The next stage for AirMiles was to create Java front ends for its core business applications. Internally, AirMiles runs an in-house customer database that Young likens to a conventional banking application running on an Oracle database. By integrating this application into the Web site, AirMiles hoped to capture real-time data on customers' purchases, improving the performance of personalised marketing tools such as newsletters and email offers.
Fortunately, the internal database already had a Java and C++ front end, so integrating it into a central platform proved relatively straightforward. Developers also created a Java front end for the Amadeus travel booking and search system that AirMiles uses when redeeming miles on behalf of customers. The internal Amadeus flight database was linked to the front-end Web site to enable users to search for appropriate offers. It was also connected internally to the in-house ISS booking system to present accurate data on what bookings had been made.
Complex compromise
The ISS booking system was the most complicated part of the infrastructure to complete. This system was built with a Computer Associates Cool:Gen interface, and this was extremely difficult to integrate into a J2EE platform. Eventually, Syzergy consultants worked with developers from Computer Associates to create a Java proxy wrapper which sits in front of the Cool:Gen code. "It's a compromise but the proxy just hides all the Cool:Gen oddities and it was by the far the simplest way to address the problem," says Young.
The three applications use J2EE to hook into the Weblogic platform, which provides the illusion of a single, Web-based application. Integration is carried out at three levels: presentation (all content-related features), business (business process management) and integration (access to all back-office systems). Additional software from Broadvision is used to provide Web-based content management, personalisation and marketing tools.
