B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

3.6. Which Approach to Use for Your B2Bi
Implementation?
Integration Patterns 93
Companies wishing to venture into the world of integrated, collaborative
and automated business face the following question: which integration
type should we use to achieve B2Bi?
3.6.1. Agreement among the trading partners
B2Bi involves forming formal agreements among the trading partners to
decide various factors involved in integration, such as level of integration,
pattern of integration, scope of integration, data formats and XML
standards. These agreements are dynamic in nature and are continuously
changing with the business environment and needs.
Some of the features of an agreement involved in a typical B2Bi
implementation are as follows:
• The scope of the agreement — whether the agreement is for a
horizontal industry, vertical industry or between two companies or
among a small group of companies and a major company dictating
terms;
• The type of integration method used — data oriented, business
method oriented, portal oriented, or business process oriented;
• The data formats used — the common data representation standards;
• The business process definitions used — the definitions of the common
business process used;
• The communication protocol used — HTTP, FTP, e-mail, HOP, etc.; and
• The security solutions — encryption, digital certificates, VPNs, digital
signatures.
All these features of an agreement play a very important role in
determining the integration pattern used to achieve the final goal of
integration.
3.6.2. Your integration goals
Each integration pattern discussed here has its own merits and
shortcomings. There are several criteria that can guide you to determine