Exstream

BUILDING CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS

SOLUTIONS WITH THE HP EXSTREAM
INTEGRATION LAYER

MARCH 2011

CONTENTS
Executive summary............................................................................................................................... 2
HP Exstream overview .......................................................................................................................... 2
Building Solutions ................................................................................................................................ 3
Building Blocks ................................................................................................................................ 3
Challenges ...................................................................................................................................... 3
A Solid Foundation .......................................................................................................................... 3
The HP Exstream Integration Layer ......................................................................................................... 4
Components .................................................................................................................................... 4
Live Application Library ........................................................................................................................ 7
Services .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Customization and Extensibility.......................................................................................................... 8
Deployment Options ......................................................................................................................... 8
Solution Example ............................................................................................................................. 9
Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 11
For more information .......................................................................................................................... 11
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Delivering accurate, consistent, and effective customer communications is critical to any business.
Unfortunately, these projects can be some of the most expensive and overburdened processes that the
business incurs. Top organizations often have significant costs tied up in a variety of disconnected
customer communications systems that can live within disconnected organizational silos. The inability
to easily connect to multiple data and content systems reduces the effectiveness of customer
communications, resulting in inconsistent, redundant, and confusing communications.
The HP Exstream Customer Communications platform unleashes the full power of your data and
content, creating effective and consistent customer communications across all channels without the
need to modify or migrate existing data or content.
Unlike other solutions, HP Exstream includes powerful integration technologies that enable business
flexibility by leveraging current IT investments, adapting to evolving infrastructure and business needs,
supporting content from many sources in many formats, and providing a common solution across
multiple projects and organizations.
The HP Exstream integration layer accelerates the implementation of customer communications
solutions while minimizing cost and reducing risk and disruption.

HP EXSTREAM OVERVIEW
HP Exstream is a completely integrated customer communications software solution. It simplifies the
design, creation, editing, output, and delivery of printed and electronic customer communications—
including those produced in high-volume, on-demand, and interactive environments—regardless of
their complexity, variability, or output channel. The HP Exstream system’s interactive document
capability provides a controlled editing environment that is integrated with a sophisticated back-office
engine for document production, management, fulfillment, and assured delivery. This unique
approach of having one system capable of producing complex policies, contracts, and publications
as well as letters, statements, and quotes offers significant cost savings by eliminating siloed document
systems and improving productivity for both front- and back-office personnel.
HP Exstream supports all three types of customer communications:
• Interactive – Documents that require human interaction, usually in some sort of workflow, and
typically on behalf of individual customers such as welcome kits, letters, and quotes
• On-Demand – Online, self-service documents that are generated in real time often with direct
customer involvement such as order confirmations, travel itineraries and account notices
• High-volume – Structured documents that are processed regularly with high transaction rates, such
as bills, policies and financial statements
Interactive document systems present unique challenges, but building a system based on HP Exstream
Live eliminates expenses and risks from maintaining disconnected point solutions, provides confidence
from centralized control over the content that is delivered while enabling business ownership of
message, reduces IT costs and complexity, reduces print, mailing and archive costs, and reduces
environmental impact.

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 2
BUILDING SOLUTIONS
Building blocks
Effective customer communications solutions potentially include a number of diverse components, often
provided or managed by multiple organizations:
• Platform – The core of any solution; HP Exstream provides a complete platform for automation of
high-volume, interactive and on-demand documents.
• Data Sources – Customer and business data, document and content repositories, and other sources
of structured and unstructured data to be used in the solution.
• Business Applications – Vertical applications, such as insurance case management and agent-based
marketing systems; these may already exist within the business or may be new as part of the
planned solution.
• Business Process Management and Workflow – Especially for interactive documents, document
automation solutions typically require integration with business processes, case management or
document workflow systems.
• Directory and Security Services – The solution needs to leverage IT systems used for identification,
authentication, and authorization.
• Output Destinations – Once documents are generated they need to be delivered to the appropriate
destinations, print or electronic.
• IT Environment – The solution needs to support a number of different environments in order to align
with existing – and future – IT strategy.
Integrating these components with custom-built solutions (especially multiple, disconnected solutions)
represents significant costs and risk for the business.

