Cosential CRM

Author: Eric Vasbinder 

Logistics Overview

Support Status: Supported

Integration Method:  ODBC Direct Database

Connection Method:

• OPTION A (RECOMMENDED):  IPSEC VPN or TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) from Customer Environment or external cloud

• OPTION B (LEGACY ONLY / NO LONGER SUPPORTED FOR HOSTING):  Hosted Data Connector

Hosted:  

• OPTION A (RECOMMENDED):  NO

• OPTION B (LEGACY ONLY / NO LONGER SUPPORTED FOR HOSTING):  YES

Additional Charge:

• OPTION A (RECOMMENDED) (Customer Hosts Data Connector):

  • • • YES - 1 x IPSEC VPN  OR 1 x TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN)

        • NOTE:  This should already be included in your VP1 bundle contract.  Please reach out to your rep to verify.

  • OPTION B (Trimble Viewpoint Hosting of Cosential Data Connector - LEGACY ONLY / NO LONGER SUPPORTED FOR HOSTING):

    • • YES - 1 x third party integration mgmt fee and 1 SQL Server

Product Use Case

Sales pipeline and opportunity tracking in a full Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution, provided by a strategic Trimble Viewpoint partner.

Similar Products

This product is similar in operation and feature set to Salesforce.com or Microsoft Dynamics.

ERP Connection Overview 

As per many other server-side integrations to third-party products, this product is designed to use a data connector (a.k.a. a shim) that speaks to the Vista database directly using ODBC and then itself connects to the third party.  This connection requires that the Vista server be "visible" to the third party system.  To ensure that the two systems can communicate, we set up either a TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) or an IPSEC VPN tunnel between our cloud and the environment where the data connector "bits" will be hosted.  

Deployment Methodology

Specifically, how this integration is implemented depends on how the connector shim is deployed: in Viewpoint's cloud, or externally to Viewpoint's cloud.

• • OPTION A (Remotely Hosted) (PREFERRED):  where the customer hosts the third-party solution in their own environment on-premise.  In this scenario, the customer does need to set up a VPN between their on-premise network and our single tenant network in our cloud.  Note this is the least expensive method as we do not need to pass on charges for a separate integration server to the customer.

  • OPTION B (Viewpoint Cloud Hosted) (LEGACY ONLY - NO LONGER SUPPORTED FOR HOSTING FOR NEW INSTALLATIONS):  In this case, the customer is connecting cloud-hosted Vista to the third-party's cloud directly.  This is done by installing a vendor-supplied shim connector in the customer's single tenant environment in our cloud.  This shim connector needs to be installed on a separate server as it accepts inbound control requests from the Internet.

    • NOTE:  Since this shim is a third party product that we need to host, it requires being hosted on a separate server in our network for security reasons.  As such, we need to pass on the costs for an additional server to the customer.

OPTION A (Customer Hosted) Detailed Instructions

• 1. Stand up a TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) or an IPSEC VPN between hosting location of third party product and customer's Vista environment in our cloud:

     1. TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN)

     2.  How do I set up an IPSEC VPN to access my Vista database directly?

  2. Create SQL account to allow third-party to authenticate to Vista:  I need a dedicated SQL account for my integration to Vista in your cloud. How do I set that up?

  3. Configure the third-party solution to talk to the IP address of the new Vista server in our cloud.

tl;dr:  Customers who need to integrate Cosential Vista in our cloud need to host that data connector shim in their own environment either on-premise or in their cloud instance, connected to our cloud over a TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) or an IPSEC VPN.  Hosting of the data connector for Cosential is no longer supported for new installations.