ANGEL XEI Agent Framework

The ANGEL Extended Enterprise Integration (XEI) Agent Framework is a proven software and implementation services framework that connects ANGEL to other campus systems such as student information systems, enrollment management, or authentication/authorization services. The software framework provides several methods for integration and a scheduling interface helps automate these tasks.  The integration services piece of the package walks you through the framework of data validation and mapping to ensure the integration is successful. ANGEL XEI reduces the amount of work required for administrators to keep systems in sync by automating and scheduling data transfers. 

SIS Integration

The ANGEL XEI Agent Framework automates the interchange of data between your Student Information System (SIS) and ANGEL LMS. With XEI, course and user data used in ANGEL, including account data and course enrollment drops and adds, can be updated when changes are made in the SIS by scheduling data transactions. The benefits of ANGEL XEI include:

• Reduces data integration costs and increases reliability and accuracy by eliminating manual steps.
• Reduces operating costs by enabling integration to ANGEL from more than one source database, automatically keeping your databases synchronized.
• Reduces maintenance costs and disruption as ANGEL and your other databases change.
• Built on the IMS Enterprise XML standard, enabling integration with all major systems.
• Dedicated services designed to help your integration project succeed.

Integration with Multiple Sources

ANGEL XEI allows for flexibility in data management by supporting connections to a variety of common data sources, including:

• ODBC & SQL based data sources
• Flat file & XML file imports
• Web service-based integrations

ANGEL XEI integrations can be scheduled to happen automatically and web service-based integrations can be near real time, allowing for faster processing and smaller chunks of data being transported.  ANGEL’s Implementation and Support team has helped many organizations integrate using ANGEL XEI, and has developed a framework for effectively mapping data between systems including SunGard SCT Banner, Oracle (Peoplesoft), Datatel, and others.

Data Validation and Logging

ANGEL XEI also provides a robust exception handling system. The system tracks all information for jobs that run or for immediately processed jobs.  If there are errors, the administrator is notified that the data has failed to integrate, and detailed error tracking can help the administrator diagnose problems. Data is automatically archived so that it can be retrieved if there are errors or the data is needed elsewhere. Message Broker agents can be set up to validate that messages are coming from a trusted source. Messages can also be run over SSL to allow data to be encrypted. 

ANGEL Hosted Environments

Organizations that are hosted in the ANGEL Secure Data Center can securely connect to their enterprise data. They can push data through the XEI Web Service using SSL, or they can use secure FTP to transport data files which will be mapped through to the ANGEL database.  This flexibility is important for schools that want to have options in how they deploy their teaching and learning systems.   

Agent Based Interface

Often, integration frameworks require the use of command line utilities, format files, or programming, but ANGEL XEI uses a different approach. ANGEL XEI takes the power of ANGEL Agents and applies them to enterprise data integration. The same agent technology that faculty can use to automate their work is available to administrators for automating routine data administration tasks.

ANGEL XEI is managed within the ANGEL Administrator Console.  Administrators configure their data source using the XEI Agent Wizard.  Source data can be mapped between source fields and ANGEL fields, or can be mapped to custom fields or groups of fields.  All data in XEI is processed through the same business objects that manage data within the standard ANGEL interfaces, meaning the data is validated for required fields, leading to more accurate data in the ANGEL system. 

Case Study

See how North Iowa Area Community College uses ANGEL Extended Enterprise Integration (XEI) to automate the data interchange between Datatel and the ANGEL LMS. Automating the tasks keeps the Datatel SIS and the ANGEL LMS in sync and saves the college "all kinds of time."