Challenges
Businesses cannot afford the time, cost, risk, disruption and support headaches that come with
building custom solutions, especially solutions based on products from multiple vendors. Common
questions asked by each independent CCM project include:
• Can this business application interact with this document repository?
• Will this document workflow solution integrate with the single sign-on system?
• Will the team have to build software just to “glue” all of these components together?
• Is there in-house expertise?
• How reactive will the completed solution be when market conditions force changes?
• How hard will it be to expand later if, for example, another business is acquired?

A solid foundation
Fortunately, the HP Exstream platform, especially the integration layer, enables organizations to meet
these challenges head-on. The platform includes all of the core customer communications features and
services that your solution will need plus the tools and connectors you’ll need to integrate with all of
the external components in your solution.
In addition, HP Exstream Professional Services can help in all phases of solution design,
implementation, and deployment. These HP Exstream experts have extensive experience in building
customer communications solutions to significantly reduce cost, risk, and time to market. From

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 3
assessments and blueprints through implementation and support, these consultants know exactly how
to use the HP Exstream platform best in your environment to meet your needs.
The HP Exstream platform provides a number of real business and technical benefits:
• Unlike other solutions, the HP Exstream platform includes both core features and functionality and
the tools and services needed to easily integrate with external data, content and applications
• The HP Exstream platform supports multi-channel output, meaning you can generate print, email and
mobile outputs from a single software application.
• The integration layer includes a number of open technologies and supports a number of industry
standards making it even easier to integrate with external components. It can be easily extended to
provide seamless integration to practically any kind of system or data source. It includes full support
for service-oriented architecture (SOA) environments.
• The HP Exstream platform includes robust support for interactive, on-demand and structured (high-
volume) communications. You can use HP Exstream for all of your customer communications needs.
• HP Exstream delivers flexible access to all types of data and content. From older standards like
mainframe flat files to XML to reports generated by systems like SAP, HP Exstream can handle them
all. On top of that, the integration layer includes a content federation service that can connect to
diverse data and content systems while providing a single consistent interface for applications and
tools.
These and other features add up to strong alignment with your business and IT strategy out of the box
and in the future. If you need to add another system where customer data is stored, the solution can
easily adapt without having to spend time and resources updating individual templates or
applications. If you want to expand the system to include additional groups you have the ability to do
this without disruption for existing users.
The HP Exstream platform can grow with you into the future, all the while reducing risk, disruption,
time to market and costs.

THE HP EXSTREAM INTEGRATION LAYER

Components
The HP Exstream integration layer includes a number of different components. These components
provide customer communication solutions the ability to easily import data and content, deliver
customer communications, and integrate with external systems and business applications.
Since the HP Exstream platform includes this integration layer, businesses do not need to custom-build
these integrations and connectors, saving cost, time, and risk.
In this illustration, you can see the overall architecture of a documentation automation solution built
using the HP Exstream platform:

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 4
The components highlighted in green are part of the integration layer.
Here is a brief description of each of the components:
Component Description

Application Query AQS is a library service that allows real-time applications to query a package file and obtain a
Service (AQS) manifest of objects present in an HP Exstream application. The XML-based manifest presents a
hierarchical, property-centric overview of the documents, pages, campaigns, messages, sections,
paragraphs, variables, and rules included in the application. With AQS, this application information
can be used to drive user interactions and document processes in real time. Libraries for Java and
.NET platforms are provided.

Command Center HP Exstream Command Center enables job scheduling and production automation configured
specifically to HP Exstream application requirements. It provides an automation framework for high-
volume, on-demand, and interactive document applications, allowing operators and administrators to
plan, schedule, and optimize document production. Command Center users can perform tasks such
as:
• Manage jobs (including start, pause, restart, delete, cancel, resubmit, and more) from within an
easy-to-use browser-based UI
• Quickly set up new jobs by selecting from a library of predefined, commonly used job definition
templates
• Schedule job execution based on date and time, or triggered by system events such as the
completion of other jobs or the arrival of data files
• Manage execution of external programs related to HP Exstream processing
• Direct data or output to a local file system, print queue (LPR/LPD), FTP server, or JMS-compliant
message queue
• Automate job status information that can be sent to users or client integrated systems through
channels such as email, SMS, web services, JMS, and delivery queues

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 5
Dynamic Content Dynamic Content Import lets you insert external image and text files into documents at run time. This
Import is especially useful if your content changes often. Instead of continuously updating objects in the
library, you create placeholder variables that insert the contents of an external file from your
corporate network into the print stream.
With Dynamic Content Import, you can do the following:
• Import any CCITT G4 black-and-white TIFF image, Rich Text Format (RTF), or ASCII text file
• Import JPEG, grayscale and color TIFF, and LZW images if sending output to devices that natively
support these formats
• Use variable names to define what to import based on customer data

