ExpressConnect

Within a week and potentially within a day.
The systems integration add-on includes 100s of pre-built APIs developed based on long-standing knowledge of the usage patterns. The TRIRIGA side of the APIs is ready to go. You can start using these APIs in your end-to-end integration as soon as other systems can integrate.

If you are building any WebApp or Mobile Apps, these APIs are ready once deployed in TRIRIGA.

The ExpressConnect license includes access to all the APIs within the purchased API Packs.
There is no additional cost for the APIs while configuring the integrations.

However, there might be other costs (unrelated to ExpressConnect) involved in onboarding other systems and performing lifecycle tests with any external systems.

Help is available from the MobileKraft team if you have any questions related to the APIs and their usage in any integrations you are setting up. The level of assistance will vary based on your choice of support.

Yes, Customers can realise the return on investment within the following areas:

• Avoidance of costly upfront configuration

• Rapid time-to-market

• Low ongoing maintenance cost owing to utilisation of OpenAPI standards.

There are additional soft benefits concerning performance improvements and improved customer satisfaction.

The total cost of ongoing maintenance of integrations included multiple line items; however, from the ExpressConnect API perspective, there is only a monthly or yearly fixed cost (based on your choice) for the API Packs you are utilising in your solution.

Additional costs would apply to the entire lifecycle of integrations related to integration with external systems and computing capacity.

Additional details for the ExpressConnect-related pricing are available in our pricing guide.

The MobileKraft team is available to support your day-to-day integration operations based on your choice of support package.

The primary support is available through email, and pre-defined SLAs govern the engagement.
An additional level of support is available, and we can advise based on the assessment of your integration landscape.

Additional details for the ExpressConnect-related support options are available in our support guide.

All up-to-date generated documentation is accessible through the OpenAPI Explorer web app. The API consumers can quickly discover the APIs they require, review the data model and the API paths, and try these APIs in the dev or test environments rapidly, mainly in minutes.

They can download the sample code from the explorer for the client code language of their choice.
They can download the OpenAPI spec and generate client and server code using the OAS 2. x or 3.0.3 and 3.1 specifications.
They can download a "Postman" collection and create end-to-end test scenarios.

All the tools and information are available for the API consumers in one place for the API Consumers and ready to go when they are.

With the cache component enabled and populated, we expect up to 40% improvement in the response time of the APIs for the search queries, i.e., "GET" calls. The response improvements are more applicable to large data sets.

A general note worth mentioning here is multiple factors influence the performance of the APIs, including the underlying computing capacity and the number of parallel activities running on the TRIRIGA Server and the database at that point.

Yes, the APIs as a building block are re-usable for as many integrations as you like.

The API version management allows you to work with different versions of APIs to accommodate the schema changes. APIs can be deprecated gracefully to avoid service disruptions in case of breaking changes.
Quite often, different teams within an organisation will create multiple flavours of APIs / Integrations on the same data object as per their need and the demand timeline.

A note worth mentioning here is some extra care is required in case of complex integration landscapes to manage the inter-dependencies of the APIs. The MobileKraft team can advise on the best practices for API reuse and inter-dependency management.

It is always tempting to configure the integration to the scope of the current phase/sprint of the solution lifecycle. Over the mid-to-long term, costs for deployment and ongoing maintenance for these standalone configurations grow significantly. As an organisation, you are left with multiple costly point-to-point integrations to manage.

The scalability for these integrations is limited and requires an army of people to manage them and ensure these custom integrations work as expected.

Vendor fully supports the ExpressConnect platform, and Customers can opt for a dedicated support option.

Gradually, we plan to onboard a set of Business Partners who can support the solution.

Yes, the ExpressConnect APIs comply with the following standards:

• OpenAPI Specification (OAS) 3.0.3 (https://swagger.io/specification/v3/)

• OpenAPI Specification (OAS) 3.1 (https://spec.openapis.org/oas/latest.html)

• OpenAPI Specification (OAS) 2.0 (https://swagger.io/specification/v2/)

Note: The APIs have undergone detailed testing for OpenAPI specification compliance; however, there are conflicting specifications between the multiple versions. Wherever required, the design choice favoured backward compatibility.

In future releases, we aim to provide dedicated support for enhanced features for the OAS 3.1 specification to target specific middleware solutions.

Yes, with the ExpressConnect APIs aligned to the OpenAPI specifications, the APIs' interoperability with other systems increases manifold.

ExpressConnect platform includes 100s of pre-built APIs grouped under API Packs. Customers can choose the appropriate packs they need to get started.

