Integration Considerations

What is the source of truth (primary and secondary data)

When implementing integration, users have to consider the source of the information and decide on the primary database and secondary database. The primary database is the master database, also known as the source of truth and should overwrite information on the secondary database.  In many instances, this is not Skynamo.  This means that the information in Skynamo is overwritten on integration runs.  “One way” integration represents the flow of information from one specific system into another. “Two-way” integration represents the flow of information in both directions.  Sometimes users require the information in some fields to flow in one direction and other fields to flow in the opposite direction.

Mapping entities

Information shared between applications have to be mapped.  This means that the integration module has to be taught what the names of the different data fields are in the different applications. For example, the Skynamo Customer entity maps to the Account entity in the accounting software. A custom field called Contact 1 phone in Skynamo, maps to Primary phone number in the accounting software.  This enables Skynamo to match the fields in the other applications to the fields inside Skynamo. 

Integration frequency

Integration frequency refers to the frequency of the triggers that sets off the integration runs. It should be considered because it has a big impact on the number of times information is sent to the mobile devices (syncing).  Setting integration up to run very frequently (e.g. hourly) would trigger mobile syncing very frequently, impacting on mobile data usage.  Setting it up infrequently (e.g. weekly) can cause the information displayed to be outdated.  The integration frequency should be determined by the importance of the information and by how often the information is updated in the primary database. 

Who gets to see what?

Customer fields can optionally be set to be hidden, visible or editable. The information contained in Skynamo is also made available on a “per customer” basis, based on user-customer assignments. This means that if a customer is assigned to a user, and the user has the appropriate permissions, that user is able to see or edit the customer information. Users also typically work in groups or in a hierarchy.  Users can be set to see the activities and customers of a selection of other users. More details about the hierarchy here.

Integration is a conversation rather than a switch

Users can create and edit multiple custom fields in Skynamo.  Because of the custom nature of the data fields and all of the considerations listed above, each integration has to be configured per instance. To start the integration conversation and enable integration please contact support@skynamo.com.