System and method for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0001The present invention relates generally to aggregating data from enterprise's backend systems. More particularly, the present invention provides a system and method for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0002With the advancements in communication technology and ever expanding businesses, the amount of business data that has to be managed has increased manifold. It is critical for the enterprises and businesses to timely provide the business data to employees so that the employees make effective and well informed business decisions. It is also necessary for the enterprises to ensure that employees are able to access the business data from anywhere and at anytime in a convenient manner.

0003Conventionally, various systems and methods exist for providing business data and enterprise applications to the employees. For example, enterprises provide the business data and enterprise applications to the employees through mobile devices. The enterprises use middleware frameworks to extract the business data from the enterprise systems and convert the extracted data to mobile-compatible format. However, these middleware frameworks can be used only for a specific enterprise application. As a result, the enterprises require new middleware framework whenever a new enterprise application is developed. Also, the existing middleware frameworks are not designed to capture data context and are, therefore, unable to present data in a readily consumable format on the mobile devices. In addition, aligning data in a suitable format requires a lot of development effort thereby increasing time to launch the enterprise applications. Furthermore, the existing middleware frameworks do not capture business rules for validating the extracted business data. Consequently, the mobile devices are dependent on network connectivity for validating the business data. In addition, the existing middleware frameworks do not filter the extracted business data which makes the enterprise applications slow on low bandwidth network. Also, existing middleware frameworks are dependent on network connectivity and do not support caching of business data on the mobile devices due to which data is not available if connection with the enterprise systems is not established. This causes data integrity issues and latest information is not timely available to end users.

0004In light of the above, there is a need for an efficient system and method for aggregating and providing data from one or more enterprise systems to mobile devices. Further, there is a need for a system and method that combines the aggregated data with contextual information and provides latest information to one or more end users to take critical decisions. Furthermore, there is a need for a system and method that stores the business data locally at the mobile devices thereby removing network dependency for accessing the business data. Also, there is a need for a system and method that presents the aggregated data in a contextually suitable format on the mobile devices. In addition, there is a need for a system and method that captures business rules for validating the aggregated data. Further, there is a need for a system and method that is cost and time efficient, improves employee efficiency and facilitates effective decision making.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0005A system and computer-implemented method for aggregating and providing data from one or more enterprise systems to one or more mobile devices is provided. The system comprises one or more enterprise systems configured to store data pertaining to one or more enterprises. The system further comprises a middleware server, in communication with one or more mobile devices, configured to connect with the one or more enterprise systems based on a predefined information architecture. Further, the middleware server is configured to extract the data from the one or more connected enterprise systems. Furthermore, the middleware server is configured to transform the extracted data into one or more mobile compatible formats. In addition, the middleware server is configured to send the transformed data to the one or more mobile devices. The system further comprises one or more mobile devices configured to locally store and render the transformed data.

0006In an embodiment of the present invention, the middleware server is further configured to define one or more business rules and one or more generic rules. In an embodiment of the present invention, the middleware server is further configured to send at least one of: the one or more defined business rules and the one or more defined generic rules to the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the transformed data is sent to the one or more mobile devices after applying the one or more defined business rules and the one or more defined generic rules.

0007In an embodiment of the present invention, each of the one or more mobile devices comprises a client Software Development Kit (SDK) configured to receive the transformed data, the one or more defined business rules and the one or more defined generic rules from the middleware server. The client SDK is further configured to render the transformed data on the one or more mobile devices by applying the one or more defined generic rules and one or more contextual rules. Furthermore, the client SDK is configured to facilitate one or more end users to update the rendered data. In addition, the client SDK is configured to validate the rendered data using the one or more received business rules. Also, the client SDK is configured to synchronize the updated data with data present on the middleware server.

0008In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more contextual rules are created by capturing at least one of: device context parameters, application context parameters, rules context parameters and security context parameters and further wherein the one or more contextual rules facilitate rendering contextually relevant data on the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, rendering the transformed data on the one or more mobile devices further comprises rendering additional information along with the transformed data, wherein the additional information comprises at least one of: data associated with mobile device functionalities and data from one or more external sources.

0009In an embodiment of the present invention, the middleware server transforms the extracted data by parsing the extracted data and processing the parsed data to obtain the one or more mobile compatible formats. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more mobile compatible formats include at least a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.

