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B2b scenarios

Scenario ID

  • SC-B2BM (Message), SC-B2BF (File), SC-B2BB (bulk)

Scenario Name

  • Business-to-Business Communication

Characteristics

  • Incoming messages or files via secure layer from partners. Three categories: messages, small files or large bulk files that are broken down and managed separately.

Description

  • This scenario only covers the reception of data from external sources. How they are managed down the line is covered by the other scenarios.
  • The transport is FTPS or AS2 for files and TLS / SSL for messages using certificates that are exchanged before and compared for every information exchange.
  • The landing zone is (or should be) in an appropriate security zone (a DMZ) and the software managing the transfer usually have an outer component in the DMZ - connected with an inner component on the organisational Trusted Zone or network.
  • Messages and files are usually pushed in encrypted form across the internet to the destination DMZ, where specific folders for files, and queues per sender have been configured.
  • Conversely an organisation can push messages and files across to the other side, when communicating (out-bound) with partners and/or customers.

Recommendations

  • Promote use of messages over files where possible - this promotes a move towards a real time processing business environment.
  • Where the same data is required by more than one recipient, consider 'pushing' data to the receivers.
  • Where multiple consumers want to obtain a subset of a data set (for example, Product Information for a Brand), implement web service interfaces that can be called (or systems pull) to obtain that set of data.

Example

  • None

Pattern Reference