Siebel EIM Tutorial

by SiebelGuide.com

EIM stands for Enterprise Integration Manager. To explain EIM in one line: it is a
process that helps in importing data from other databases into Siebel database in a
manner Siebel requires.

Below is the pictorial representation of Siebel EIM process. Data is first read from the
legacy database tables and processed in a way suitable for Siebel. This processed
data is inserted into Siebel EIM Tables appropriately and from there an EIM process
is run to insert/update the Siebel base tables.

Siebel expects data in a certain way so that it makes sense to the application. 99%
of the times the data available in the Legacy application is not suitable for direct
insert/update into the EIM tables. For example reference Id, user keys, business
logic etc. So we process them using appropriate technique like PL/SQL procedure and
insert into the EIM tables. Look at the Example section to get an idea about the
PL/SQL procedure and how it is loaded on EIM tables.

Now the question that might strike you is why we need EIM process to
import data and why not directly insert data into Siebel base tables. Following are
the reasons.

 Siebel Database is complex and EIM reduces the error and guarantees
data integrity
 All base tables have a primary key column called ROW_ID and the
value under this column should be a unique Siebel generated value and
shouldn’t be tampered to help referential integrity.
 EIM resolves user keys which keeps referential integrity intact.
 Avoids Duplicates.
 It validates data
 Inserting or modifying data directly into the base tables violates Siebel
license terms.
EIM process could be tedious but it is robust and can handle loading millions of
records with guaranteed performance.

Let us get into more details about the Siebel EIM process.

Not everybody today uses Siebel but when they decide to use Siebel they just
cannot leave data in their legacy system as such. They would like to retain that in
their new improved Siebel CRM system. But how do you import that terabytes of
data probably existing in CSV or a DAT file. This is where EIM comes into picture.

EIM stands for Enterprise Integration Manager. It is a SIEBEL Component which

is used for Data Migration from legacy as well as other Siebel systems.When I heard
about EIM, it appeared to be a very dull, complicated and difficult subject. But when
I really started working, I found it as much fascinating and challenging as I wished to
work upon.Why EIM:
Siebel has very unique and complicated Database structure which already has
relationship defined between n number of tables hence it is not recommended to
insert, delete or update data stored in what is known as Base Tables in Siebel.
During migration lot of things can happen which can lead to data integrity issues. To
answer all those concerns Siebel has provided EIM.For most of base tables in Siebel
an EIM table is also in existence which allows you to play with data and perform
thing that you normally wouldn’t want to perform on base tables. So, you can
import-export data to and from EIM tables and we can perform following operations
on the data that resides in EIM tables

a) Insert
b) Update
c) Merge
d) Delete

Once the data is manipulation and scrubbing is complete we can import that data
in base tables and Siebel EIM component takes care of things like Foreign Key,
Composite Keys, User Keys and also issues related with data integrity.

The source of data can be dat files ( CSV files for SQL Loader). So as the process, we
need to push data to these interface tables using third party tool like SQL Loader,
DTS etc and then migrate data to Siebel base tables using EIM component.

Main Responsibilities of person responsible for EIM are:

• Identifying and creating mapping between EIM and Base Tables.

• Cleansing of data to be imported.
• Loading of data in EIM tables.
• Running EIM batch job.

To be successful in EIM, one must be aware of basic understanding of RDBMS,

SQL, cursors, etc and should have interest in database and also should have an
adaptive learning approach. It is really a challenging job but only when you are
ready to exhibit your dedication and hard work.
Complete Process

EIM is a server component in Siebel EAI Server Component Group.

EIM is a Siebel provided utility for performing bulk import export merge
and delete of data. Though updates can also be performed through the import
function of EIM.

Siebel does not support direct loading of data into base tables.

The whole process in EIM can be practically summarized two steps.

1. Loading the EIM tables.

2. Invoking the EIM server process with the correct ifb file.

All SQL operations such as update insert delete etc can be performed on
EIM tables.

The EIM process in detail involves the following steps.

1. If the base table into which you need to import the data is newly created
one first you have to do an interface table mapping using wizard available in
the Siebel tools.

2. Prepare a mapping sheet as to which columns of Base table you need to

populate and which corresponding columns in EIM tables map to those base tables.
(This step is optional)

3. Determine the parent or child tables you need to populate and its
corresponding EIM tables.

4. Determine the type of mappings. Attribute Explicit primary or foreign key

mapping.
 5. Load the EIM table .

a. Populate the EIM columns corresponding to the base

table the user key columns

b. Populate the EIM columns corresponding to the base

table required columns

c. Populate the EIM columns corresponding to the BC

level and other level required columns

d. Populate the EIM table required columns.

e. Populate the child table first incase of any foreign

key mapping.

6. Code the IFB file with proper process parameters.

(Its a separate session in itself. It would take a lot of time to explain.

Please Refer to bookshelf EIM ADM.pdf)

7. Execute the EIM Server process from a batch file or shell script or through
UI.

8. Check the IF_ROW_STAT column of the EIM Table for any errors.

9. If no errors then check if the data you are trying to import is there in the
UI.