Randstad is one of the world’s largest HR service companies. When they updated their global CRM system to Salesforce, they established Salesforce data integration to their ERP by using the CData JDBC Driver, simplifying their back-office operations with real-time integration of Salesforce data – no manual input required. The CData JDBC Driver enabled easy Salesforce integration that minimized Randstad’s development workload, freeing their team to focus on core IT priorities instead of time-consuming, manual data integration.
Key Requirements
- Randstad needed to integrate client information from Salesforce into their ERP system.
- They wanted to quickly deliver the project in-house, without costly integration consulting or outsourcing the integration.
- Randstad needed a stable solution that would provide easy implementation and minimize future maintenance.
The Solution
- Randstad selected the CData JDBC Driver to help them deliver the integration using SQL, without having to learn the complexities of Salesforce integration.
- The driver enabled real-time integration from the ERP side, allowing them to easily import client information from Salesforce into their ERP.
- As the driver enabled loose coupling, without middleware, Randstad saved time and avoided the complexities associated with storing data.
Randstad Integration Q&A
Q: What was the scope of the project?
Mr. Hoshino: The global transition to Salesforce for customer relationship management necessitated Salesforce-ERP integration. In HR service, relationships with our clients are critical. We need to understand the needs of our clients and provide services to gain trust and build long-term relationships, so we decided to modernize the system we use to manage relationships with our clients. As Randstad started using Salesforce globally, the Japan office shifted to Salesforce from an existing system. We needed integration between our ERP and Salesforce client information to ensure a smooth back-office operation.
Q: What were the bottlenecks in Salesforce integration?
Mr. Hoshino: Security necessitated Salesforce API access from within our firewall. In this integration, we needed to perform real-time integration of Salesforce data from our ERP system. We had the choice to use enterprise ETL to perform hard integration of Salesforce data. But if we physically stored data in our ERP, the scope of the integration would have been wider and made maintenance harder for even a small change to client information in Salesforce. We also have an internal security rule that we cannot open an access port to our ERP from Salesforce, so needed to call the Salesforce API from inside of our firewall. However, we did not have much experience in Salesforce API integration. We found the CData JDBC Driver, which provides a SQL interface to the Salesforce API, and we decided to install it.
Q: What were the key considerations in selecting CData JDBC Driver?
Mr. Hoshino: Loose coupling sped up the project timeline. Primarily, the CData JDBC Driver is a library and not middleware that stores Salesforce data, fitting perfectly with our need to perform real-time integration of Salesforce data. This way, changes in data structure and the input UI on the ERP side are minimal, and there’s no stored data to manage. This significantly increased our development efficiency, including a reduction in future maintenance. Another point was CData Drivers saved us time we would have had to spend learning the Salesforce API, which was essential for an in-house, fast-track project like this.
Q: What do you think about CData Drivers?
Mr. Hoshino: The SQL interface let our team deliver integration without API expertise. It was unbelievably easy for our engineers to deliver our Salesforce integration using the CData JDBC Driver. Our engineers are professionals knowledgeable in enterprise applications that use RDBMS, but they’re not experts in Salesforce APIs. The CData Driver provided a SQL interface, so our engineers could develop Salesforce integration just like querying regular RDBMS like Oracle or MySQL. We now have more integration projects like this and believe we can implement them quickly and easily with CData Drivers.
