WDCi Blogs

The new database.com from Salesforce is opened for business now. This is an exciting service from the integration stand point. We can use it as a cross reference storage and this model is scalable. Also, the same Salesforce connector we use works for database.com, nice.

We are building an interesting integration between Salesforce and JobReady RTO. It synchronises course and student data between two systems. Stay tuned for more updates.

Magento has a different data model for customer. It’s more like a ‘contact’ centric system then an ‘account’ centric system. It treats all customer as an individual instead of a company.

If you are integrating Magento with Salesforce, perhaps you should consider the Person Account feature. It would be the good fit for the design.

If you really have to get the company information from Magento customer, you can get it from the address object. One Magento customer can have more than one addresses. Designing how the data synchronised between two different data set is crucial.

Feel free to contact us if you are interested to know more.

We’ve recently built out an end-end process integrating Salesforce, Netsuite and OpenAir.

The end-end process goes like this:

• Successful Opportunities in Salesforce generate Sales Orders in Netsuite.  Opportunities of a specific type also generate Netsuite Projects and OpenAir projects.
• Payment updates are synchronised across from Netsuite to Salesforce, providing visibility to the sales team.
• Project updates are synchronised from OpenAir to Netsuite and Salesforce, providing visibility to finance as well as sales teams.
• Netsuite is the Item master and Item details are synchronised to Salesforce Products.
• When a Customer create is required in Netsuite (in order to generate a Sales Order) or OpenAir (for Project creation), the integration processes handles this as well.

End result:

• No re-keying of data for invoicing purposes
• The Services Team has instant visibility into new projects just sold by Sales
• Sales has visibility into payment status for their clients
• Sales has visibility into project delivery status for their clients
• Finance has visibility into project delivery status for invoicing and revenue recognition purposes

Complexity:

• There were some complexities with the customer’s Item/Product data
• Salesforce was enhanced with custom objects to store the invoicing and project data and link that to the original opportunity
• The main challenge was bring the parties together and defining the business process flow

Want to know more, just contact us for the details.

StorageCraft required a custom solution to integrate their unique sales and distribution model in Salesforce to their Quickbooks accounting package.

They knew their requirements didn’t fit anything out-of-the-box but they didn’t want a complex project with a matching price tag either.

The solution provided for the automatic sync of Products and Accounts plus Invoice creation from Opportunities.

This rapid solution has freed them up from hours of manual processing.  For more details check out the case study.

Thanks to Richard, Claire and the StorageCraft team for working with us to make this a success.

We recently had the opportunity to work with Mindjet and deliver their Netsuite-Salesforce integration using the Boomi Atomsphere platform.

It was a grueling task with a large data migration effort as well as several bidirectional integration processes due in a very short time frame (5 weeks).  Since completing the project we’ve gone on to implement a robust support and monitoring system to enable us and Mindjet to easily monitor and manage their integrations anytime, anywhere.

There’s some more detail in the Boomi blog, it was a big team effort with a dedicated customer that knew their business processes well and a platform that’s perfect for SaaS integration - thanks everyone, it’s time for pina coladas all round.

if your application is not listed in Magento connect or you need to build a custom integration process, here are some options that you may find helpful:

Magento API

You can access the majority of the modules using the Magento Core API. It supports both SOAP and XML RPC protocols.  In addtion you can also create your own API.

Magento Database (Mysql)

If you are connecting to Magento via the database, it’s important to study the relational diagram in advance and understand the dependencies. This approach will be vulnerable if the database schema changes during future upgrades, requiring you to update your integration as well.

Integration Platform

In addition to the approaches described above, you can also integrate to Magento using an integration platform such as Boomi Atomsphere. Boomi uses an XML format to interchange data between applications. This approach results in a robust and easily maintained integration.

Any form of use-case with Magento can be integrated. Here are some use-case scenarios that we have implemented to date:

• Integrate Mangento with GreatPlains (CRM/ERP)
• Integrate Mangento with SmartTurn (Inventory Management Software)
• Integrate Magento with Netsuite (CRM/ERP)
• Integrate Magento with Salesforce (CRM)

If you need any more details on how to integrate with Magento feel free to contact us.

Well, it depends…

Ok, I realise that isn’t helpful, so here’s an example.

