2. Pivotal CRM Integration Solutions
Most businesses store critical customer data in as many as 40 different silos, scattered across the
enterprise. For customer‑centric businesses, achieving a single, unified view of the customer requires
tight integration of a range of software, including both CRM applications and back‑office technology.
To be successful, all employees must have the right information when they need it, on their device of
choice, regardless of connectivity or location.
The solution is to link information systems and integrate different parts of the customer information puzzle, is
business processes between departments. When customer the best approach. And each of these solutions must
information is shared across the enterprise, companies can have the capacity to change over time as business needs
target marketing messages more accurately, deliver better evolve. By implementing an integration framework
customer service, and sell more effectively—all while that encapsulates a variety of products, tools, and
improving the efficiency of internal operations. methodologies, businesses retain the flexibility to tackle
specific problems with the best solutions, and then
However, the technical hurdles that must be overcome extend these solutions as required.
to integrate customer information between systems can
be daunting: From integrating business processes to replicating data
to linking telephony systems, Pivotal CRM’s integration
• Expanding the availability of data sources framework is designed to leverage middleware
company‑wide—despite myriad data formats and components, third‑party adapters, and Web Services. It
database systems provides a standards‑based way to significantly decrease
• Integrating business processes to raise productivity the time and effort needed to integrate Customer
levels and increase automation Relationship Management (CRM) systems with other
enterprise applications and data.
• Connecting software applications across departments
to provide users with richer functionality The right mix of tools, best practices, and integration
standards combined in a flexible framework enables
• Merging call-center communications into a central customer‑centric businesses to improve the sharing of
repository with other customer interaction channels critical information across the enterprise—predictably
No single, off‑the‑shelf integration solution can deal and cost effectively.
with all of these requirements—there is no silver bullet.
A combination of solutions, each designed to integrate
2 Pivotal CRM Integration Solutions
3. Integration Products
Enterprise-wide access to prospect, customer, and product data through common applications transforms CRM from a
data‑input system to an interactive data repository, unifying information in a single desktop interface that substantially
improves user productivity and efficiency.
The Pivotal CRM team provides a number of pre‑packaged solutions that enable both data‑to‑data and data‑to‑
application integration out of the box. These solutions enable end users to work seamlessly in their application of
choice, while ensuring that corresponding data held in the Pivotal CRM system is always updated.
Pivotal CRM Integration with Pivotal CRM Integration with Microsoft Office
Microsoft Outlook Pivotal CRM leverages the research and reference
We offer two distinct solutions that enable end users to capabilities in Microsoft® Office 2003; this solution enables
work in either Microsoft® Outlook® or Lotus Notes: users to add relevant Pivotal CRM‑based information
to documents without having to switch between
• Seamless integration with Microsoft Outlook is applications:
provided out of the box, enabling users to create and
update their Outlook tasks, email and appointments • Pivotal CRM Research Services—enables users to
within Pivotal just as if they were working in Outlook. access data in their Pivotal CRM system instantly from
Microsoft Office applications, such as Microsoft® Word,
• LinkPoint for Pivotal, created by CDC Software partner Excel,® PowerPoint,® Outlook, and Internet Explorer,
LinkPoint360, allows users to create, update and without opening the Pivotal CRM application itself.
store Lotus Notes email, tasks and appointments
within Pivotal, ensuring users always have up‑to‑date
information, whether they’re in the office or on Pivotal Integration with Microsoft SharePoint
the road. Pivotal CRM is pre‑integrated with Microsoft SharePoint,®
which allows the creation of personalized portal pages.
End users can personalize their portal by adding new
web parts (which can be defined by the customizer or
imported from any third party, including Microsoft) and
`
modifying existing web parts.
Pre‑defined portal pages can
Mobile Client Smart Client Wireless Client
be set up by functional
area—for example, a portal
ERP System
ERP System
designed for sales people,
another for customer support
representatives, and others
PBX specific to each stakeholder
EAI System HR System group in the organization. This
IVR Pivotal provides a highly personalized,
Business Server
Server relevant, and visually enhanced
portal for each user.
Manufacturing System
Database
Research Services
External Vendor
Microsoft Microsoft
Outlook Office
Figure 1: Pivotal CRM Integration Network
Pivotal CRM Integration Solutions 3
4. Integration Methodologies
Pivotal CRM solutions support a number of leading integration methodologies, such as Enterprise Application
Integration (EAI), point-to-point integration, Web Services integration, and telephony integration. By applying these
methodologies and combining them with key Pivotal CRM products, companies can decrease implementation time
while retaining the flexibility to modify each integration solution as business requirements change.
