Enterprise Information Exchange Via Ie-Bse Framework: A Case Study On E-Invoicing

Digitalization has enabled enterprises to adopt API-centric business services to manage complex business operations. Consequently, leading businesses are progressively employing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to support digital transformation. Despite the existence of several open API marketplaces, API utilization remains limited and is often restricted to internal organizational boundaries. Thus, enterprises struggle to identify suitable APIs from diverse backgrounds and integrate them into their business operations. To address the issues, the research article employs Design Science Research Methodology (DSRM) and proposes an IE-BSE framework, namely an Information Exchange Business Service Ecosystem, which enables enterprises to acquire and utilize openly available APIs in their business processes that involve document exchange. The framework features a service discovery method that allows enterprises to identify suitable APIs and a service composition mechanism using a Business Process (BP) Builder tool to compose appropriate Business APIs, providing them with clear technical aspects and handling complex business processes. The framework is implemented in the E-invoicing domain and analyzes business APIs within our generated IE API Repository, a Knowledge Hub for E-invoicing APIs (KHEA). Results determine possible business processes, integrating diverse APIs and enabling the user to select a particular BP. This generates automatic business workflows via Amazon Web Services (AWS) Step Functions.