IBM WebSphere Transformation Extender (WTX), DataInterchange (WDI) Consulting

A.  On average our consultants have 7 years of experience across the products, and more if time worked as an employee in corporate America is included. We have consultants that have worked with WTX since the software was originally developed by Mercator, and typically our consultants have at least 3 years experience with either product.

Q. What is the scale of your WTX and WDI consulting services?

A. The scale of our services is from WDI and DataStage TX mappers, to business analysts, to integration coordinators, to infrastructure administrators, to full spectrum integration, EDI, and HIPAA professionals. Within and across each of these roles we can ramp in numbers and combinations of professionals according to client / project needs.

Q. What kind of work do you normally do across WebSphere services engagements?

A. Approximately 50% EDI mapping / testing / implementation, 20% partner on-boarding, 25% EDI upgrades / conversion, 5% system health checks and project audits.

Q. Can you come in and troubleshoot problems, review our infrastructure, and make recommendations for improvements?

A. We have done system reviews for many companies over the years. At the direction of the client, some of these were very systematic and others were very problem specific.

• WebSphere DataStage TX – Optical Manufacturer and Retailer
• WebSphere Data Interchange – Wiring and Communication Products Manufacturer

WebSphere DataStage TX – Optical Manufacturer and Retailer

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
WebSphere DataStage TX Classroom and Side by Side Training

CLIENT PROFILE
Client is a leader in premium, luxury, and sports eyewear. They manufacture, distribute, and operate retail stores in over 100 countries.

• Industry: Optical
• Location: United States/Global
• Products: Premium, luxury, and sports optics and accessories
• Technical Environment: Software(and version): WebSphere DataStage TX

BUSINESS CASE

• Provide a combination of classroom and side by side training to 3-5 client integration and messaging resources
• Provide the training according to client provided syllabus which they modeled from vendor provided training programs
• Provide training at company facilities as a cost advantage to the T&E of sending associates off-site to training
• Have training materials (hand outs and exercises) that would remain after the training for reference purposes
• Train not only in a classroom setting but side by side doing analysis, mapping, testing, and implementation in real-life integration scenarios

SITUATION

• Client required advance preparation of training program and materials
• Client had DataStage TX software already installed in-house and a conference room with the appropriate network facilities, access, and permissions to perform training and integration deliverables
• Not including preparation time the training was delivered in one week with follow-up consultations via phone for a few weeks after delivery

SOLUTION / DELIVERABLES
Basic instruction on the use of the DataStage TX Design Studio components used to define business processes and transform data for use on one system to another.

Training on the following topics:

• Defining data structures
• Defining data properties
• Defining data components
• Validating data definition
• Building in additional validation
• More about mapping
• Functional maps
• Functional map wizard
• More efficient type definitions
• Error handling
• Map optimization
• Map execution
• Text file importer

Training on the concepts and techniques necessary to optimize and improve the performance of maps and solve complex transformation problems included the following topics:

• Art of the type tree
• Art of the mapping rule
• Using router maps
• Using Internet and utility adapters
• Optimizing performances
• Creating custom reports from the audit log

OUTCOME
The training was delivered successfully and REMEDI was invited back in to assist with some highly complex 837 maps after the training engagement.

WebSphere Data Interchange – Wiring and Communication Products Manufacturer

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Mapping Documentation and Error Research

CLIENT PROFILE
Leading manufacturer of high-quality products for wiring and communications applications.

• Industry: Network and Electrical Solutions
• Location: Midwestern United States
• Products: Major products include network cabling systems, cable ties, wiring accessories, surface raceway and wiring duct, terminals, power connectors, installation tooling, identification products, heat shrink products, communication connectors and cable management systems
• Technical Environment: Software(and version): WebSphere Data Interchange (WDI) version 3.2

SITUATION

• Client uses IBM Websphere Data Interchange version 3.2 (WDI 3.2) to process EDI documents. When a translation fails or something is not 100% correct, errors\warnings are generated. These errors\warnings are archived and researching these errors were not being done on a timely basis.
• Client is converting to a new ERP system and potentially needed to change some of the EDI maps in WDI 3.2. To know what might need to change, the client wanted a spreadsheet that detailed all of the mapping found in all of their maps. Based on the spreadsheet they would know what modifications to make to accommodate the new system.

SOLUTION / DELIVERABLES

• Research all of the errors in the error archive and recommend solutions to the problem that was identified in the error report.
• In some cases, make the necessary map changes required to fix problems and get the new maps installed in production.
• Provide a detailed spreadsheet documenting all of the mapping commands used in every inbound and outbound map.

OUTCOME

• Researched all of the errors in the error archive and recommended solutions to the problem that was identified in the error report.
• In some cases, made the necessary map changes to fix problems and get the new maps installed in production.
• Provided a detailed spreadsheet documenting all of the mapping commands used in every inbound and outbound map.