First some assumptions/caveats on Salesforce and Netsuite integration:

1. Your implementations of Salesforce and Netsuite are in reasonable order, customization is ok, we’re just assuming that you haven’t used duplicate field names in Netsuite and if so, that you understand your data and can identify these.
2. We also assume that you will play a large part in the identifying the fields to be mapped in each system.
3. Systems will be locked down during development.
4. Data migration is not part of the exercise.
5. We’re using an integration tool that has connectors/adapters for each system.

So, assuming the above, here’s an idea of how long we would take to integrate 3 common objects between Netsuite & Salesforce, ie Account-Customer, Contact-Contact and Opportunity-Opportunity or Opportunity-Invoice.  Our approach is rapid not reckless:

Can we do it quicker?

• It depends on the assumptions above and how quickly you can work with us to complete the job.

What typically impacts the time-line?

• Field mapping detail and complexity
• A clearly defined and well understood business process
• System availability, People availability (sign-off, testing)
• Data cleanliness (see this blog on the impact of data quality)

Want to know more, just ping us and we can quickly give you a scope of how long it would take.  You can also check out our We Did section on our website for some examples of recent integrations we have built.

TIM here again with another tip - don’t tell the boss, he thinks I’m working.

Need to sync or integrate Salesforce data with your other systems?

Maybe you want to sync:

• Accounts/Contacts, Invoice/Sales Order data, payment information, Products and inventory.

So, what are your options?

It depends on what type of  data sync or integration you need and the applications involved, ie:

1. Do you need real-time or near real-time sync of your data?
2. Does the data go one way in or out of Salesforce or are you wanting bi-directional updates?
3. Do you want the whole process automated or are you ok with some manual data loading?
4. Do you have the budget to integrate?
5. Does your Salesforce license allow access to the force.com Web Services API?
6. Is there an existing integration tool that has Connectors/Adapters to your other applications?
7. How customised are your applications?
8. Are there any pre-built integration solutions that solve your problems?

Whew, I’m tired just thinking about it.

Let’s take a look at a couple of scenarios:

Some manual work is ok

A good option here is to use one of the Data Loader tools:

1. http://wiki.developerforce.com/index.php/Apex_Data_Loader
2. http://sites.force.com/appexchange/listingDetail?listingId=a0330000005kRLFAA2

• Export your data from your application and use the Data Loader to map this data and upload it into Salesforce.

• You can also use the tool to export from Salesforce objects into a database or CSV files, you can then manipulate the data and upload into your target applications.

You need the whole process automated

This is where you will need to plan a bit further before you invest in automating the solution.

Do you know your use-cases?

• You will need to be clear on the process or processes involved and what should be done in the event of failure.  An example of this would be:

• You want Closed/Won Salesforce Opportunities to generate Invoices in your Accounting system automatically.

You also need to consider any limitations of your Accounting system and if your Products are inventoried

• ie what will happen if there is no inventory
• how should the integration process handle such a failure

A good first step here is to take a look at our integration planning guide.

Ok, so you’ve gone through the planning stage and now you want to automate your solution, what tool to choose?

You have a lot of options and the Appexchange is a good place to start.

Some of the key vendors represented include Boomi, Informatica, Pervasive, Cast Iron, Jitterbit and the list goes on.  If you’ve read any of our We Dids you’ll know we are big fans of Boomi and Talend to migrate, manipulate and integrate data.

I’ll cover some of these tools in another blog, but for now, I need a Pina Colada.

TIM here again - with another Tip, hope it’s helpful.

In my experience integrating various SaaS applications such as Salesforce, Netsuite, Parature, RightNow, JIRA, etc,  bi-directional integration is a popular requirement.

So, why use bi-directional integration? Consider a bi-directional update between the Salesforce and RightNow Account Objects as an example:

• When the record in Salesforce is updated, the linked record in RightNow will also be updated  ie it works both ways.

Now, this isn’t ideal for all systems and mostly suitable for real-time integration. There are a few things to be aware of:

• You need a mechanism to stop an endless update loop. ie:

1. A Record updated in Salesforce triggers the integration to update the record in RightNow.
2. RightNow’s updated record will trigger the integration to update Salesforce’s Record and on and on - you get the idea.

• In this scenario you should define which fields/data is the Master.
• Make sure you are checking for timestamps to avoid the scenario where out of date data will update what was the correct data.

Time for a Pina Colada now I think.