Dynamic Data DDA provides the connector architecture module for HP Exstream. DDA connects the HP Exstream
Access (DDA) production engine to any system or database in your enterprise infrastructure to collect data, update
data, write reports, or execute user-written routines. This allows HP Exstream to process transaction
data in real time, support encryption/decryption applications, and read or write to any corporate
database or application.
With DDA, you can choose to write your own connectors to your enterprise databases or systems, or
you can choose to license pre-built connectors for the following messaging technologies:
• IBM WebSphere Message Queue (MQ)
• Java Messaging Service (JMS)
• Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ)
• Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP)
• Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
• Short Message Service (SMS)

Email Delivery Email Delivery lets you communicate with customers by sending documents through email or by
sending Short Message Service (SMS) text messages. A platform-independent utility, the Email
Delivery module can be implemented as a DDA connector, or as a stand-alone executable program.
Production workflows can be customized to allow automated recovery, multiple sending attempts,
and the capture of extensive auditing information in communication logs.

IBM Content IBMCM Connector extracts content (for example, text, TIFF files, or other supported placeholder
Manager (IBMCM) variable types) from IBM Content Manager and then passes it to the engine to populate a
Connector placeholder variable. Open parameters control the behavior of IBMCM Connector.

IBM WebSphere WSMQ Connector lets the engine interact with the IBM WebSphere MQ enterprise messaging
MQ (WSMQ) software using user-written applications. IBM WebSphere MQ supports the following:
Connector
• Multiple correlation IDs (one input to multiple outputs)
• Sending messages to remote queues
• Simultaneous access by multiple engines
• Synchronous and asynchronous messaging

Java Messaging JMS Connector lets the engine communicate with JMS-compliant enterprise messaging software, such
Service (JMS) as Sun Java System MQ and IBM WebSphere MQ, using user-written routines. JMS Connector is
Connector part of the open J2EE platform, and can be used effectively for web applications, particularly
transaction processing. It supports the following:
• Multiple correlation IDs (one input to multiple outputs)
• Sending messages to remote queues
• Synchronous and asynchronous messaging

Live Application Live Application Library is a collection of tools (SDKs) and services that greatly simplifies and
Library accelerates the deployment of interactive document solutions. It offers a number of native, standards
(JCR, CMIS) and DDA-based two-way connectors to external data and content repositories (including
Live Repository), business process management and document workflow services (including Live
Workflow), business applications, and infrastructure services (such as directory and security services).
Live Application Library also includes a number of common services including a search and indexing
engine, robust fulfillment services (including tight integrations with EWS and Command Center), and
content federation with data services (a server-based version of DDA).

Live Repository Live Repository is a data and content repository that provides storage and management for
interactive document templates, work in progress, and other objects and data. This Java-based
component works best in conjunction with Live Application Library.

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 6
Live Workflow Live Workflow is a document workflow service that provides simple document process management
and orchestration. This Java-based component works best in conjunction with Live Repository and
Live Application Library.

Microsoft MQ MSMQ Connector lets the engine communicate with MSMQ messaging software using user-written
(MSMQ) Connector applications. MSMQ Connector supports multiple correlation IDs (one input to multiple outputs).

PDF Form Miner PDF Form Miner lets you extract data from PDF forms that use the XML Forms Architecture (XFA) to
integrate with your document applications. With PDF Form Miner, you can drag and drop HP
Exstream variables to PDF-XFA tag names using a visual data mapper, or you can use the built-in
XML auto-mapping feature of Design Manager. PDF Form Miner also lets you recreate the completed
form for records management regardless of format, including PDF/A format, AFP, or other standard
format.

PDF Form Pre-Fill PDF Form Pre-Fill lets you pre-fill and personalize existing PDF forms that use the XFA with customer
information available in other systems or data sources. With PDF Form Pre-Fill, you can drag and
drop HP Exstream variables to PDF-XFA tag names using a visual data mapper, or you can use the
built-in XML auto-mapping feature of Design Manager.
HP Exstream retrieves the form to be sent to the PDF output; the form’s fields can be filled in
automatically, so customers’ information can then be used to pre-populate their individual forms,
saving them time. After the prefilled PDF form is created, a user can edit it with Adobe Acrobat®.
After editing, the form can be re-introduced to HP Exstream through PDF Form Miner.

