Mehr als die Summe seiner Einzelteile

Application Framework (AFW)

The AFW is the base layer of MD-Premium. The AFW's task is to manage business logic and run it in a controlled framework on the database. The AFW provides basic functionalities, such as user and rights management, universal database queries, reporting or import/export, which can be used equally by all function modules.

One of the integral components of the AFW is the so-called metadata layer, an extensive collection of XML resources with the help of which all functions stored in the AFW are described and, to a certain extent, also configured. These XML resources are used to control the appearance and behavior of the client software

Functional Modules

The function modules that are be provided by MD-Premium are self-contained function blocks that cover a specific area of functionality within the context of an Enterprise Business Suite, such as ERP, CRM or HRM. However, all function modules run within the AFW and use its mechanisms.

The individual functional modules are interlinked with each other and sometimes form cross-module functional chains. Nevertheless, each module can be licensed and used individually without disturbing or impairing the basic functionality of the other modules

Optional Customer Extensions

If the function modules of MD-Premium are basically only extensions of the AFW, logic dictates that you can also implement other modules beyond that standard. In fact, the AFW offers extensive possibilities to run your own business logic within the framework of MD-Premium. This can be done outside the standard modules (in extreme cases even stand-alone without any standard modules). Or the extensions are inserted in one of the modules themselves. This is done either in the form of new functions or as an adaptation or extension of existing functions

The AFW provides robust mechanisms for isolating such customizations from the base system in such a way that they can securely survive a system upgrade and still work flawlessly afterwards. In fact, the protection of customizations is so strong that even extensive customizations survive many upgrade cycles without the need of adaptations and rewrites and thus remain functional over many years.

Windows-Client

The Windows client is a native application that runs on Microsoft Windows and must be explicitly installed there. Unlike a web client, this approach gives you an additional control mechanism over who can access your MD Premium. The Windows client itself uses the metadata layer of the AFW to understand how it should behave, which menu structures it should map, which function calls are provided and what the input masks look like.

The amazing elegance of this solution lies in the fact that the client never needs to know anything about the business logic to be mapped. All you have to do is configure the metadata accordingly and the client will understand what to do. No implementations, no software upgrades, and no delays.

Webservice Application (WSA)

While the Windows client communicates directly with the function modules, the WSA provides a comparable communication interface for external software components. Based on a REST API, the WSA offers controlled access to all functions provided by MD-Premium. With the help of the metadata layer, clients that access via the WSA can be configured and their behavior controlled in a similar way as the windows client.

The WSA is the technical basis for the MD-Premium web client, the customer portal and the B2B webshop. However, the WSA can also be used to enrich external clients or apps with data and functions or to establish data exchange with other REST-compatible IT systems.

Add-ons

Individual add-ons can be used to connect external components to one of the function modules that cannot communicate with the REST API. These are often legacy systems and data sources that do not master standardized concepts such as web services and instead have their own, proriatiary communication protocol