In the ever-evolving landscape of digital integration, businesses like DreamSpace Solutions are turning to innovative solutions to streamline their operations. DreamSpace Solutions, a fictional retailer specialising in crafting dream living spaces through exquisite home decor, furniture, and accessories, stands as a testament to the transformative power of technology. With a commitment to elegance and functionality, DreamSpace empowers homeowners to bring their dream spaces to life.
Enter IBM App Connect Enterprise as a Service's Flow Runs plan—a gamechanger that offers businesses the flexibility and simplicity they need to deploy essential integrations with ease. With its intuitive interface and transparent pricing based on flow invocations, the Flow Runs plan has caught the attention of forward-thinking companies like DreamSpace Solutions.
In a previous co-authored blog, we delved into the foundational aspects of the Flow Runs plan offered by IBM App Connect Enterprise as a Service on AWS. We explored how customers can efficiently purchase a specific number of invocations for their Integration flows, contrasting it with the VPC plan. If you haven't checked it out yet, you can find it here. Today, we'll revisit the Flow Runs plan, highlighting its expanded capabilities, and showcasing its practical application through DreamSpace Solutions' integration use case.
Understanding the Flow Runs Plan
The Flow Runs plan is designed to simplify integration deployment, making it accessible even to those without extensive technical expertise. Its user-friendly interface enables businesses to effortlessly manage and deploy integrations, providing them with clarity and control over their integration expenses.
Deployment in Action: A Step-by-Step Guide
Deploying Customer Feedback Manager
DreamSpace's Customer Feedback Manager, an integration operating within Salesforce, is a prime example of how the Flow Runs plan can enhance customer satisfaction. This integration monitors customer queries and feedback and triggers a Slack alert to the relevant team for immediate action.
Deployment Steps
Clicking on Deploy within the Flow Editor page opens the deployment wizard.
After initiating the deployment, you'll see a summary page that displays essential information about the deployed flow.
Clicking Deploy again takes you to the process of rolling out the integration into a shared runtime, which then updates the Manage page.
Clicking on the integration tile options menu opens a dropdown where you can select Activate to activate your deployment.
Inventory Management Integration Deployment
For real-time insights into product availability and demand, DreamSpace utilises the Inventory Management Integration BAR file.
Deployment Steps
Clicking on the Deploy Integration button on the Manage page opens the deployment wizard.
In the deployment wizard, you can either select the desired BAR file from the list or choose to upload a new one using the provided options.
Clicking on Next takes you to the Configuration selection step which allows you to choose specific configurations for the BAR file, though this step is optional.
After making your selections, the Summary page will appear for review. Once you've verified the details, click Deploy to initiate the deployment process.
Once done you’ll be redirected to the Manage page where your deployment is ready to be activated.
Streamlining with Simplified Deployment Methods
The Flow Runs plan offers multiple deployment methods, further simplifying the process.
Initiating Deployment from the Dashboard
Deployments can be initiated directly from the dashboard with just two clicks, making the process swift and straightforward.
The Flow Runs plan supports API unified-authoring when using both App Connect and API Connect instances in the same region.
Steps to Enable
Navigating to the API flow and clicking on the gear icon opens the API gateway settings.
Within the settings, toggle the Unified authoring button to enable it.
After enabling unified authoring, proceed to Deploy the flow. Once deployed and active you will be able to test the flow against the API Connect endpoint.
Switching over to your API Connect instance, you'll find your deployment published.
Enhanced User Experience: BAR File and Configurations Integration
The Flow Runs plan offers a unified user experience by integrating the BAR file page and configurations page into the designer UI.
Features
You can directly upload and deploy a BAR file from the BAR file page.
You can also create and update configurations seamlessly from the configurations page.
Managing Deployments: A Closer Look
The Manage page provides detailed insights into the contents of deployed integrations, including applications, REST APIs, service, libraries, and policy projects upon clicking on the deployment tile.
Key Features
Viewing runtime properties and security credentials associated with each component opens insights into the operational details of your deployments.
For efficient debugging and validation, we can test REST APIs directly from the Manage page by selecting the respective API flow deployment.
Activating or deactivating deployments is straightforward from this view as well. Simply choose the desired deployment from the menu options and select the appropriate action.
For event-driven and API flows, you can directly access and edit the flow by selecting the View flow option.
To retain and analyse your deployment data, download all deployment and integration-related data in JSON format directly from this page.
Real-Time Results
Once the deployment is active, you can witness real-time results coming to life. For instance, in DreamSpace's case, they get notified of customer feedback on Slack promptly, enabling them to respond swiftly and take necessary actions.
The Flow Runs plan by IBM App Connect Enterprise as a Service offers a streamlined approach to integration deployment, making it accessible, efficient, and cost-effective for businesses of all sizes. With its intuitive interface, transparent pricing, and comprehensive features, the Flow Runs plan is truly revolutionising the way businesses manage their integrations.
To witness this in action check out our YouTube video;