The ERAM Group, a long-standing player in the French footwear industry, faced a major challenge: an ageing information system (IS) that was struggling to keep up with the demands of modern, omnichannel commerce. Its initial architecture – a set of disparate systems communicating directly with each other – had become a complex and difficult-to-manage ‘spaghetti bowl’ of data flows. To remedy this, the group partnered with Smile, the European leader in open source, to create CAFEIN (Cloud API, Files, Events INtegration), an innovative centralised data platform. This article, based on a conference co-hosted by Frédéric Le Roy of the ERAM Group and Nolwenn Pouliquen of Smile, explores this ambitious project in detail.

From the “spaghetti plate” to the centralised hub

Before CAFEIN, data exchanges within the ERAM Group were a tangled web of direct connections between various internal and external partners. This made security management, data traceability and cost control extremely complicated. The main objective was to build a central platform that would serve as a single, mandatory gateway for all data flows.

The key objectives of the CAFEIN platform were as follows:

• Data flow management: Routing, duplicating, transforming and adapting data.
• Enhanced security: Controlling security, both in terms of visibility and operations.
• Traceability: Tracking data flows to understand their path and identify opportunities for optimisation.
• Interoperability: Enable communication between partners who could not natively interact with their respective APIs.
• Cost control: Optimise infrastructure costs, particularly by leveraging open source technologies.
• Incident management: Simplify incident resolution with clear visibility into data flows.

A bold bet on open source: Smile's proposal

While the ERAM Group was considering a more traditional solution, Smile's proposal stood out. In line with its DNA of digital sovereignty, Smile advocated for a solution built entirely on open source technologies, notably using Kubernetes and hosted on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This approach not only freed the ERAM Group from vendor lock-in and restrictive roadmaps, but also allowed it to benefit from a rich and responsive developer community.

Open source technologies at the heart of CAFEIN

CAFEIN's technical robustness is based on a carefully selected open source technology stack, where each component plays a crucial role in the platform's architecture:

• Airflow: An orchestration tool used to create complex workflows, ensuring that tasks are executed in the right order and at the right time. It acts as an “invisible project manager” for data flows.
• NiFi: A real-time data flow management tool that collects, routes and transforms data between different systems. It serves as a central hub for data.
• Kong: A leading open-source API gateway that manages and secures all data exchanges, acting as an ‘intelligent gatekeeper.’
• Flask: A lightweight Python framework used to create web applications.
• Elastic Stack: A powerful data search and analysis platform, essential for finding and exploring large volumes of information.
• Kafka: A real-time data streaming platform that transports information continuously and without delay.

The project also adopted a principle of flow templating. This approach allows new data flows to be created quickly and efficiently by reusing existing templates, which has significantly boosted productivity.

Significant results and benefits

The success of the CAFEIN platform can be measured by its impressive growth and the tangible benefits it has brought.

Key figures and achievements

• From POC to production: From a prototype with three flows, the platform now manages 462 flows in production.
• High activity: More than 200 flows were delivered in the last year alone.
• Flow distribution: The majority of flows are on Airflow and NiFi, highlighting their central role.
• Connectivity: The platform connects 120 partners and manages 17 API flows on Kong.
• Agile team: The project is supported by a flexible, multi-brand agile team of up to 13 people to meet requirements.

Benefits for the ERAM Group's IT department

By centralising and standardising its data flows, the IT department has gained:

• Cost control: The platform provides a clear view of infrastructure costs on GCP, enabling immediate optimisation.
• Increased visibility: Centralised log management provides a detailed understanding of how flows work, enabling proactive problem detection.
• Enhanced security: The platform standardises exchange protocols and provides a single point of control, limiting risks associated with external partners.

Benefits for the profession

The project has a direct positive impact on business operations:

• Proactive problem detection: Alerts about exchange issues enable teams to respond before customer complaints arise.
• Increased autonomy: The ability to replay data flows autonomously saves time and reduces dependence on partners.
• Accelerated time-to-market: Thanks to flow templating, the development of new simple flows is faster and more predictable.

• Better visibility: Brands now have much greater visibility into their projects and data exchanges.

   

A strong and lasting partnership

The collaboration between the ERAM Group and Smile is built on an agile methodology that promotes continuous improvement and responsiveness. The teams, working in close synergy, use a collaborative approach to define and implement new workflows. This dynamic has not only solved immediate challenges, but has also positioned the ERAM Group's IT system for future growth and innovation. The CAFEIN platform is concrete proof that open source solutions can bring flexibility, efficiency and significant added value to the business.

Want to find out more? Watch the replay of the demonstration here.