YM API Xperience 2016
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•173 views
This presentation is directed towards Associations, Society's and Trade Organizations that use YourMembership as their Member Management Platform. The presentation provides case studies on using YourMembership API's for synchronization and SSO integrations. Case Studies for automation between Salesforce-YM and SSO integration between Datamatics, AmericaLearns, SABA to YM
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Similar to YM API Xperience 2016
Similar to YM API Xperience 2016 (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
YM API Xperience 2016
- 1. Discovering the Power of API’s Anirudh Pandya ‘Rudy’ Empowered Margins, Inc.
- 2. … if you are using an API Discovering the Power of API Raise your hand … …if you don’t know what an API is
- 3. About API’s What are they? How can I benefit from API’s?
- 4. ‣ Definition: API’s (Application Program Interfaces) are a set of software tools, protocols and routines that provide access to data in a Cloud Application using pre-defined formats. API is like a window into your database in the Cloud Application. ‣ API’s use standard formatted data such as XML and JSON to query the database and retrieve results. ‣ API’s run “behind the scenes” and avoid the limitations and inefficiencies of User Interface’s (UI’s) ‣ API’s allow us to query the ‘raw data’ stored in the Database used by Cloud Applications What is an API? Discovering the Power of API
- 5. ‣ Repeatable - Tasks are accomplished faster, because the functions/tasks are running at the code level ‣ Efficient – data can be created once and reused in multiple ways ‣ Integrated - streamline business reports using data from different systems for accurate decision making ‣ Batch Processing - multiple tasks concurrently to save time, money and stress! How are API’s Helpful? (Business Perspective) Discovering the Power of API
- 6. ‣ Secure – API’s can be made secured through trust relationships using encryption certificates and keys ‣ Platform Independent – API’s can be accessed using any coding platform ‣ Standard data formats– API’s expect and return results in standard data formats like XML formats ‣ Future Ready and Scalable – API’s can support unanticipated future uses, like data migrations or reuse of existing data towards a new product How Are API’s Helpful? (Technical Perspective) Discovering the Power of API
- 7. Middleware Applications Connect Cloud Software Webinar Title Middleware API API
- 8. ‣ Middleware servers play a connecting role between Cloud Applications ‣ Middleware Servers need to be setup to host the Scripts that make the API calls ‣ These Servers can be hosted in the cloud or any server farm like Amazon, Rackspace, … ‣ Middleware Servers sometimes need to host data from the Cloud in their database for batch processing outside the Cloud Application Role of the Middleware Webinar Title
- 9. Let’s Get Practical Discovering the Power of API
- 10. Raise Your Hand if you like to enter data twice? Discovering the Power of API Common Problem: Duplicate and Asynchronous Data Raise Your Hand if you like to manually generate reports?
- 11. • Automated Data Synchronization to reduce Double Entry and reduce human errors Automation • Single Sign On – Provide your members the convenience to use YM credentials to gain access to multiple software’s Single Sign on Case Study – Triggering Thought Webinar Title
- 12. Case Study Automate – Data Sync YourMembership to Salesforce
- 13. ‣ Goal: Association wanted to increase New Member engagement within the investor/donor community to increase follow-ups using a CRM tool ‣ Association wanted to synchronize New Member Profile data with CRM tool (Salesforce) to eliminate data duplication ‣ Association wanted to keep the data changes updated between YourMembership and CRM tool periodically synchronized Business Problem Webinar Title
- 14. Old Way (Hard Way) Discovering the Power of API Update 1 PROBLEM: Data only moving one direction New Member Extract Update 2 Update 3 Account Management Team Member YM Admin Member Profile Updates Dues & Donation Exports Profile Update Manual Reports Daily Weekly Monthly Admin Pulls Reports Manual Updates
- 15. Discovering the Power of API ‣ Setup a scheduled script on the middleware ‣ Scheduled script fetches new changes from YM and SalesForce into a Database on the middleware server ‣ The script compares the time stamp on changes and writes updates to respective systems ‣ Created and Mapped Custom Fields in YourMembership and SalesForce ‣ This process was to be scheduled as a daily batch job and could also be triggered manually by the administrator. Technology Solution Specifics
- 16. New Way: Data is Synchronized Discovering the Power of API Account Management Team Member Profile Update Solution: Synchronous Data Member Profile Updates Dues and Donations New Member Reports Automatic Updates Middleware API API
- 17. YM serves as the single point data entry and information collection source. Member can modify their own profile records in YM and it can be synchronized over to any other cloud application The sales team maintains its workflow autonomy within CRM but has access to the newest member information for follow up Automatic and frequent reporting Engage newest members with most accurate data Benefits Discovering the Power of API
- 18. Discovering the Power of API
- 19. ‣ Involve all stakeholders – Requirements and Testing ‣ Understand and Map data between YM (source) and target application ‣ Business Rules around Internal Workflows to tackle Updating & Deleting records ‣ Data Synchronization Conflict – Who wins? YM or other application ‣ Error – Logs and Notifications Checklist – Synchronization API Discovering the Power of API
- 20. Case Study Integrate – Single Sign on
- 21. ‣ Association had geographically dispersed staff of coaches ‣ Association needed a Single Sign On to allow Coaches to access 3rd Party resources like reporting timesheets, training material and performance records ‣ Association Coaches had to remember 4 sign in credentials and URL access points ‣ Association Support Staff spent time on support calls regarding account lockout and resetting credentials Business Problem Discovering the Power of API
- 22. Problem #1 YM Admin Discovering the Power of API I have to CREATE 4 different usernames and passwords! Problem #2 YM User I have to REMEMBER 4 different usernames and passwords! 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4.