The existing APIs are adaptable to the changing business requirements.

Yes, the API Consumers can use the pre-built, ready-to-use APIs. The API Developers can easily adjust the existing APIs or set up a new API.

Not at all. The ExpressConnect platform will generate all the required documentation and is kept up to date as and when the data model or API configuration changes.

The platform generates an updated OpenAPI Specification document and also updates the OpenAPI Explorer.

The API platform doesn't control or manipulate the data in transmission, and currently, the option for data encryption for transit is under consideration for future releases.

Additionally, it's good to note that the data security during transmission relies on many other aspects outside the remit of the API platform.

The ExpressConnect solution is built with IBM toolkits to support the IBM TRIRIGA solution. The IBM team reviewed the solution before onboarding on the TAS Marketplace.

The solution Vendor works closely with IBM to provide the required support to the Customers.

Not at all. The ExpressConnect solution is isolated from other aspects of the TRIRIGA solution, and it interacts with the underlying platform using metadata and separated configuration.

The ExpressConnect platform does not impact any existing OOTB and custom configurations.

The API Consumers must continue to comply with IBM Licensing requirements to access the underlying data, as the ExpressConnect platform provides a solution to access the data to which you are already entitled. It relies on your existing user configuration within TRIRIGA.

Yes, the platform generates the OpenAPI Specifications as and when the underlying schema and the API specifications change.

The platform will keep the OpenAPI Explorer app up to date in real time.

The API Consumers can download the latest OpenAPI or explore the APIs through the Explorer app to get the latest API specifications.

No, there are no changes required at this point to utilise the ExpressConnect APIs. ExpressConnect APIs will use specific properties from the "web.properties" file.

Please refer to the "System Properties" link for further details. (https://expressconnect.mobilekraft.io/docs/r1.0.0/references/system-properties)

Yes, the ExpressConnect platform works in SaaS and TAS set-up as it doesn't have any specific demand on the computing environment.

The API Consumers must hold the relevant license for the TRIRIGA data access. If required, the IBM Team or IBM Business Partners can help procure new TRIRIGA licenses or AppPoints.

For any Customers utilising the ExpressConnect cache components, we shall advise on the caching strategy and optimisation of memory utilisation for your TRIRIGA App Servers.

Yes, the ExpressConnect platform supports API version management at the API group level.

In case of breaking changes, one can introduce a new version for the APIs, and legacy APIs can be deprecated gracefully. This process gives enough time for the API Consumers to align their solutions to the new API schema and move to the new APIs without breaking their solutions.

Note: The ExpressConnect platform is a data access facilitation solution. The TRIRIGA Application still controls the data lifecycle, and hence, the ExpressConnect data model and version propagation rely on the capabilities available within the TRIRIGA solution.

The ExpressConnect provides a data access and manipulation layer solution to the existing data available in the TRIRIGA solution.

The API Consumers utilising the ExpressConnect platform must already have a TRIRIGA user account with the necessary licenses or app points to access the required data. The ExpressConnect relies on the TRIRIGA existing authorisation through security groups to allow access to data.

Additionally, the API Consumers must check the assigned system geography and system organisation to the underlying user account.
A misconfigured system geography and organisation might prevent access to the necessary data.

Yes, Customers can fulfil any additional requirements for the underlying TRIRIGA users by sourcing the licenses from the IBM team or IBM Business Partners.

MobileKraft is a company that specialises in modernising and simplifying systems integration solutions. Experts in systems integration with over 20 years of combined experience in the TRIRIGA Systems Integration field formed the company in 2020.

The company has two main objectives:
· To reduce time-to-market and overall systems integration costs significantly by implementing a repeatable process and leveraging an industry-standard API framework.
· To help organisations deliver a seamless user experience (UX) through digital process enablement and by utilising a digital experience (DX) platform.

MobileKraft maintains a healthy product roadmap that includes additional features such as new API Packs, native connectors for multiple Systems Integration middleware solutions like IBM ACE and MuleSoft, and an Event Framework embedded within TRIRIGA, among others.

MobileKraft was founded in June 2020 and has since been working on the product roadmap for the Systems Integration and modernising the digital experiences.

The Systems Integration platform version 1.0 came out in September 2023. Further releases with additional capabilities are planned for the coming months.

MobileKraft is registered in England and Wales in the UK. MobileKraft works with IBM to sell the ExpressConnect platform through the TAS Marketplace and provide vendor support for the ExpressConnect platform in multiple countries.