0010The computer-implemented method for aggregating and providing data from one or more enterprise systems to one or more mobile devices, via program instructions stored in a memory and executed by a processor, comprises connecting one or more enterprise systems to a middleware server based on a predefined information architecture. The computer-implemented method further comprises extracting data from the one or more connected enterprise systems. Furthermore, the computer-implemented method comprises transforming the extracted data into one or more mobile compatible formats. In addition, the computer-implemented method comprises sending the transformed data to the one or more mobile devices. Also, the computer-implemented method comprises storing and rendering the transformed data on the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the computer-implemented method further comprises defining one or more business rules and one or more generic rules. In an embodiment of the present invention, the computer-implemented method further comprises the step of sending the one or more business rules and the one or more generic rules to the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the transformed data is sent to the one or more mobile devices after applying the one or more defined business rules and the one or more defined generic rules.

0011In an embodiment of the present invention, the computer-implemented method further comprises receiving the transformed data, the one or more business rules and the one or more generic rules by the one or more mobile devices. Furthermore, the computer-implemented method comprises rendering the transformed data by applying the one or more generic rules and one or more contextual rules. The computer-implemented method also comprises facilitating one or more end users to update the rendered data. In addition, the computer-implemented method comprises validating the rendered data using the one or more received business rules. The computer-implemented method further comprises synchronizing the updated data with data present on the middleware server.

0012In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more contextual rules are created by capturing at least one of: device context parameters, application context parameters, rule context parameters and security context parameters by the one or more mobile devices and further wherein the one or more contextual rules facilitate rendering contextually relevant data on the one or more mobile devices.

0013In an embodiment of the present invention, rendering the transformed data comprises rendering additional information along with the transformed data, wherein the additional information comprises at least one of: data associated with mobile device functionalities and data from one or more external systems. In an embodiment of the present invention, the rendered data is validated using the one or more received business rules. In an embodiment of the present invention, the step of transforming the extracted data comprises parsing the extracted data and processing the parsed data to obtain the one or more mobile compatible formats.

0014A computer program product for aggregating and providing data from one or more enterprise systems to one or more mobile devices is provided. The computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable program code stored thereon, the computer-readable program code comprising instructions that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to connect one or more enterprise systems to a middleware server based on a predefined information architecture. The processor further extracts data from the one or more connected enterprise systems. Furthermore, the processor transforms the extracted data into one or more mobile compatible formats. In addition, the processor sends the transformed data to the one or more mobile devices. Also, the processor stores and renders the transformed data on the one or more mobile devices.

0015A system for aggregating and providing data from one or more enterprise systems to one or more mobile devices is provided. The system comprises a Central Processing and Design Module (CPDM) configured to connect with the one or more enterprise systems based on a predefined information architecture. The system further comprises an integration server, in communication with the CPDM, configured to extract the data from the one or more connected enterprise systems. Furthermore, the system comprises a transformation engine, within the CPDM, configured to transform the extracted data into one or more mobile compatible formats. In addition, the system comprises a cache server, in communication with the CPDM, configured to send the transformed data to the one or more mobile devices, wherein the one or more mobile devices are configured to locally store and render the transformed data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

0016The present invention is described by way of embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

0017<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a block diagram illustrating a system for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

0018<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a detailed block diagram of a middleware server for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

0019<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a detailed block diagram of a mobile device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

0020<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 4A and 4B</figref> represent a flowchart illustrating a method for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

0021<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> illustrates an exemplary computer system for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

0022A system and method for aggregating and providing data from one or more enterprise systems to mobile devices is described herein. The invention provides for a system and method that seamlessly connects to the one or more enterprise systems, aggregates data from the one or more enterprise systems, supplements the aggregated data with information from one or more external systems and provides the aggregated data and the supplemental information in a mobile compatible format to enable one or more end users to take critical decisions. The invention further provides for a system and method that captures data context and presents the data in a readily consumable format. The invention provides for a system and method that captures business rules for validating the aggregated data. Furthermore, the invention provides for a system and method that selectively filters the extracted data to provide relevant data to the end user and save network bandwidth. Also, the invention provides for a system and method that allows caching of data which when combined with contextual data provides latest information which is more valuable to the end users.

