Harmony eDelivery Access consists of two components: the access point and the service metadata publisher (SMP). Harmony eDelivery Access supports both data exchange senders and receivers with the minimum viable implementation that requires only the sender's and receivers access points.

There are multiple ways how the access point and SMP can be deployed, as described in the implementation models section. Also, the access point comes with a couple of default plugins that are used for backend integrations; however, in general a use case specific plugin is required.

Access Point

A technical access point that implements the AS4 message exchange protocol according to the CEF eDelivery AS4 profile. The access point securely enables payload-agnostic data exchange between sending and receiving eDelivery access points. Therefore in order to exchange information, organisations must install an access point or utilise an access point hosted by a service provider on their behalf. The access point is the backend system's connection point to the eDelivery network and has two interfaces:

1. An interface to connect the backend system with the access point: typically, this interface is customisable as communication between access points and backend systems may use any messaging or transport protocol.

2. A standard messaging interface between access points: this interface is configurable according to the options of the profiles supported by CEF eDelivery. It is important to note that CEF eDelivery standardises only the communication between the sender's and receiver's access points.

Service Metadata Publisher (SMP)

The Service Metadata Publisher (SMP) component is an implementation of the CEF eDelivery SMP profile. Typically, an SMP is provided to complement an access point, but an SMP can also be hosted on behalf of an organisation by a service provider. The SMP is a register of the location and message exchange capabilities of receivers. Organisations that only send data do not require to be registered in an SMP, only an access point is sufficient, whereas an SMP may be necessary for an organisation to receive data depending on the discovery model (static / dynamic) that is used.