Point‑to‑Point Integration Enterprise Application Integration
Point‑to‑point integration is a cost‑effective solution Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is a set of
that requires a smaller technology footprint and methodologies designed to enable the unrestricted
shorter implementation timeline than a full-scale EAI sharing of data and business processes throughout
implementation. It is typically based on scheduled, batch‑ networked applications or data sources across the
data integration between departments. Point‑to‑point enterprise. The ultimate goal of an EAI strategy is
solutions enable data to be shared between Pivotal CRM to create a common virtual information system. EAI
and other key enterprise applications, such as integrating typically involves large budgets, multiple systems, and
Pivotal CRM with Microsoft® Great Plains.® The resulting an advanced technology infrastructure; it also requires
solution minimizes the information gaps across the high levels of technical proficiency and substantial
enterprise that lead to missed opportunities, lost revenue, implementation resources.
and high selling costs.
Using the Pivotal CRM Integration Connector in
• Scribe Integrate for Pivotal CRM is a flexible point- combination with middleware such as Microsoft BizTalk,®
to‑point solution that can be used to integrate Pivotal Sun SeeBeyond,™ Tibco Software,® or webMethods®
CRM with a broad range of enterprise applications, enables Pivotal CRM to be integrated with any XML‑based
such as SAP,® Oracle,® and Microsoft Great Plains. With EAI strategy. The Pivotal CRM Integration Connector is
graphical, point‑and‑click functionality, Scribe Integrate a set of tools that includes an XML adapter, integration
for Pivotal CRM makes it easy to create templates that interface, and configuration client. Together, these tools
are reusable, portable, and easily modified. With all of enable the Pivotal CRM system to connect with any
the tools necessary to design, build, operate, manage, existing integration scheme, which offers flexibility in
and maintain migrations and complex two-way the way business processes are developed, executed,
integrations between any number of systems, Scribe managed, and distributed.
Integrate for Pivotal CRM is a quick, cost‑effective
solution for synchronizing customer information In practice, any enterprise application that can be
between applications, facilitating lead integration, or connected to middleware can be connected to Pivotal
creating quote and order integration with ERP systems. CRM; examples include SAP, Oracle, Oracle JD Edwards,®
and Oracle PeopleSoft.®
4 Pivotal CRM Integration Solutions
5. Custom Integration The Pivotal CRM architecture includes an XML‑based CRM
Pivotal CRM offers a range of tools and technologies to be server that supports an array of applications, clients, and
used for situations in which a complete EAI solution is not users; it provides security, transaction capabilities, and
warranted and a point‑to‑point solution is inappropriate. authentication for Web Services as information is consumed
The most common example of such a situation is a data- and presented. Web Services are delivered through the
warehouse feed, which typically involves high‑volume, Pivotal CRM Web Client, which can be customized to enable
batch‑oriented data loading. In these cases, Pivotal CRM remote access to application functionality as required.
can be integrated in one of several ways:
• Direct integration with the the Pivotal CRM Business
Telephony Integration
Server API (XML and .NET) Integrating CRM with a call‑center or contact‑center
infrastructure ensures that all customer interactions,
• Integration with the back-end database regardless of channel, are recorded in a common customer
repository. This process, called Computer Telephony
• Integration through OLE Control Extensions (OCX)
Integration (CTI), offers a number of features:
Web Services • Screen Pops—incoming calls and corresponding
customer information arrive at an agent’s workstation
Web Services dramatically reduce the cost and complexity
simultaneously, which eliminates the need for the agent
of integrating applications, information systems, and
to look up the information manually.
business processes. Web Services can be used to deliver
non‑transactional, supplementary information, such as • Call Routing—incoming calls are controlled and
news feeds, static information dashboards, and additional routed to agents based on rules, such as customer
company information; they can also be used to support preferences, product history, or IVR selections; the
transactional information, such as new customer initiation workload is distributed to ensure that the right agent
and order fulfillment. For organizations that need to takes the right call.
integrate business‑to‑business systems, interoperate with
applications outside the enterprise, or connect to external • Soft Phone—a software‑based telephone interface
websites, Web Services are a good choice. dials outbound calls and tracks agent phone activities.
Pivotal CRM’s three‑tier architecture is built on the Pivotal CRM Interaction Connector—Universal Edition
Microsoft® .NET framework, which enables Pivotal CRM provides a vendor‑agnostic link between Pivotal CRM
to integrate with, publish, and consume Web Services. and typical call center telephony infrastructure (including
Additionally, Web Services can be generated for any IVRs, ACDs, PBXs, and more). The connector enables
business object defined in the Pivotal CRM system. businesses to leverage existing hardware investments,
while facilitating a move to newer technology, such as
IP‑based contact centers (e.g., I3 Customer Interaction
Center,® Avaya IP Office® or Cisco® IPCC).
Pivotal CRM Integration Solutions 5