0023The following disclosure is provided in order to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention. Exemplary embodiments are provided only for illustrative purposes and various modifications will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art. The general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Also, the terminology and phraseology used is for the purpose of describing exemplary embodiments and should not be considered limiting. Thus, the present invention is to be accorded the widest scope encompassing numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents consistent with the principles and features disclosed. For purpose of clarity, details relating to technical material that is known in the technical fields related to the invention have not been described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention.

0024The present invention would now be discussed in context of embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

0025<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a block diagram illustrating a system for aggregating and providing data from one or more enterprise systems to one or more mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The system <b>100</b> comprises one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b>, a middleware server <b>104</b> and one or more mobile devices <b>106</b>.

0026The one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> are backend systems that support business processes, information flows, reporting and data analytics of an enterprise. The one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> are configured to store data pertaining to one or more enterprises. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> include, but not limited to, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and enterprise servers and databases. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> are connected to the middleware server <b>104</b>.

0027The middleware server <b>104</b> is configured to connect and aggregate the data from the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b>. The middleware server <b>104</b> is further configured to provide the aggregated data to the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, the middleware server <b>104</b> resides in a cloud computing environment (not shown). In another embodiment of the present invention, the middleware server <b>104</b> is a physical server. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the middleware server <b>104</b> is designed using Node.js Stack and Mongo DB.

0028In an embodiment of the present invention, the middleware server <b>104</b> comprises an integration server configured to extract the data from the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b>. The middleware server <b>104</b> also comprises a transformation engine which transforms the aggregated data into a mobile compatible format. The middleware server <b>104</b> further comprises a cache server which temporarily stores the transformed data. The transformed data is then pushed and stored locally in a database within the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, storing the transformed data within the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> facilitates in removing dependency on network connectivity with respect to the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) when one or more end users need to access the transformed data. The stored transformed data is rendered on the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more end users are employees of the enterprise that need to access the transformed data on one or more enterprise applications via the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> include, but not limited to, smartphones, tablets, smart watches, wearable computing devices, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and blackberry.

0029In various embodiments of the present invention, the system <b>100</b> can be designed and customized for various organizations and industries including, but not limited to, insurance, banking, retail, utilities and manufacturing.

0030<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a detailed block diagram of the middleware server for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The middleware server <b>200</b> comprises an administrator interface <b>202</b>, a Central Processing and Design Module (CPDM) <b>204</b>, an integration server <b>206</b>, a cache server <b>208</b>, a rules engine <b>210</b>, a logger <b>212</b>, a data access layer <b>214</b>, a database server <b>216</b>, a security gateway <b>218</b> and an access manager <b>220</b>.

0031The administrator interface <b>202</b> is configured to provide options to one or more administrators to define information architecture, one or more enterprise services and one or more rules. Further, the information architecture provides logical structure to the data required on the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) associated with the one or more defined enterprise services and the one or more defined rules to facilitate extracting and providing the data to the one or more end users via one or more enterprise applications. Furthermore, the information architecture maps information and attributes to a specific enterprise service and enterprise application which can be accessed by a specific group of end users on the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the one or more administrators defines the information architecture such that the one or more end users such as, but not limited to, sales executive of the enterprise is provided with customer details extracted from a backend CRM system of the enterprise. Further, the sales executive may access the customer details via a specific enterprise application customized for use and access by sales executives on the mobile device <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>).

0032The CPDM <b>204</b> is configured to set up and connect the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) with the middleware server <b>200</b> based on the defined information architecture. Further, the CPDM <b>204</b> also facilitates the one or more administrators to create, configure and customize the one or more defined rules. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more defined rules comprise one or more business rules and one or more generic rules.

0033The one or more business rules are used for validating the data. The one or more generic rules are used for, but not limited to, generating presentation layer, compressing data, filtering data, changing data synchronization priorities based on bandwidth availability, extending enterprise applications and mobile device capabilities, facilitating interaction between two or more enterprise applications and two or more mobile devices using the enterprise application, invoking one enterprise application through another enterprise application and passing information between two or more enterprise applications.

