BECS (acronym for Bentley Enterprise Connection Service), is a complex name for Bentley visual integration technology suite enabling trusted and certified integration between Bentley software and mission critical enterprise applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP and its flavors such as SAP®, Maximo, Oracle EAM, …), Document Management systems (DMS), GeoSpatial Systems (GIS), IoT, SCADA or Telemetry systems only by using visual modelling of integration projects. Bentley Enterprise Connection Services orchestrates and automates the flow of data between Bentley applications, such as AssetWise, iTwin, etc. and enterprise applications to provide two-way communications for data creation, updates, and modifications, keeping the data in both systems accurate and up to date. Bentley Enterprise Connection Services achieved certificates for integration with SAP® NetWeaver as well as SAP® HANA and provides the ability to exchange both business object metadata and object data with SAP.
BECS term bundles 6 major integration parts:
- BECS Packaged Integration (BPI) - BECS integration visual definitions (integration projects) covering concrete workflows with concrete enterprise systems
- BECS Integration Catalogue Service (ICS) - all proven and tested BECS visual integration definitions (BECS integration projects) are managed in BECS ICS
- BECS Dynamic Active Windows (DAW) - part of BECS Packaged Integration allowing the administration of all BECS integration packages
- Enterprise Data Federation Service (EDFS / EDF) – integration engine running as a cloud service for execution of BECS Packaged Integration (the latest generation of BECS integration engine purely implemented as an Azure cloud service)
- BECS Integration Connector(s) - technical BECS component(s) implementing the physical connection to actual integration layer of integrable enterprise system (Bentley or 3rd party).
- BECS / EDF onPremise Handler - client part of BECS used by user’s IT team (installed in user’s secured network) to enable BECS integration with user’s on-premise enterprise systems (not visible from Bentley Cloud). To keep highest security communication between EDF onPremise Handler and EDFS, it is using Microsoft’s MQTT protocol = no need to expose any end points or open any inbound ports on user’s network side.
In the picture below are displayed the basic parts of BECS suite structure:
BECS integration supports all types of solution architecture – cloud, on premise and hybrid:
BECS integration is driven by executing of predefined integration visual definitions (formally called Integration Projects) executed on EDF cloud service background. Integration visual definitions implement concrete business integration use case and all integration visual definitions designed for concrete enterprise system are bundled into BECS Integration Packages.
BECS Packaged Integration is a solution package bundled from concrete BECS visual definitions (BECS Integration Projects) implementing defined integration business process to cover concrete workflows between Bentley products and external enterprise systems (or other Bentley products).
These BECS Packaged Integrations include ready to use integration projects covering the most common workflows, e.g. create, update, install, dismantle, read, attach, upload, … All existing BECS Integration Packages are stored in Bentley Integration Catalogue (ICS) visible via ICS or DAW BECS Web console.
BECS DAW is a part of BECS suite enabling user based BECS integration configuration built on REACT technology. As mentioned, BECS mission is to enable quick and easy (zero coding or zero technical skills needed) integration via BECS integration packages. Whole configuration of those packages for concrete solution is done via BECS DAW REACT Web application.
EDF / EDFS, or Enterprise Data Federation Service is set of iTwin integration services designed to enable integration in iTwin platform offering. It is the latest generation (6th) of BECS integration engine purely implemented as a Cloud Service (in a Cloud architecture). From the point of operation EDFS is fully backward compatible, which means that EDFS can execute any existing BECS Integration Projects. More about iTwin Enterprise Data Federation Service you can find in here.
EDFS Architecture
The logged in user needs to have access to the iTwin and permission to execute the particular visual definition from subscribed package for the specified iTwinID. The Package also needs to be subscribed by the User's Organization to be executable in EDFS. EDFS fully supports Role Based Access to integration.
The ready to use BECS integration projects bundled into BECS integration packages for a concrete enterprise system are executed via EDFS. When an active call is raised from integrated system, EDFS runs the relevant integration project(s). If the integration solution requires passive communication, the integration process starts via BECS Listener, which is a part of EDFS listening on changes or events in integrated system and then again, the EDFS runs the relevant integration project(s). The integration outputs from can be generated in form of PiP or URL, or as data transferred directly to the required system or as APIs / messages for postprocessing.
The short videos below describe 3 main uses cases of BECS suite - Get data on fly, Listen on change and Data movement / Data Synchronization:
BECS suite - Use case 1 (Get data on fly)
BECS suite - Use case 2 (Listen on change)
BECS suite - Use case 3 (Data movement, data synchronization)