PDF Import as PDF Import as Image lets you include PDF content in a document as an image at run time for AFP,
Image Metacode, Composed XML, or any other output format that does not support native PDF or EPS files.
This is especially helpful for organizations that use numerous forms or marketing materials in PDF
format and want to incorporate them into applications at run time without reformatting them. With
PDF Import as Image, you can use placeholder variables to reference PDF file locations and create
rules that determine when to include or omit PDFs as images.

SOAP Connector SOAP Connector lets the engine communicate with user-written web services, regardless of how
and Engine as a those services were built.
Web Service (EWS)
EWS lets end users submit a SOAP request (containing customer driver file and other information)
over HTTP to start an engine run, compose one or more output types, and deliver the output (place on
server or return in response to user).

Watched Directory Watched Directory Connector monitors a directory for a specific file type, and, when it appears,
Connector Watched Directory passes data to the engine to create output in real time.

Web Services Web Services Interface allows HP Exstream applications to process data delivered by a web service
Interface during the document creation process. Additionally, content can be delivered to a web service for
archiving, notification purposes, or subsequent processing. You can also use the Web Services
Interface module to integrate interactive (DLF) files with your enterprise systems. With Web Services
Interface, you can configure URLs for test and production environments separately and can configure
documents to be produced inline or as an attachment. Web Services Interface supports HTTPS, SOAP
1.1, and SOAP 1.2 content specifications.

In addition to these components, the HP Exstream platform offers support for a number of output
formats including cutting edge and legacy print, web, and electronic output formats. HP Exstream also
offers support for multichannel output, allowing a single communication design to deliver channel-
optimized output for multiple formats as needed during production.

LIVE APPLICATION LIBRARY

When deploying solutions that include a heavy interactive document component, Live Application
Library can be used to accelerate and simplify project implementation. It provides the “glue” to
connect interactive documents in Live Editor with business applications and infrastructure; for
example, Live Application Library’s content federation and data services enables Live Editor to
connect to multiple external data sources without having to know how to directly connect to each one.

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 7
Live Application Library includes a comprehensive set of integration points and connectors to data
and content repositories, business applications, business process and document workflow systems,
and IT infrastructure such as directory and security services. These connectors are available as Java
APIs and web services and are available for open industry standards such as JCR, CMIS, and WS-
BPEL as well as native interfaces (for example, for Microsoft SharePoint).
Among the components offered with the HP Exstream platform are two that are optional: Live
Repository and Live Workflow. With these components and the connectors that are included with Live
Application Library, you have the flexibility to use your existing repository and/or workflow solutions
or use those components from HP Exstream.

Services
Live Application Library provides more than just simplified integration; it provides a number of
common services that are typically used in document automation solutions. These services include:
• Document Services – supports integrations with business applications and content repositories and
provides interactive document template storage and management, indexing and search, and
preview/thumbnail services.
• Content Federation and Data Services – provides a consistent interface for accessing external data
from Live Editor, including integration with security, greatly simplifying interactive document
development and Live Editor deployment.
• Document Workflow Abstraction Interface – provides a consistent interface for business applications
to access document workflow services through Live Application Library.
• Fulfillment Services – supports integrations with HP Exstream Design and Production engines,
typically through the Command Center or EWS components, and delivery through other protocols.
Fully customizable fulfillment pipelines are managed through these components.
• Auditing Services – provides services to track access and activity in the system for compliance and
security.

Customization and extensibility

Live Application Library is easily extended and customized. The architecture is designed to support
field-installed connectors and integrations (for example, with EntropySoft Connectors) and the
fulfillment pipeline functionality is very flexible and powerful.

Deployment options
Individual organizations have different needs. To accommodate this, Live Application Library is
flexible enough to support different deployment models.
When integrating the HP Exstream platform with business applications, there are three typical
scenarios:
• Embedded Deployment – In this scenario, an existing business application (such as a claims
management system) is extended to support interactive document workflow and processing through
the use of Live Application Library-provided interfaces. Live Application Library provides the
underlying integration with the overall HP Exstream environment and interactive document
management capabilities to create the solution. Some reasons for choosing this option include the
desire to continue using a single familiar user interface and an integration view of all application-
related activities, including interactive documents.