0034The CPDM <b>204</b> is further configured to facilitate the one or more administrators to build user interface of the one or more enterprise applications and ensure appropriate representation of the data on the one or more enterprise applications. In an embodiment of the present invention, the CPDM <b>204</b> provides one or more presentation templates for suitable representation of different types of data on the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more administrators associate the one or more presentation templates to objects and data model. In another embodiment of the present invention, the one or more administrators select a presentation template for the one or more enterprise applications via the administrator interface <b>202</b>. Further, the CPDM <b>204</b> facilitates the one or more administrators to create and configure the one or more generic rules for presentation layer generation via the administrator interface <b>202</b>. The presentation templates are used for building the presentation layer and suitably rendering the data on the presentation layer using the one or more generic rules for presentation layer generation. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more generic rules related to presentation layer generation include rules related to, but not limited to, role based presentation layer components, interface layout, device specific layout and data plan specific layout. In an embodiment of the present invention, rules related to data plan specific layout facilitate rendering the data in a suitable layout on the mobile device based on the type of data plan used by the mobile device. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, if the mobile device is connected to a high bandwidth network then the data is presented on the mobile device using rich user interface components.

0035The integration server <b>206</b> is configured to extract the data from the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) connected to the middleware server <b>200</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, the integration server <b>206</b> extracts the data based on one or more triggers associated with the one or more enterprise services. In an embodiment of the present invention, the integration server <b>206</b> extracts the data using web service. The CPDM <b>204</b> then transforms the extracted data into a mobile compatible format using a transformation engine (not shown) and a parser (not shown). The parser (not shown) parses the extracted data. The parsed data is then processed by the transformation engine (not shown) to obtain the one or more mobile compatible formats. In an embodiment of the present invention, the extracted data is converted into JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format by the transformation engine (not shown).

0036The cache server <b>208</b> is an intermediate server configured to maintain cache for the transformed data received from the CPDM <b>204</b>. Further, the cache server <b>208</b> facilitates in pushing the transformed data and the one or more defined rules to the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the transformed data is sent to the one or more mobile devices after applying the one or more defined rules. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the cache server <b>208</b> pushes the transformed data to the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) in the JSON format through a Representational State Transfer (REST) protocol. In an embodiment of the present invention, the cache server <b>208</b> pushes the transformed data and the one or more rules to the one or more mobile devices based on a request from the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>).

0037In an embodiment of the present invention, the cache server <b>208</b> maintains synchronization state for data records with the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). The data record may be synchronized with the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) by the cache server <b>208</b>. Further, the synchronization state is verified and updated by the cache server <b>208</b> at the time of synchronizing data with the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>).

0038In an embodiment of the present invention, the administrator interface <b>202</b> provides options to the one or more administrators to configure cache expiry interval and cache purging interval for the cache server <b>208</b>. The cache expiry interval and cache purging interval facilitate in clearing the data on the cache server <b>208</b> and the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) at predefined intervals. In an embodiment of the present invention, the cache expiry and cache purging intervals are associated with the data and are configured by the one or more administrators. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the one or more administrator may configure cache expiry time as 6:00 P.M. such that all the data on the cache server and the one or more mobile devices is either temporarily or permanently deleted at 6:00 PM. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more administrators, via the administrator interface <b>202</b>, may purge the data on at least one of: the cache server <b>208</b> and the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the inbuilt logical relationship of different attributes associated with the transformed data ensures that when the data is purged for one of the attributes then it is automatically purged for all related data sets to ensure data integrity and data security.

0039The rules engine <b>210</b> is configured to facilitate storing the one or more business rules defined by the one or more administrators. The one or more business rules stored in the rules engine <b>210</b> are configurable, customizable and extendable for the one or more enterprise applications. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more administrators may configure and customize the one or more business rules for a new enterprise application via the administrator interface <b>202</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>210</b> facilitates pushing the one or more business rules to the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) via the cache server <b>208</b>. At the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>), the pushed one or more rules reside as rules templates and are used for validating the transformed data.

0040The rules engine <b>210</b> also stores the one or more generic rules defined by the one or more administrators via the CPDM <b>204</b>. The cache server <b>208</b> communicates with the rules engine <b>210</b> for accessing the one or more generic rules that are applied to the transformed data prior to sending the transformed data to the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>210</b> compresses and filters the transformed data by applying the one or more generic rules stored in the rules engine <b>210</b>. The rules engine <b>210</b> uses one or more compression techniques for compressing the transformed data. In another embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>210</b> selectively filters the transformed data to facilitate the cache server <b>208</b> to only send the transformed data that is requested or required by the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>).

