Alternatives

This page contains some alternatives to SWS.
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Alternatives

There are a few alternatives to our SWS solution. Let’s see how they compare.

What is the SWS Alternative?

The alternative to SWS involves a complicated blend of customized PeopleSoft web services, each designed for specific clients. Alterations are difficult and costly, necessitating thorough testing.

  • Sprawling APIs
  • Inconsistent syntax
  • Long development times
  • High Costs

Title: The SWS Alternative! Web Service Sprawl!

Package "PeopleSoft" {


  rectangle "Terms" as rec.terms #FFD3B0
  rectangle "Student Bio data" as rec.students #FFD3B0
  rectangle "Student Grades" as rec.grades #FFD3B0
  rectangle "Student Enrollment" as rec.se #FFD3B0
  rectangle "Invoices" as rec.invoices #FFD3B0

  rectangle "Terms\nWeb Service" as ib.rec.terms #FF6969
  rectangle "Student Bio data\nWeb Service" as ib.rec.students #FF6969 
  rectangle "Student Grades\nWeb Service" as ib.rec.grades #FF6969
  rectangle "Student Enrollment\nWeb Service" as ib.rec.se #FF6969
  rectangle "Invoices\nWeb Service" as ib.rec.invoices #FF6969


  ib.rec.terms -d-> rec.terms
  ib.rec.students -d-> rec.students
  ib.rec.grades -d-> rec.grades
  ib.rec.se -d-> rec.se

  ib.rec.invoices -d-> rec.invoices
}


rectangle "LMS Integration Partner" as client #A6D0DD
rectangle "Student Success\nIntegration Partner" as client2 #A6D0DD
rectangle "Payment\nIntegration Partner" as client3 #A6D0DD

client -d-> ib.rec.terms
client -d-> ib.rec.students
client -d-> ib.rec.grades
client -d-> ib.rec.se


client2 -d--> ib.rec.students
client2 -d-> ib.rec.grades
client2 -d-> ib.rec.se

client3 -d-> ib.rec.invoices

Traditional PeopleSoft Web Service Development Cycle

Alternatively, you can task a developer to create a new web service for each user request. If a vendor commissioned the PeopleSoft application team to develop a new web service, the following process would likely be followed. This assumes you are a medium to large organization with a formal development process.

We know the exact cost and time to develop new services because have published an open book in PeopleSoft Integration Broker

Task Minimum Estimated Person Hours Maximum Estimated Person Hours
Gather Requirements 5 10
Write a technical specification 5 10
Technical Design Review 2 10
Create and unit test code 8 40
Functional Testing 8 40
Code Review 2 10
Code Migration 2 4
Bug Fixes 4 10
Totals 36 Hours - $3,600 @ $100/Hour 130 Hours - $13,000 @ $100/Hour
  • If you value your developer’s time at roughly $100 an hour. Then the cost to develop a new web service is somewhere between $3,600 and $13,000.
  • With SWS, that amount can be drastically reduced. In some case, it can take just a few minutes to create a new web service and have it deployed in production.

Query Access Web Services

We have an KB article called Reporting Web Services: Using the REST Web Services to run a Query which demonstrates how you can make a “web service” out of a PeopleSoft query manager query. This can be an effective tool to generate web services.

However, the SWS offers many advantages over this delivered functionality.

  • You have better control over the field names in the output.
  • SWS offers more output encoding type
  • The PeopleSoft query tool imposes unneeded complexity with data security and query tree security that often just gets in the way.
  • SWS supports more advanced SQL and you are not forced into the SQL generated by query manager.