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 8
• Standalone Deployment – In this scenario, a new user interface / business application is developed
that is integrated with Live Application Library. Organizations typically choose this option where no
application already exists (or is being phased out).
• Linked Deployment – In this scenario, the Live Application Library is used to develop a standalone
interactive document solution, including a custom user interface application. This application is
separate from existing business applications. This is a viable option especially when embedded and
standalone deployments are not practical.
Live Application Library also supports two integration scenarios with business process or document
workflow solutions:
• Server Integration – In this scenario, native connectors are used in Live Application Library to
integrate with a document workflow server. The business application communicates with Live
Application Library to “drive” the document workflow server through defined processes. The
document workflow abstraction service can be used with server integrations.
• Client Integration – As you would expect, this is the opposite of server integration; the business
application communicates with the business process or document workflow server which “drives”
the processes and utilizes the Live Application Library services and interfaces as needed at each
step.
HP Exstream will work with you to determine the best scenario, architecture, and system design for
your organization.

Solution example
The following example illustrates an “embedded” deployment of the HP Exstream platform (including
Live Application Library). In this scenario, the organization has extended their Insurance Policy
Management solution based on Guidewire to support interactive documents. The existing application
already included business process and document workflow support, so client workflow integration is
utilized:

A typical individual interactive document workflow in this scenario could look something like this:

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 9
In this workflow:
1. As the appropriate step in the process is reached, a document template is presented to the user
by the business application (or the user selects the appropriate template from a list). The step
utilizes Live Repository (which stores the document templates) and the document services of Live
Application Library (which provides indexing, search and thumbnail functions).
2. Once the template is selected, Live Application Library starts an instance of Live Editor, pre-
populating some of the document fields based on information passed by the business application
and/or retrieved from external sources by Live Application Library.
3. Optionally, the user can save the document as a work in progress to continue at a later time. The
document is stored in Live Repository.
4. The user finishes editing the document and submits the document to the workflow. The document
is stored in Live Repository.
5. Logic in the workflow engine determines if approval is needed for this document. (The logic could
be based on information in the document or meta-data associated with the document, workflow,
or user, for example.)
6. If approval is needed, the manager is notified (for example, via email or in the business
application.)
7. When the manager reviews the document, it is retrieved from Live Repository and displayed in
Live Editor (by Live Application Library).
8. The manager approves or rejects the document in Live Editor or the business application.
9. If the manager rejects the document, the user is notified and can then edit the document further,
returning to step 2.
10. If the manager approves the document, or no approval is needed, the document is sent to
HP Exstream for fulfillment and delivery.
Note that the end-user experiences a familiar environment throughout the process (with the simple
exception of using Live Editor to work with the content of the interactive document); selecting the
document template and moving through the workflow is accomplished within Guidewire. This kind of
experience significantly reduces disruption, IT support calls, and training expenses.

Building Document Solutions with the HP Exstream Integration Layer – March 2011 10
 SUMMARY
The HP Exstream customer communications platform offers a strong set of features and functionality
that enables organizations to transform communications processes and realize reduced costs and
complexity, increased efficiency and productivity and increased revenue.
HP Exstream fully supports interactive, on-demand and high-volume structured customer
communications, giving organizations the flexibility to use a single solution for all of their document
and communications needs.
The HP Exstream platform includes powerful integration capabilities that accelerate deployment of
enterprise document automation solutions with lower cost, risk, disruption, and time to market while
enabling business flexibility by leveraging current IT investments, adapting to evolving infrastructure
and business needs, and enabling content and output from and to many sources in many formats.
The Live Application Library component can be the cornerstone of any solution that includes a
significant interactive document component. Not only does it simplify integration but it also provides a
number of common services needed by interactive document solutions and is flexible and extensible
enough to deliver the business value the organization needs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information or to schedule a demo, please contact your HP Exstream sales representative,
visit our website at www.hpexstream.com, or contact us at [email protected] or
(866) 318-5925.

© Copyright 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The

information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only
warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty
statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should
be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for
technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

Microsoft, Windows and SharePoint are U.S. registered trademarks of

Microsoft Corporation. Adobe Acrobat is a registered trademark of Adobe.
EntropySoft Connectors is a registered trademark of EntropySoft. Guidewire is
a registered trademark of Guidewire Software, Inc.

4AA3-4347ENW, April 2011