0041In an embodiment of the present invention, generic rules related to data synchronization facilitate the cache server <b>208</b> in sending only compressed and filtered data to the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) when the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) are connected using low bandwidth network. In another embodiment of the present invention, generic rules related to data synchronization facilitate the cache server <b>208</b> in sending bulky data to the one or more mobile devices when the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) are connected using high bandwidth network.

0042In an embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>210</b> facilitates the one or more administrators to create and push one or more offline checklists to the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) via the administrator interface <b>202</b>. The one or more offline checklists are prerequisites associated with the one or more enterprise services. The offline checklists facilitate in reducing errors and improving employee productivity.

0043The logger <b>212</b> is configured to maintain a log of all transactions between various components of middleware server <b>200</b> and track all the transactions and data flow. The logger <b>212</b> also captures various requests and responses provided by various services involved in the data flow. In an embodiment of the present invention, the logger <b>212</b> facilitates the one or more administrators in tracking flow failure which further facilitates troubleshooting.

0044The data access layer <b>214</b> is configured to maintain and facilitate access to data stored in the database server <b>216</b>. The data stored in the database server <b>216</b> includes, but not limited to, rules, data manifests and user interface (UI) templates. In an embodiment of the present invention, the data is stored in non-relational format and de-normalized form in multiple servers within the database server <b>216</b> and is pulled as and when required through data access layer <b>214</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, the data access layer <b>214</b> uses one or more Application Programming Interfaces (API) for communicating with the various components of the middleware server <b>200</b>.

0045The database server <b>216</b> stores the extracted data from the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) and transactional data associated with the middleware server <b>200</b>. The database server is accessed by various components of the middleware server <b>200</b> through data access layer <b>214</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, the database server <b>216</b> also acts as the cache server <b>208</b>.

0046The security gateway <b>218</b> is configured to ensure security of all the data during transit and storage. The security gateway <b>218</b> also controls incoming and outgoing network traffic and data exchange. The security gateway <b>218</b> employs various security measures including, but not limited to, encrypting data in offline storage, encrypting data during transfers, using token based approach for information exchange, checking for malicious content and object tags, forbidding requests containing malicious content and object tags, handling Distributed Denial-Of-Service (DDOS) attacks, Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks, using Secure Shell (SSH) protocol for authentication, using OAuth 2.0 based protocol, using encrypted transport for selected fields, using SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) and Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) for secure file transfers, implementing digital certificate based data transfer techniques, providing role based authorization, implementing time bound data expiration and role based data expiration and implementing field specific encrypted data store.

0047The access manager <b>220</b> is configured to authorize and authenticate individuals, applications and systems requesting access to the middleware server <b>200</b>. The access manager <b>206</b> is further configured to authenticate and authorize the one or more end users to access the transformed data via the one or more enterprise applications on the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the access manager <b>220</b> integrates with Enterprise Identity Management (EIM) system of the enterprise.

0048<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a detailed block diagram of the mobile device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The mobile device <b>300</b> comprises a mobile application <b>302</b> having a client Software Development Kit (SDK) <b>304</b> which communicates with the middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>).

0049The mobile application <b>302</b> is configured to provide one or more options to the one or more end users to access and update the transformed data received by the mobile device <b>300</b> from the middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more end users send requests to the middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>) for receiving the transformed data via the mobile application <b>302</b>. In another embodiment of the present invention, the mobile application <b>302</b> facilitates the one or more end users to configure cache expiry interval and cache purging interval for the cache server <b>208</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the mobile application <b>302</b> is an enterprise application provided by the enterprise to facilitate the one or more end users to access enterprise data.

0050The client SDK <b>304</b> residing within the mobile application <b>302</b> facilitates interaction with the middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). The client SDK <b>304</b> further comprises a database <b>306</b> and a rules engine <b>308</b>.

0051The database <b>306</b> is configured to receive the transformed data from the cache server <b>208</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). Further, the database <b>306</b> serves as a local repository within the mobile device <b>300</b> and stores the received data. Furthermore, the one or more end users can view and update the received data via the mobile application <b>302</b> even when the mobile device <b>300</b> is not connected to the network. The database <b>306</b> also facilitates synchronizing the updated data with data present on the middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>) when the mobile device <b>300</b> connects to the network (not shown). The middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>) further synchronizes with the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the database <b>306</b> synchronizes the updated data with the middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>) by sending asynchronous updates. In an embodiment of the present invention, the database <b>306</b> maintains synchronization information and status. The synchronization information and status are used by the database <b>306</b> for recognizing expired cache.

