OpenText Communications (Exstream) Cloud Native is a containerized release, that lets customers run anywhere – in your organization’s own data center, hyperscaler of choice (AWS, Microsoft Azure, GPC, private or hybrid), and in the OpenText Cloud.
Component and architecture-wise, this release has undergone significant changes, compared to StreamServe and OpenText Exstream (Server-based). The containerized Exstream deployment includes the following components:
Design Manager/Designer/Design Engine – Windows-based desktop applications. Design Manager enables users to create and manage the design objects that make up a Design Manager application, including design templates, data files, variables, output, output queues, and the production equipment used by the Exstream engine to produce customer output. In addition, system administrators use Design Manager to perform administrative tasks such as managing users and design groups and defining design components.
DAS (Design Asset Service) – Provides users with the environment to design and modify communications and manage the production of customer outputs. The Exstream web client is the central user interface for interacting with DAS. The web client allows users to define tenants in their Exstream services, upload Exstream engines, and manage access permissions for users and domains. The web client also allows users to configure engine-run definitions for communication previews and manage assets in their DAS asset library. This component functions like the Common Asset Service (CAS) in the server-based edition of Exstream.
OpenText Directory Services (OTDS) – connects to DAS and the desktop environment for user authentication and access management.
Users can access the following web applications from the web client:
Communications Designer enables users to design communications in an intuitive, web-based design environment. Users can leverage data files and output queues created in design and production to create customer outputs from communications designed in Communications Designer. Additionally, users can create digital communications entirely in Exstream’s cloud-native environment without dependency on design and production.
Communications Orchestrator lets users create flow models and flow contexts for engine orchestration jobs that run the Exstream production engine to produce customer output.
Content Author lets authorized business users add content to pre-defined areas of designs that are created in Design and Production or Communications Designer without requiring designers to re-package their applications, while ensuring that the rest of the regulatory-approved language remains unchanged. Content Author communications can be fulfilled directly to produce customer output. In the below example, it’s the pink rectangle section.
Orchestration – Processes engine orchestration jobs that are configured in Communications Orchestrator. The service supports both on-demand (synchronous), and batch (asynchronous) processing of orchestration flows. The Orchestration service communicates with Document Generation to run the Exstream engine using different REST endpoints that invoke the on-demand or batch service as needed. Orchestration jobs that are triggered by the on-demand REST endpoint use the Document Generation on-demand service for processing. All other orchestration jobs invoke orchestration flows in batch mode, queuing the requests in an internal Rabbit messaging queue. Orchestration functions like Communications Server and Communications Builder in the Exstream 16.x platform.
OpenText Communications (Exstream) offers operational dashboards that provide real-time visibility into communication performance, enabling data-driven decision-making and faster issue resolution. Users can monitor all jobs in real-time, quickly identifying successful operations and failures. Custom status widgets allow for flexible time-based views, such as the last 24 hours, week, or month. In the event of a job failure, restarting it is simple. Additionally, the dashboard provides an overview of license usage (e.g. users, transactions) for better resource management. Everything is at your fingertips.
Document Generation – Manages the Exstream engine and includes the on-demand and batch services for handling synchronous and asynchronous engine processing, respectively. Communication preview requests from the web client always use the on-demand service for processing. When an engine run is initiated as part of an orchestration job, the processing method used depends on how the job was initiated. Results from on-demand engine runs are returned in a REST response for either immediate display as a preview, or for further processing as defined in the corresponding orchestration flows. Results from batch engine runs are asynchronously returned using the Rabbit queue to the Orchestration service for further flow processing.
Empower – Provides users with the environment to modify fully authored interactive documents generated from communications created in Design and Production or Communications Designer or updated in Content Author. This component contains the API that handles communication between the Empower backend resources and the Empower user interfaces, which include the Empower Editor and the Empower Server Console. Administrators can also use the console to configure system settings. Empower Editor is the browser-based interactive editor that lets end users update customer communications in a variety of ways. For example, end users can make selections from predefined options, change text and images, modify variable data, include additional documents and recipients, preview the communications, and then initiate the fulfillment process for their updated communication. Empower Server Console is the browser-based administrative interface for Empower that lets administrators view and manage Empower applications, documents, and editors.
Optional:
Rationalization – Provides the environment for users to import external PDFs and access the imported content in Communications Designer and Content Author.
Experience Insights integration – Manages sending event data for Exstream communications to OpenText Core Experience Insights (CXI), which allows organizations to map customer journeys and track customer activity for every event, across all customer journey touchpoints. When Experience Insights integration is enabled, event data from Exstream is sent to Core Experience Insights at regular intervals.
Upgrade from OpenText Exstream (server-based)
If you are currently utilizing OpenText Exstream (server-based) and would like to upgrade to OpenText Exstream (Cloud Native), there are migration tools available that will make your journey easier. Also, check out how the components, between the two releases, change to get a better understanding of what is staying and where to expect changes.
Upgrade from StreamServe
If you are currently using StreamServe (particularly StoryTeller) there even more migration tools available to make your transition easier. These tools are not part of the product. You can read more about StreamServe end of life and upgrade options.
Not sure where to start?
Start by reaching out to us and sharing details on your specific situation. Ecodocx is the #1 OpenText Exstream service partner. Our team has been focusing on this direction for over 25 years. There is a solution to each situation. Contact us today for a consultation or request a OpenText Exstream project estimate.