I have an integration to Vista or ProContractor that I NEED to have supported, but it is not supported today.  How do I request support for a new integration?

Author:  Eric Vasbinder

Requesting and connecting new integrations into Viewpoint's Vista cloud is tightly controlled to ensure we adhere to our security and compliance controls, such as SOC2/2.

There are multiple types of integrations supported in Viewpoint's Vista Cloud.  Please review some background on how integrations work in the Viewpoint Vista Cloud.

NOTE: IPSEC VPN method of connecting server-side integrations to Vista in our cloud is our DEFAULT and HIGHLY PREFERRED mechanism to connect integrations to Vista.

NEW HOSTED-ONLY INTEGRATIONS ARE NOT APPROVED AT THIS TIME*

*NOTE:  Hosted SSIS Packages may be approved, depending on the package, after a technical and security review.

Please proceed through the process below if you have an SSIS package-based integration.

This restriction applies to VEC/RDP Published Apps Cloud, VRL-Cloud / VP1, ProContractor Cloud (PCC) Published Apps, and ProContractor One (PC One).  This restriction does NOT apply to our older cloud Viewpoint for Cloud (VFC).  VFC is NOT available for new customers.

Steps to Request a New VPN-Connected Integration

SECTION A:  VERIFY SUPPORTED

1.  Please check at this URL to see if the partner in question is already listed as supported:  Specific Integrations

• If the partner is already listed as supported, then please proceed to section "D" below, "Per Customer Steps".

• If the partner is not already listed, please reach out to your partner contacts and ask them to work on the items in section "B", One Time Partner Steps, below.

NOTE: If the integration in question is a "Home-Grown" or "Custom-Built" solution, provided by the customer or the customer's IT Consultant(s), then the customer or the customer's IT consultant will need to complete Section "C" - Technical Review and Approval.

SECTION B:  ONE-TIME PARTNER STEPS:

1.  PARTNER / VENDOR:  Confirm if you are already, or would like to become, a Viewpoint Software Partner (VSIP).

   1.  If you are not a member of this program, and would NOT like to be a VSIP, please proceed to Section "C" below.

   2. If you are not a member of this program and WOULD like to be a VSIP, please apply to become a member by filling out the form at this URL:  https://forms.gle/5JW4Q951SZna22CcA 

2.  PARTNER / VENDOR:  One you have confirmation that you have been accepted as a VSIP and you are current on your program fees, you will need to sign an addendum to your VSIP agreement to become approved to connect to our cloud.

   1. To do so, please email your request for this to this email address:  dev_partners@viewpoint.com

   2. Viewpoint's legal team will send a form to you via Adobe Echosign that will allow you to become approved from a contractual perspective.

3.  PARTNER / VENDOR:  Proceed to Section "C" for Technical Review and Approval.

SECTION C:  TECHNICAL REVIEW AND APPROVAL:

1.  INTEGRATION DEVELOPER (e.g. PARTNER / CUSTOMER / CONSULTANT):  Please submit a request to have your integration reviewed from a technical perspective.

   1. To do so, go to the following URL and submit the form:  https://forms.gle/uGJDF4YZdbyhytmh6

   2. NOTE:  This is necessary to allow Viewpoint to determine the proper architecture that your integration will request to connect to each customer who uses it in our cloud.

2.  VIEWPOINT:  Review cloud integration application and either approve, ask additional questions, or (very rare) deny.

   1. NOTE:  Denials are not common and are tied to integrations that have security concerns, or which require hosting in Viewpoint's cloud.

IMPORTANT:  YOU MUST SUBMIT A NETWORKING DIAGRAM IN THE REQUEST FORM SHOWING THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF HOW YOUR SOLUTION CONNECTS TO VISTA AND/OR SPECTRUM.  

YOUR DIAGRAM MUST INCLUDE ACTUAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION (PORTS, PROTOCOLS, NETWORK LOCATIONS, ETC.) ABOUT HOW YOUR SOLUTION CONNECTS TO VISTA AND/OR SPECTRUM.   YOUR DIAGRAM'S SPECIFIED PORTS AND PROTOCOLS MUST ALSO MATCH WHAT IS STIPULATED IN YOUR FORM SUBMISSION.  

IF YOUR ATTACHED DIAGRAM IS A MARKETING SLIDE AND/OR DOES NOT INCLUDE PORTS, PROTOCOLS, AND HOSTING LOCATIONS OF VARIOUS COMPONENTS, OR DOES NOT MATCH YOUR FORM RESPONSES, YOUR REQUEST WILL BE REJECTED.

PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR AN EXAMPLE OF AN ACCEPTABLE DIAGRAM.

SECTION D:  PER-CUSTOMER STEPS

If a Vista cloud customer wishes to connect an already supported integration into their environment, they need to perform these steps for each integration:

1.  CUSTOMER:  Determine if you will be hosting the third party application (including data connector) in your on-premise environment, or in a separate cloud instance in Azure, A2Hosting, Rackspace, GCP, AWS, etc.

2.  CUSTOMER / PARTNER:  Install and host the third party connection at the location chosen above in step 1 (this step will likely require assistance from the third party).

3.  CUSTOMER:  Purchase an IPSEC VPN connection from Viewpoint (if you have not purchased the VPN in the past).

4.  CUSTOMER:  Submit an IPSEC VPN request as a Cloud Support ticket to Viewpoint.  Including all information to Request a VPN between the location in Step 2 and your Viewpoint Vista cloud environment.

   1. See this link for information on how to set up a VPN Integration to the Viewpoint Vista Cloud

5.  VIEWPOINT:  Create Azure IPSEC VPN endpoint and send connection information to Customer and / or third party Vendor.

6.  CUSTOMER / PARTNER:  Use connection information from Viewpoint to stand up your end of the VPN.

7.  CUSTOMER:  Create a dedicated SQL service account for the integration, following the steps located here:  I need a dedicated SQL account for my integration to Vista in your cloud. How do I set that up?

8.  CUSTOMER:  Provide the SQL account credentials to the partner as needed to allow for the integration to communicate to Vista.