0052The rules engine <b>308</b> is configured to receive the one or more business rules and the one or more generic rules from the rules engine <b>210</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>) via the cache server <b>208</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more business rules reside as rules templates within the rules engine <b>308</b>. Further, the stored rules templates create dynamic business data validation rules for validating the transformed data received from the cache server <b>208</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>) by the database <b>306</b>. The dynamic business data validation rules facilitate validating the transformed data on the mobile device <b>300</b> thereby ensuring that the mobile application <b>302</b> need not send data validation requests to the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). Also, the transformed data is validated even when the mobile device <b>300</b> is not connected to the network (not shown) thereby removing dependency on network connectivity with respect to the one or more enterprise systems <b>102</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>). In an embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>308</b> along with the database <b>306</b> maintains update details, data synchronization priorities, data synchronization sequence and state of the mobile device's storage.

0053The rules engine <b>308</b> is further configured to generate presentation layer for the mobile application <b>302</b> using the one or more generic rules related to presentation layer generation and the one or more presentation templates. In an embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>308</b> facilitates in rendering the transformed data in a readily consumable format on the one or more enterprise applications by applying the one or more defined generic rules and one or more contextual rules. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>308</b> applies rich user interface components if the mobile device <b>300</b> is connected to a high bandwidth network based on a corresponding rule related to presentation layer generation. In another embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>308</b> generates page layout based on the type of mobile device <b>300</b> used by the one or more end users using a corresponding rule related to the layout of the presentation layer.

0054The rules engine <b>308</b> augments additional information associated with various mobile device functionalities such as, but not limited to, Global Positioning System (GPS), augmented reality, camera and maps with the transformed data received from the middleware server <b>200</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>) and renders on the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) to facilitate the one or more end users in effective decision making. In an embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>308</b> also captures device context parameters, application context parameters, rule context parameters and security context parameters to create one or more contextual rules. The one or more contextual rules are used by the client SDK <b>304</b> to provide contextually relevant transformed data to the one or more end users. The one or more contextual rules also facilitate the developer to optimally leverage device capabilities with minimal coding efforts.

0055In an embodiment of the present invention, the device context parameters include, but not limited to, device location, device coordinates, distance from specified location, time zone, device type, device Operating System (OS), device OS version, device manufacturer, device International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, device ID, device usage, network type and network carrier. In an embodiment of the present invention, the application context parameters include, but not limited to, changing application behavior based on runtime rules or configuration. In an embodiment of the present invention, the rule context parameters include, but not limited to, executing/blocking a rule based on another rule. In an embodiment of the present invention, the security context parameters include, but not limited to, status of the device as blacklisted or whitelisted and number of requests from the device. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more contextual rules include, but not limited to, enabling or disabling application functionalities based on device location, device type and device OS, prioritizing data synchronization based on device network connectivity, enabling or disabling application libraries based on device type and device OS and performing one or more actions based on device location.

0056In an embodiment of the present invention, the rules engine <b>308</b> supplements the transformed data with additional information from one or more external systems such as, but not limited to, World Wide Web and renders on the one or more mobile devices <b>106</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) to provide more meaningful information to the one or more end users. In an embodiment of the present invention, the additional information from the one or more external systems include, but not limited to, maps, weather updates, traffic updates, stock updates and web queries.

0057<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 4A and 4B</figref> represent a flowchart illustrating a method for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0058At step <b>402</b>, one or more administrators define an information architecture, one or more rules and one or more enterprise services. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more administrators include, but not limited to, system analysts and developers. The information architecture provides logical structure to data associated with the one or more defined enterprise services and the one or more defined rules to facilitate extracting and providing the data to one or more end users on the one or more mobile devices.

0059In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more end users include, but not limited to, employees of an enterprise. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more end users avail the one or more enterprise services and access the data from one or more enterprise systems via one or more enterprise applications on the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more mobile devices include, but not limited to, smartphones, tablets, smart watches, wearable computing devices, laptops, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and blackberry.

