Integration Methods

LeaseAccelerator offers API and file-based integrations, both of which mitigate security risks.

Download a PDF version of the Enterprise Integration User Guide.

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)

For inbound and outbound integration, LeaseAccelerator offers a full library of well-documented and secured RESTful APIs to interface with ERPs, real estate administration systems, fleet management systems, fixed asset systems, and any other system that can call RESTful APIs and process XML.

LeaseAccelerator Restful APIs can be used for:

• Synchronizing reference data such as Lessee, project, property tax authority, address, business unit, entity, funder, geo, company, and contact information

• Importing leased assets and deals as well as data for subledger entries such as disbursements and payment adjustments

• Recording events or intentions for future events such as lease terminations, renewals, and buyouts

• Generating ledger exports and asset-level detail reports

• Generating due payments to ERP Accounts Payable and importing actual disbursements

• Importing currency exchange rates

• Searching for leased assets, contacts, and schedules

• Provisioning and revoking user privileges for Single Sign-On

File-based

In addition to APIs, LeaseAccelerator supports simple file transfer and file exchange.

Outbound file exports:

LeaseAccelerator generates and exports files in multiple formats: XML, TSV, CSV, Pipe delimited, fixed-width or XLSX. While for imports, LeaseAccelerator can import files in csv, xml and XLSX (Microsoft Excel) formats.

The Reporting Engine supports automatic transfer of generated reports via SFTP (secure file transfer protocol) based on a user defined schedule, allowing reporting to be leveraged as a data export mechanism.

For exports (LeaseAccelerator outbound); LeaseAccelerator users can export files manually at any time or can schedule files to be automatically generated and transferred to a designated folder on a client-

provided SFTP folder (see section FTP SETUP FOR OUTBOUND FILE TRANSFER) and/or e- mail at specific frequency (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.). The client then uploads these files into the destination ERP/ application.

To ensure security and protection, LeaseAccelerator can encrypt the exported files to SFTP folder using PgP.

LeaseAccelerator Inbound file Transfer import:

LeaseAccelerator can import files in csv, xml and XLSX (Microsoft Excel) formats.

For imports (inbound), there is a one-time configuration where LeaseAccelerator file watcher can be configured by the LeaseAccelerator team to monitor a specific folder on the client FTP server.

Once files with specific, agreed upon name, format and layout are placed in this folder, LeaseAccelerator processes the file by validating and importing the data into LeaseAccelerator then sending a notice of failure or success via email.

Integration project planning

Professional Services team

The integration project is led by LeaseAccelerator’s full-time Professional Services team which has extensive experience in implementing LeaseAccelerator, including integration to major ERPs and asset management systems.

LeaseAccelerator’s integration professionals manage the integration project and lead the development of the business and technical solution architectures and designs for integration. Based on the solution selected and due to the variety of ERPs and external systems, the actual build of the interfaces may require the services of external implementation consultants or the client’s IT resources.

Integration project phases

The LeaseAccelerator integration project is completed in five stages that are led by the Professional Services team at LeaseAccelerator.

Business solution architecture

The main purpose of any integration is to enable systems to exchange information and allow a business process to span across two systems.

Because every client has different business and technical requirements and limitations, LeaseAccelerator has a variety of methods and tools to support all forms of integration, including real time, asynchronous, file-based, and bulk upload.

The first phase of any integration is to discuss the business requirements with stakeholders.

To determine the requirements — and ensure that they meet the client’s long-term business needs — LeaseAccelerator considers the post-integration process and analyzes all scenarios to ensure that they account for all use cases.

Business stakeholders are engaged to review and analyze the following:

• Use cases
• Data exchange frequency
• Business rules
• Connections
• Data fields
• Business validation scenarios and exception handling
• Business flow
• Risks

During this first phase, business stakeholders begin to build test cases covering all possible scenarios.

Technical solution architecture

Once the business solution is approved, the integration technical professionals from IT analyze it and draft a technical solution to satisfy the requirements and factor in technology, security, and sustainability.

The IT and InfoSec teams analyze the following:

• Technical alternatives of integration methods
• Data mapping
• Internal mechanics
• Sync vs. async data exchange
• Authentication
• Security
• Sustainability
• Handling for successful data exchanges, failures, and exceptions
• Potential ERP upgrade effects on proposed integration design

If the technical architecture would affect any of the business requirements, the technical integration team returns to the business stakeholders to agree on changes and approve the final solution architecture.

During this phase, the technical stakeholders begin to build test cases, covering all possible scenarios. Often, technical teams build their cases on top of the business test cases.

Build

Depending on the solution architecture and design, a build team may be responsible for the following:

• Configuring the applications involved in the integrations

• Providing infrastructure support, including assembly of components and middleware

• Customizations – if any

• Documenting the integration

Test

Once the build phase is complete in a test environment, the business and technical teams run their test cases, validate and register results, and connect with the build team for any support needed.

Once all test cases have been executed successfully, the build team tunes and optimizes the integration.

After documentation of the integration as built is complete, the technical team is ready to move the integration to the production environment.

Sustain

To ensure that the integration is sustainable for the long term, the integration team should proactively consider any potential impacts, which may include the following:

• Upgrade of one of the integrated systems

• Upgrade of an operating system or middleware

• Changes in security policy or authentication technologies

• Changes in business requirements

• Changes in data load volumes handled by the interfaces

• Changes in performance

• Frequency of failure and data corruption

• Security vulnerabilities

The Fast Track approach

This guide explains standard and best practice process flows, use cases, exceptions, and data mapping, based on tested and optimized solutions. Clients who follow the contents, approaches, and mapping can go into the fast-track approach explained in the chart below which saves up to 60% of the standard time needed for integration.

Fast Track integration activities

Phase 1: Solution Architecture

Phase 2: Build and Test