The Nexus Event-driven Message Bus Infrastructure
RWE, Europe’s largest energy trading organization worked with Digiterre to centralize master data across the UK business into a single storage solution, via a sophisticated event-driven message bus infrastructure and to centralize master data across its business into a single storage solution. Digiterre worked in partnership with the RWE Project Team to architect and implement the “Nexus” event-driven Enterprise Bus and Master Data Management system with the aims of reducing costs and deployment times and increasing standardization across the entire RWE trading business.
Project Goals
- Simplify the business architecture to promote better understanding, to reduce maintenance costs and to facilitate the implementation of change.
- Achieve a new level of standardisation across all areas of the business by implementing this new event-driven architecture in parallel with the implementation of Endur as the main energy trading risk management system.
- Create an easy-to-use framework which could be leveraged by the many different technical teams across RWE, to develop new adaptors for the multitude of systems, while maintaining consistent technical standards throughout.
Our Solution
- The sending and receiving of business data messages (e.g. Trades, Settlements, Power Station forecasts etc.) between different systems such as Trade Booking, Power, Gas Nomination and Risk was carried out in a common versioned format including xml.
- Re-use of the technology to initiate or receive integration messages, the minimization of vendor-specific code. Loosely coupled system components which reduces interdependence between systems.
- Strict versioning and governance over the common format to enable the chosen architecture to work effectively.
Key Benefits
- The number of integration points are reduced to a maximum of two per system (i.e. send and receive only) for each particular type. Previously if trades were sent to three systems there would be three independently developed connections. Now there is a single output from the source regardless of the number of systems receiving the information.
- The de-coupled nature of the system means that adding or removing a new input or consuming system does not require changes to other systems.
- Operational risk is reduced because the system is well known and standard practices (e.g. versioning) ensure that a change or enhancement to one flow does not break other integration flows.
- Technical staff can move more freely within the enterprise and leavers carry less risk, because of the standardization of the architectural approach.
- As a result of the project, RWE now have over one hundred integration points across multiple front, middle and back office systems, including, for example, trade booking.
In the words of our client
Nexus has been a great success for RWEST and it is the accepted strategic data integration solution. Working in partnership with Digiterre over the duration of this program of work has been very rewarding because they really worked to understand the detailed need of the business and then delivered well and fast – while transferring knowledge to our in-house teams along the way.
David Campbell-Montgomery and Pam Holley
Head of IT and Project Manager
Get in touch
If you would like to find out more, or want to discuss your current challenges with one of the team, please get in touch.