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Integration Platform

The Integration Platform is the core engine focused on boosting productivity and providing enterprise governance for integration development.

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Platform Value Proposition

Boost Productivity

Pre-built connectors, transformations, and workflows accelerate development

Low-Code & Pro-Code

Camel DSL for rapid development plus composable pro-code components

Enterprise Governance

Built-in scalability, security, monitoring, and integration management

Composable Architecture

Library of reusable functional and technical components

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Development Methodology

The platform follows a “plug and play” development approach through four sequential phases: (1) Start with Templates - begin development using pre-built project templates and scaffolding, (2) Adopt Spec - implement OpenAPI specifications for contract-first development, (3) Reuse Kamelets - compose integrations from reusable functional components, (4) Data Mapping - apply transformations using XSLT or JOLT templates to complete the integration workflow.

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Technology Stack

Core Technologies comprise the runtime platform and infrastructure foundation. Runtime platform uses Java as the primary development language, Quarkus as the cloud-native Java framework, Apache Camel as the integration framework, and Camel K/K Native for Kubernetes-native execution. Infrastructure layer provides Kubernetes for container orchestration, Docker for containerization, Helm for package management, and Terraform for infrastructure as code. Cloud Infrastructure leverages Microsoft Azure for enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure, providing scalability, security, and global availability. Compute services include AKS and Container Instances for workload execution. Networking capabilities span VNet, Load Balancer, and VPN for connectivity. Storage and data services utilize Azure Storage and Service Bus for persistence and messaging. Open Source Foundation delivers innovation benefits through collaboration and faster capability development, avoids vendor lock-in through open standards, and provides access to a broad developer talent pool with community contribution and expertise. Components include Grand Central Kamelets (custom integration components for banking use cases), 300+ OSS Components (extensive library of open source integration patterns), GC SDK (development toolkit with templates and utilities), and Enterprise Patterns (proven integration patterns and best practices).

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Integration Platform Components

Understanding the anatomy of a Grand Central integration:
Definition: POM Project containing all underlying base-platform dependenciesPurpose: Provides consistent dependency management for GC ConnectorsIncludes:
  • Core platform dependencies
  • Developer enablement tooling
  • Version alignment
  • Conflict resolution
Benefits:
  • Simplified dependency management
  • Consistent platform versions
  • Reduced configuration complexity
Definition: Fundamental units of abstraction for common operationsPurpose: Building blocks for Integration ConnectorsTypes:
  • Source Kamelets: Data ingestion from external systems
  • Sink Kamelets: Data output to target systems
  • Action Kamelets: Data transformation and processing
Examples:
  • Database connectors (JDBC, MongoDB, etc.)
  • Messaging systems (Kafka, RabbitMQ, etc.)
  • File processors (FTP, SFTP, S3, etc.)
  • Protocol handlers (HTTP, SOAP, etc.)
Definition: Project containing OpenAPI/Swagger definitionsPurpose: API contract definition and sharingFeatures:
  • Standardized API documentation
  • Code generation capabilities
  • Contract-first development
  • JAR packaging for reuse
Benefits:
  • Consistent API design
  • Automated client generation
  • Documentation synchronization
Definition: Configuration supporting data transformationSupported Formats:
  • XSLT: XML transformations
  • JOLT: JSON transformations
Capabilities:
  • Data structure mapping
  • Field transformations
  • Format conversions
  • Business rule application
Use Cases:
  • System data model mapping
  • Protocol format conversion
  • Business logic implementation
Definition: Low-code Domain Specific Language for integration patternsExecution Options:
  • Local development environment
  • Remote platform execution (Camel-K)
Features:
  • Visual flow design
  • Declarative configuration
  • Enterprise Integration Patterns
  • Hot deployment capabilities
Benefits:
  • Reduced code complexity
  • Faster development cycles
  • Standard pattern library

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Developer & Operational Experience

Developer Experience provides real-time development with immediate feedback and testing during the development process.

Lean Incremental Builds

Fast build cycles with incremental compilation and hot reloading

Image Reuse

Container image optimization and reuse for faster deployments

Dependency Management

Automated dependency resolution and conflict management

IDE Integration

Rich IDE support with debugging, testing, and deployment tools
Operational Experience delivers cloud-native operations through a fully managed platform ensuring operational excellence.

Auto-Scaling

Automatic scaling based on load and performance metrics

Monitoring

Comprehensive monitoring and alerting for all integrations

Observability

Full observability with metrics, logs, and distributed tracing

Security

Enterprise security with encryption, authentication, and authorization

Resource Optimization

Efficient resource usage with optimization and rightsizing

Traits Configuration

Platform traits for behavior customization and optimization
Integration Support provides comprehensive protocol and pattern support for diverse integration scenarios. Supported protocols include REST for RESTful web services, SOAP for web service protocol compatibility, and Async Messaging for event-driven communication. Messaging systems encompass Azure Service Bus (ASB), Apache Kafka, RabbitMQ, and ActiveMQ. Enterprise Integration Patterns support includes Aggregation, Multicast, Split, Route, Filter, WireTap, Transform, and many more standard patterns for enterprise integration scenarios.

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Platform Benefits Summary

Fast Time-to-Market

Simplified integrations through API orchestration and data mapping enable rapid business solution delivery

Operational Excellence

Fully managed cloud-native platform handling scaling, monitoring, observability, and security

Increased Productivity

Low-code design reduces dependency on specialized integration developers

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Next Steps

Connectivity Architecture

Learn about secure connectivity patterns and implementation strategies

Sync Hub

Explore bi-directional data synchronization capabilities