Integration with external applications
Modern enterprise applications and the data they handle are rarely self-contained. Integration protocols and interoperability standards provide read and write access to data stored in various systems of record; you can design links to multiple physically distributed resources application. Pega Platform™ provides a wide range of data and integration functions that can simplify the task of connecting applications to distributed resources and access the processes and data they provide.
The ega platform supports a series of integration standards and communication protocols, allowing you to focus on solving the business needs of applications, rather than connecting development. For example, your application can connect to external databases or use data from external web services.
However, many external systems still in use today are not designed to share data with other applications. These external systems have no API for sharing data. Other systems may have APIs that you cannot access, or APIs are not sufficient to support your business needs. In these cases, when there are no other viable integration options, Pega Robotic Process Automation (RPA) integration can be used.
To achieve the best business results, you need to combine business requirements and IT infrastructure with the most appropriate Pega integration capabilities. Knowing when to apply Pega RPA instead of Pega integrated connectors can help generate a higher return on investment.
The following example applies appropriate Pega integration functions to achieve the best business results.
U-Plus Bank has recently acquired several banks; therefore, there are systems of record (SOR) for multiple customer systems. When the customer contacts the bank to change the address, the customer service representative (CSR) initiates the Pega change of address service case. The case prompts the CSR to enter a new address. Once the customer has verified the new address, the case workflow will continue to update the address to one of many possible systems of record. If the address is stored in U-Plus Bank’s own customer or SOR, the case updates the address in real time by using the standard API connector, and the connector will immediately exchange data between the Pega application and SOR. This update is possible because Pega and the customer record system understand and support standard protocols for information exchange.
When a customer opens an account in an acquired bank, SOR is an older legacy system that does not support APIs for data exchange. For this customer, the Pega address change case enabled the CSR to initiate the process automation of the Pega robot in watch mode. Participatory RPA refers to the automation of working with people in the process. This kind of automation triggers the robot to update the address by opening the front end of the SOR, which can be a desktop or web application, or even a terminal screen. The robot then fills in the new address field by interacting with the user interface in real time, effectively performing the same tasks as the work done manually by the CSR, but only in a fraction of the time.
These two address change updates can also run in the background, in an unattended RPA mode. The difference is that the address change request is placed in a queue for later processing. Unattended RPA provides the advantage of optimizing system resources and reducing peak load. This method is also ideal when the update process takes time, because it allows the CSR to continue to provide services to customers instead of waiting for the address change to complete.
The robot performs real-time on-duty or unattended RPA tasks. To help manage and gain insight into robot performance, Pega provides a control tower application: Pega Robot Manager™. Pega Robot Manager allows you to monitor and schedule RPA robots and provide performance analysis for all robots.
Plus Bank's use of Pega RPA and integrated connectors to connect to different customer record systems is consistent with the bank's long-term strategy of unifying a single modern customer. The Pega platform separates application functions from integration details, so once the bank is unified on a single record system, it can easily replace robotic automation with integrated connectors. The data source and integration layer are separated from the application layer so that future changes to the system of record will have the least impact on the application.