- 23. Solution Overview: Single Sign-On Using YM as Identity Provider Discovering the Power of API API Authenticates Member Secure Packet for Member Login to various Applications Middleware (Member Database) Member Signs into YM Website Navigates to Custom Page for SSO
- 24. One Solution Fixes Multiple Problems Discovering the Power of API Happy Member I only have to create ONE username and password! I only have to remember ONE username and password! Happy YM Admin 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1 Login and Password! 1 Login and Password!
- 25. Technology Solution – Single Sign on Discovering the Power of API
- 26. ‣ SSO Solutions are implemented with YM as the Identity provider ◦ Enable @@WEBSITE_ID@@ Macro at YM ‣ Identify Internal Process to Provision users ◦ Auto Create members ◦ Deletion of Members Scenarios ‣ Service Provider Application ◦ Get all SSO Documentation from Service Provider ◦ Ensure your current account status provides you access to API’s ◦ Get API’s keys from Service Provider ◦ Check with Service Provider if Trust certificates are required Before Implementing an SSO … Discovering the Power of API
- 27. About the YM API
- 28. ‣ YM API can be accessed using API Key’s assigned to all customers. ◦ “Content Settings > General Settings > API Config” ‣ YM API documentation is available online ◦ To use the YM API one needs to know the Input/Query/Search Parameters and understand the format of the Output data, these can be found at https://api.yourmembership.com/reference/2_03/Methods.htm YM API Notes Discovering the Power of API
- 29. ‣ Engage all stakeholders for Specifications ◦ Stakeholder to prepare their own Use Case Scenario – How do they plan to use the data? How often? ‣ Train all stakeholders on expectations ◦ To recognize the limitations of the Middleware solution ◦ To use and test the integration ‣ Changes in business rules/workflow can impact the API functioning ◦ Some API Implementations are sensitive to nomenclature standards and configurations ‣ Map your own Data and Data Flow before engaging the vendor ◦ The YM Data mapped to the data in the Endpoint Application ◦ Ensure all the Data Operations (like creating, modifying and deleting data) are accounted ‣ Support Contract ◦ Post deployment/implementation support Setting up API based Solutions for Success – Some Best Practices Discovering the Power of API
- 30. ‣ Share Test Scenarios and Test Data with Developer/Vendor ‣ Parameterize ◦ API key, Sync time, Credentials, Endpoints, Email address ‣ Alerts & Error Logs ◦ Manage and Review Error Logs periodically ◦ Email failures to Stakeholders ‣ Ensure Script and Server follow Eastern Time while interacting with YM API ◦ API solutions are dependent on YM’s Server time and any time sensitive cutoffs may be constrained by this time ‣ Track YM API Call Limits Technology Solution – Best Practices Discovering the Power of API
- 31. A Few Cloud Integration Solutions by Empowered Margins Discovering the Power of API
- 32. Thank you
Editor's Notes
- Empowered Margins is a Technology Consulting company. Empowered Margins we work in two industry verticals, Health Insurance and Cloud Integrations for Association Management. I am a techie, so I have sought the help of my colleague and friend Eric Demeter, to help me keep it from getting too technical. Nevertheless this is a technical topic and I expect some concepts needing more clarification, I would request you make a note and save them to be answered after the presentation. Before I proceed … I would like to know
- Lets start with what is an API … Cloud Software is ubiquitous in the Industry and personal life. Gmail, Facebook, twitter these are all cloud based applications. It is estimated that a small to medium sized organization uses at least a couple Cloud based Application – be it Quickbooks for accounting or YourMembership for member management. These Cloud software’s do not talk with each other, however most Cloud Applications provide the ability to communicate with each other. So ... What are API? & ... How can I benefit from API’s?
- The Web Interface can be limiting to viewing and analyzing data. Most of us probably use Excel to analyze data.
- A business perspective - Spend more time engaging and deepening member relations than spending time formatting excel sheets
- The Technology Perspective
- The purpose of these case studies is to ‘Trigger Thought’. I will try to not get too technical.
- There are two perspectives to the problem of credentials, the administrator who provisions and the other is the user who has to remember credentials.
- Deletion of Members – Some Cloud Applications license by registered users, so you may need to setup a deletion process outside of the SSO. In the current case study if a YM Member’s registration expired, he no longer had access to the Custom Page through which they accessed the Single Sign On.
- As much as the techie in me would like to dive deeper into this section, I will refrain from putting you to sleep before the beach bash.
- Engage all stakeholders - The API projects are generally executed by IT folks who are not intimately aware of the entire business process. Get the end user to define Use Cases. Training stakeholders – Mention how the YM Export API does not return a future dated Order, it is limited to orders prior to current date only Change in Business Rules – Synchronization services can be affected if New Member Types are created and synchronization rules are not defined.
- Prototype – If you can, invest to build a rough reusable prototype to confirm data transformations