All products of Asta Labs share a common service-oriented mobile cloud architecture. Every solution is composed of loosely-coupled subsystems, each equipped with its own cloud-deployable data repository and business functions, and a set of mobile applications. The business functions are exposed as services and orchestrated into end-to-end business processes with a specialised workflow subsystem. Date analysis is provided by means of a specialised warehouse subsystem that combines data from all subsystems with near real-time extract-transform-and-load processes.

Subsystems

Every solution is composed of a set of loosely-coupled subsystems. Each subsystem is dedicated to a particular functional area like workforce management, resource inventory, etc. The subsystem is fully autonomous – it is equipped with its own data repository, business logic, and client applications. Thus it can be either deployed as a standalone solution or combined with other subsystems or third-party products to provide broader functionality.

The subsystem is multi-tenant. The multi-tenant data repository implements an object-oriented information model that can be extended at run-time independently by each tenant using only client applications, for example, to introduce new types of equipment.

The business logic of the subsystem is implemented as a set of coarse-grain synchronous and asynchronous functions. They are deployed as highly scalable services and are exposed at the service interface as a standards-based Web Services API, described formally with a WSDL document. Both data repository and business logic can be independently deployed either in the cloud or on a local server.

Multiple user role-specific mobile mash-up applications provide access to business logic functions and data, and to rich Web content. Centralised control of user access to business services and applications features is based on user groups and privilege levels.

Workflow

Business functions of multiple subsystems are orchestrated into end-to-end business processes with a specialised workflow subsystem. Process definitions are supposed to be specified with a BPMN 2.0 notation, using any external BPMN 2.0 compliant process editor. Process instances are executed by a scalable workflow engine deployable in a public or private cloud. The engine is responsible for interpreting process definitions and executing business functions by means of inbound and outbound calls to Web Service and REST service interfaces of the subsystems and third-party systems. Process definitions and process instances are accessible through mobile applications and service interfaces of the workflow subsystem.

Warehouse

Semantically separate data of multiple subsystems is combined within a specialised warehouse subsystem. The data from each subsystem is loaded into the warehouse with near real-time ETL processes. The data warehouse enables intra- and cross-domain data reporting and analysis, including the analysis of historical data due to the time awareness feature of the Asta repositories. Advanced data drill capabilities are available on both desktop and portable devices.