SPS Commerce helps over 120,000 retail supply chain partners connect, collaborate, and drive revenue with comprehensive cloud-based solutions.
The tech giant offers a range of retail management solutions for sales, marketing, supply chain, operations, and more.
The Challenge
SPS Commerce used SDKs (Software development kits) to leverage the customization and integration capabilities that these development tools provided at the time.
Originally, SPS Commerce’s developers could only utilize Java plugins to create “subscriptions” (Analytics reports) and synchronize its user database.
Each time a subscription was created, multiple “objects” (such as events and schedules) had to be created. Each object added entries to the metadata repository, and in the case of multi-retailer subscriptions, required the developers to create separate databases.
The additional logging for multi-retailer subscriptions meant that the system had to create and manage intermediary objects to track the relationships and data flows between different entities (suppliers, retailers, events, schedules).
As more subscriptions were created, the metadata repository became increasingly bloated, leading to performance degradation and increased complexity in system management.
The Solution
As technology developed and new capabilities were introduced, SPS Commerce requested a modern, efficient, and easier-to-use approach for integration and customization.
Enter Strategy’s REST API.
Strategy’s REST API works like a waiter in a restaurant: The user informs the waiter (API) what they want (order, or request), and the waiter goes to the kitchen (the server) to get it for the user.
The transition from the SDK to the Strategy REST API involved a systematic approach to re-architecting SPS Commerce’s systems to leverage the new capabilities.
The Impact
- The new architecture using REST APIs has simplified SPS Commerce’s operations significantly.
- They can now manage thousands of subscriptions and numerous user syncs effortlessly, with fewer issues and faster response times.
- Leveraging the comprehensive support provided by Strategy, SPS Commerce have built a robust, efficient, and scalable system.
- The shift to the new architecture has also fostered better skill development among team members, making the development process more intuitive and enjoyable.
- This transition has notably reduced the frequency of support tickets related to subscriptions and user syncs, marking a substantial upgrade in their operational efficiency and user satisfaction.
Keynote Speech
Watch Staff Software Engineer Shawn Royal discuss how Strategy’s REST API empowered SPS Commerce to:
- Significantly reduce support tickets
- Improve reliability with real-time tracking
- Enhance the development and debugging experience
- Automate the infrastructure management process
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