How to Get Value from Starlify in 6 Minutes
If you’re looking to integrate multiple systems and need to visualize complex data flows quickly, Starlify is the tool to help you achieve that. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to getting started and extracting value from Starlify in just six (!!!) minutes.
Ps. You can also watch a video in Swedish on how to get value in Starilfy.
Step 1: Set Up a Basic Network
Create a network and systems:
- Create one network to begin with—you can easily move things around later. To start fast, start by defining the systems you want to work with here and make your solution more fine-grained as you go.
- Begin by creating systems to represent different parts of your architecture. For example, you might set up systems like ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), Integration Suite, and Warehouse.
Step 2: Define your services
Which system exposes an interface?:
- Consider who exposes interfaces (APIs, databases, file shares, etc.). If you don’t know the exact endpoints or even the type of API, it's no problem; just create a generic service and enhance it later with a few clicks.
Step 3: Create Integration Contracts
- Create integrations to represent data flows. For example, set up an integration called "ERP to Warehouse - Update Article" if your ERP system updates articles in your warehouse system.
- Contracts are known as references in Starlify. They are ”owned by” the system that uses another system's service.
- Use clear, descriptive names for your integrations to understand their purpose easily.
- Pro tip: When you have integrations set up, you can collect them into "Flows" - e2e integrations. Check out this video about flows to learn more about how it works!
Step 4: Enhance with Integration Platforms
Introduce Middleware:
- In many cases, system-to-system communication is not how it actually works. Introduce middleware that acts as an intermediary that facilitates communication between systems.
- Create a service in your middleware (e.g., "Article Update Service") and redirect the integration to route through this middleware.
Redirect Data Flows:
- Easily adjust your existing integrations to pass through the middleware service. For example, change the target of the "ERP to Warehouse - Update Article" integration to go through the "Article Update Service."
Step 5: Organize and Visualize
Sort and Group Integrations:
- Use Starlify's sorting and grouping features to organize your integrations within the appropriate networks. This makes it easier to manage and understand the system architecture.
- For instance, group all integrations related to the Integration Suite together.
Change Network Assignments:
- You can move components between networks to better reflect their logical grouping. For example, you might move warehouse-related integrations to the Warehouse network.
- This helps maintain a clear and organized view of your system architecture and ownership structure.
Step 6: Review and Adjust
Review the Overall Setup:
- Take a step back and review the entire setup. Use the global or network group views (e.g., "All Networks") to see how all parts are interconnected.
- Ensure that the data flows as expected and that each system communicates correctly through the middleware if used.
Make Adjustments:
- Based on your review, make any necessary adjustments to the integrations or network assignments to optimize the data flow and improve system efficiency.
Conclusion
Using Starlify, you can set up a functional integration framework in just minutes. You can quickly and efficiently structure your data by creating and naming integrations, introducing middleware for better communication management, organizing networks for clarity, and visualizing the overall system. Starlify enables you to streamline your system integrations and provides a solid foundation for handling more complex configurations as your needs grow.
Pro tip: You can connect your data through our SDK or API and populate the network.