0060At step <b>404</b>, the one or more enterprise systems associated with the one or more enterprise services are connected to a middleware server based on the defined information architecture. The one or more enterprise systems store data pertaining to one or more enterprises. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more enterprise systems include, but not limited to, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) systems, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and Enterprise servers and databases.

0061At step <b>406</b>, the data is extracted from the one or more connected enterprise systems by the middleware server. In an embodiment of the present invention, the data is extracted based on one or more triggers associated with the one or more enterprise services. At step <b>408</b>, the extracted data is transformed into a mobile compatible format. In an embodiment of the present invention, the step of transformation comprises parsing the extracted data. The parsed data is then processed to obtain the appropriate mobile compatible format. In an embodiment of the present invention, the extracted data is transformed to a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format. Once the extracted data is transformed, the transformed data is temporarily stored in an intermediate server.

0062At step <b>410</b>, the one or more defined rules are applied to the transformed data. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more defined rules are applied to the transformed data to send relevant data to the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more defined rules comprise one or more business rules. The one or more business rules are used for validating the data. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more business rules facilitate pushing relevant data based on role and position of the one or more end users in the enterprise. In an exemplary embodiment, customer details of a specific region are pushed to the mobile devices of the customer executives of the specific region only and are not pushed to the mobile devices of customer executives of other regions based on the one or more business rules.

0063At step <b>412</b>, the transformed data and the one or more defined rules are pushed to the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the transformed data and the one or more defined rules are pushed based on a request from the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the transformed data and the one or more defined rules are pushed using a Representational State Transfer (REST) protocol. Further, the one or more mobile devices receive and locally store the transformed data and the one or more defined rules. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more mobile devices comprise a client Software Development Kit (SDK) which facilitates communication with the middleware server and receives and stores the transformed data and the one or more defined rules.

0064At step <b>414</b>, the transformed data is rendered on the one or more mobile devices by applying the one or more pushed rules and one or more contextual rules. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more pushed rules comprise one or more generic rules. The one or more generic rules are used for, but not limited to, generating presentation layer, compressing data, filtering data, changing data synchronization priorities based on bandwidth availability, extending enterprise applications and mobile device capabilities, facilitating interaction between two or more enterprise applications and two or more mobile devices using the enterprise application, invoking one enterprise application through another enterprise application and passing information between two or more enterprise applications.

0065The one or more generic rules pertaining to generating presentation layer are used to build user interface of the one or more enterprise applications and rendering the transformed data on the one or more mobile devices. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, rich user interface components are used for building the user interface of the one or more enterprise applications if the one or more mobile devices are connected to a high bandwidth network based on a corresponding rule related to presentation layer generation.

0066In an embodiment of the present invention, the client SDK within the one or more mobile devices captures device context parameters, application context parameters, rule context parameters and security context parameters to create the one or more contextual rules. The one or more contextual rules are used by the client SDK to render the transformed data which is contextually relevant on the one or more mobile devices. The one or more contextual rules also facilitate the developer to optimally leverage device capabilities with minimal coding efforts. In an embodiment of the present invention, the device context parameters include, but not limited to, device location, device coordinates, distance from specified location, time zone, device type, device Operating System (OS), device OS version, device manufacturer, device International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, device ID, device usage, network type and network carrier. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more contextual rules include, but not limited to, enabling or disabling application functionalities based on device location, device type and device OS, prioritizing data synchronization based on device network connectivity, enabling or disabling application libraries based on device type and device OS and performing one or more actions based on device location.

0067The client SDK provides additional information along with the transformed data to the one or more end users via the one or more enterprise applications. The additional information includes, but not limited to, data associated with various mobile device functionalities such as, but not limited to, Global Positioning System (GPS), augmented reality, camera and maps to facilitate the one or more end users in effective decision making. The client SDK also supplements the transformed data with additional information from the one or more external systems such as, but not limited to, World Wide Web to provide more meaningful information to the one or more end users. In an embodiment of the present invention, the additional information from the one or more external systems include, but not limited to, maps, weather updates, traffic updates, stock updates and web queries.

