerce. As part of the integration process between an eCommerce site and an ERP, Business Services works by surfacing the data so that you can interact with it. Business Services can access logic in EnterpriseOne and then support a specific step in the business process. You can surface an inventory availability or order history, for example, using integration to JDE through Business Services.
Some of the functional areas available in Business Services are:
Each of those areas then has a number of related Business Services. For example, the available Business Services in the InventoryManager area are:
Considering each of the many functional areas contains a similar amount of Business Services as InventoryManager, it’s obvious that there is a plethora of available Business Services. And all of these are out-of-the-box functionalities that you have already paid for as part of the investment in JDE; you might as well take advantage of them.
Utilizing Business Services in JDE is a great way to leverage the configuration and standard processes of JDE, as well as cut down on or even eliminate customizations in JDE. We’re taking a deeper dive into this topic and showing some client examples in our presentation at InFocus. We would love to see you if you’re going to be there. If you won’t be attending InFocus but still want to talk Business Services, give us a call.
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