U.S. Department of Commerce

The Client

This government agency has hundreds of locations within the United States and access to hundreds of sites worldwide. The agency is engaged in the collection and analysis of data for tracking, forecasting, and alert purposes.

The Engagement

Encode was called on to assist in the development of a replacement messaging system. The existing system was written in FORTRAN and C code and other obsolete and difficult to maintain software. The system runs 24x7, receives worldwide, real-time input, and requires real-time routing to websites and other data installations. A significant increase in the required processing capacity resulted in the need to completely reengineer the message handling functions.

Critical Services Delivered

Working with an IBM services team, Encode assisted with the design and implementation of a replacement for the message handling component of the system using IBM WebSphere Business Integration.

Encodes experience was vital for this project, since the initial design of the system is critical: "How a WebSphere MQ Integrator message flow is designed and implemented is important because it results in a level of performance (resource utilization and message throughput rate) that may not be easy to overcome without substantial redesign or the addition of significant resources." (IBM*)

In addition to fulfilling the assigned functions, Encode had to redesign significant portions of the existing systems that deal with error handling. Encode also quickly resolved a critical issue caused by a logic problem resulting in failures of UUID (Universal Unique Identifier) functions with DNS (Domain Name System). This problem would have created a significant delay in the project.

• Analysis and Design
• WebSphere Business Integration Development

Technology Used

The primary software in use is IBM WebSphere Business Integration Message Broker, which "Distributes business event information in real-time to people, applications, and telemetry devices throughout your extended enterprise; manages information flows between independent systems housed in separate divisions and departments; increases business flexibility and reduce development costs by separating integration logic from applications; integrates multiple applications, networks and device types using an enterprise integration bus that lets... conduct business reliably and securely." (IBM*)

Other software includes IBM MQ Series, PVCS for source control, Microsoft Windows and IBM AIX operating systems.

*Copy which describes IBM products is adapted from the copy provided on the IBM website. Consult www.ibm.com for further information.