How To Integrate Back-End Systems with EFT

Integrating your data exchange solution with your back-end systems is extremely important when it comes to managing your data and business-critical workflows. If you have key service-level-agreements (SLAs) with partners, complicated data transfer workflows, or need to regularly move a high volume of data,  integration between those systems is crucial to ensure smooth, secure business operations.  

Moving data securely, managing complex workflows, and meeting business requirements without interruption requires a secure managed file transfer platform like cloud-managed or on-premises Enhanced File Transfer (EFT). 

EFT can integrate with an organization’s back-end system to not only consolidate disparate applications and systems into one centralized location, but to also provide a reliable and secure workflow—no matter the volume of data or workflow complexity.

In short, EFT can unify your entire system so that you can begin to see your infrastructure working for you and not against you.  

Energy Company Using SAP Serves 1.9 Million Customers with EFT

If your organization needs to integrate SAP systems, reads on about how one such customer operating in the energy industry serves more than 1.9 million customers with SAP to create batch files detailing their customer’s gas usage. The volume of content managed is high, and the process is complex as they need to move that data to outsourced business partners for invoicing and payment processing. Their automated process includes gathering the files and then sending those files to various business partners on time each  month to ensure their customers can be billed.

EFT Event Rules and Actions Aid SAP Process

EFT can automate this process using what is called an “Event Rule” with multiple “Actions” associated with the workflow. When this process is repeated numerous times they are collecting, organizing, and moving the gas usage data for 1.9 million customers. If their data management isn’t automated, this process can slow substantially, and incur the risk of errors.

Event Rules enables organizations to configure EFT to perform an action automatically when you want a specific event to occur. The “Action” refers to the action you want to occur during your scheduled and automated event. In this case, the action being automated is moving the files from the backend server and copying them to the designated location on the remote server.

How to Automate SAP Transfers with EFT

To create such a Rule, start by creating a Scheduler (Timer) Event Rule. In the Rule Builder, click the Event to define when to run the Event Rule.

For example, let's say you want to run the Rule every day at noon.

Add a "Download (pull) file from host" Action to grab the files from the backend server, and then add a "Copy/Move (push) file to host" Action to copy all the files from the download location to a specific location on a remote server.

EFT can also send an email notification to let someone know that the files are being copied over to the remote server.

There are many other ways to define the Rule. For example, if you're already using a SQL Query to grab data from the system, you can create a workflow in the Advanced Workflow Engine that uses that query.

The Solution to Replace Them All

Organizations with multiple host systems don't have to trash their whole network and start over.

EFT integrates with most other systems, saves the cost of replacing all of your heterogeneous systems, and allows central management of users and connections. You can replace most of those legacy systems with EFT, but you don't have to until you're ready.

Meanwhile, you can integrate EFT with those legacy systems, and your end users can continue doing things the way they always have. Gain efficiency, security, and cost savings with the EFT workhorse in place.

For more information about using EFT to integrate with your backend systems, refer to the EFT online help or let Globalscape Professional Services set it up for you.