0068At step <b>416</b>, the one or more end users update the rendered data on the one or more mobile devices via the enterprise application. The one or more end users may update and validate the rendered data, even if the one or more mobile devices are offline and not connected to the network, by applying the one or more business rules stored on the one or more mobile devices. In an embodiment of the present invention, the one or more business rules reside as rules templates within the client SDK. Further, the stored rules templates create dynamic business data validation rules for validating the transformed data received from the middleware server. The dynamic business data validation rules facilitate validating the transformed data at the one or more mobile devices thereby ensuring that the enterprise application need not send the data validation requests to the one or more enterprise systems.

0069At step <b>418</b>, the transformed data updated by the one or more end users, the additional information associated with the various mobile device functionalities and the additional information from the one or more external systems is synchronized with the data present in the middleware server when the one or more mobile devices are online and connected to the network. Once the middleware server is synchronized with the one or more mobile devices, the middleware server updates the one or more enterprise systems.

0070<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> illustrates an exemplary computer system for aggregating and providing data from enterprise systems to mobile devices, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

0071The computer system <b>502</b> comprises a processor <b>504</b> and a memory <b>506</b>. The processor <b>504</b> executes program instructions and may be a real processor. The processor <b>504</b> may also be a virtual processor. The computer system <b>502</b> is not intended to suggest any limitation as to scope of use or functionality of described embodiments. For example, the computer system <b>502</b> may include, but not limited to, a general-purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integrated circuit element, and other devices or arrangements of devices that are capable of implementing the steps that constitute the method of the present invention. In an embodiment of the present invention, the memory <b>506</b> may store software for implementing various embodiments of the present invention. The computer system <b>502</b> may have additional components. For example, the computer system <b>502</b> includes one or more communication channels <b>508</b>, one or more input devices <b>510</b>, one or more output devices <b>512</b>, and storage <b>514</b>. An interconnection mechanism (not shown) such as a bus, controller, or network, interconnects the components of the computer system <b>502</b>. In various embodiments of the present invention, operating system software (not shown) provides an operating environment for various softwares executing in the computer system <b>502</b>, and manages different functionalities of the components of the computer system <b>502</b>.

0072The communication channel(s) <b>508</b> allow communication over a communication medium to various other computing entities. The communication medium provides information such as program instructions, or other data in a communication media. The communication media includes, but not limited to, wired or wireless methodologies implemented with an electrical, optical, RF, infrared, acoustic, microwave, bluetooth or other transmission media.

0073The input device(s) <b>510</b> may include, but not limited to, a keyboard, mouse, pen, joystick, trackball, a voice device, a scanning device, or any another device that is capable of providing input to the computer system <b>502</b>. In an embodiment of the present invention, the input device(s) <b>510</b> may be a sound card or similar device that accepts audio input in analog or digital form. The output device(s) <b>512</b> may include, but not limited to, a user interface on CRT or LCD, printer, speaker, CD/DVD writer, or any other device that provides output from the computer system <b>502</b>.

0074The storage <b>514</b> may include, but not limited to, magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, CD-ROMs, CD-RWs, DVDs, flash drives or any other medium which can be used to store information and can be accessed by the computer system <b>502</b>. In various embodiments of the present invention, the storage <b>514</b> contains program instructions for implementing the described embodiments.

0075The present invention may suitably be embodied as a computer program product for use with the computer system <b>502</b>. The method described herein is typically implemented as a computer program product, comprising a set of program instructions which is executed by the computer system <b>502</b> or any other similar device. The set of program instructions may be a series of computer readable codes stored on a tangible medium, such as a computer readable storage medium (storage <b>514</b>), for example, diskette, CD-ROM, ROM, flash drives or hard disk, or transmittable to the computer system <b>502</b>, via a modem or other interface device, over either a tangible medium, including but not limited to optical or analogue communications channel(s) <b>508</b>. The implementation of the invention as a computer program product may be in an intangible form using wireless techniques, including but not limited to microwave, infrared, bluetooth or other transmission techniques. These instructions can be preloaded into a system or recorded on a storage medium such as a CD-ROM, or made available for downloading over a network such as the internet or a mobile telephone network. The series of computer readable instructions may embody all or part of the functionality previously described herein.

0076The present invention may be implemented in numerous ways including as an apparatus, method, or a computer program product such as a computer readable storage medium or a computer network wherein programming instructions are communicated from a remote location.

0077While the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described and illustrated herein, it will be appreciated that they are merely illustrative. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications in form and detail may be made therein without departing from or offending the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.