Not everyone has the mind of a software programmer or developer. They have a very particular set of skills. The software and systems they create also have very particular parameters. In the same way developers and marketers must learn to work together behind the scenes to make a software company successful, software and systems must work together behind the scenes to make the lives of users easier. They do so with the integration of APIs.

SAGE Connect is an API

API stands for Application Programming Interface. In other words, it’s the way the programming from different applications interfaces (i.e. communicates). An API is a set of rules and protocols that determines how systems work together by exchanging data and functionality. SAGE Connect is a set of APIs for bidirectional (two-way communication) integration with SAGE services. It’s designed to enable supplier systems and distributors systems to exchange direct, real-time information through SAGE’s various services. That information could include anything from up-to-date inventory and order status to shopping cart integration or order forms. This enables seamless workflow in and out of SAGE Workplace. SAGE Connect was specifically developed for complete customization and integration into a website’s architecture or internal application.

Why Integrate with SAGE Connect?

With direct integration via SAGE Connect, when suppliers update their system, it automatically updates data in the SAGE system. In turn, distributors featuring those items on their websites or online stores can pull the updated information to their platforms, ensuring accuracy and consistency. Other than being convenient for distributors, why is this integration important? Distributors having 24/7/365 access to accurate data keeps suppliers from fielding countless phone calls and emails and allows them to provide proactive customer service even when they’re not available. Beyond that, it helps suppliers meet PDX industry standards and provides clean, up-to-date product data.

What is PDX?

PDX stands for Promo Data eXchange, industry standards put forth by PPAI. PDX is core part of PPAI’s mission to improve industry efficiency and drive digital transformation. The establishment of PDX eliminates unnecessary phone calls and emails by providing real-time access to inventory, order status, and other necessary information. Such data is crucial to a distributor’s success.

As PPAI’s technology partner, SAGE developed SAGE Connect to ensure that both distributors and PPAI business service members would be able to access crucial data in real time from every participating PDX vendor.

What’s in it for Distributors?

While SAGE Connect helps suppliers provide accurate, up-to-date data to SAGE services, there are also benefits for distributors who wish to use the API. For example, a distributor could pull live data into a back-office system (or ERP) for seamless information transfer.

SAGE offers websites, but for distributors opting to build their own custom site, SAGE Connect enables distributors to populate the website with SAGE product data. Put simply, SAGE Connect is a product data sharing service.

Developers Required

While this article was written with the average lay person in mind, it should be noted that SAGE Connect is specifically for developers who are interested in performing direct, real-time integrations with SAGE services. To use the API and meet PDX standards, you will need general web programming expertise. That’s programming knowledge, not just web design knowledge. As mentioned previously: developers have a very particular set of skills. To learn more about how to integrate SAGE Connect, watch this video.

One More Thing: Webhooks

SAGE Connect Webhooks released earlier this year. If you want an advanced development architecture that sends notifications with data from one service to another service when a specific event happens, talk to the SAGE team about Webhooks. (For distributors, this means you can automatically push SAGE data—like presentations or product details—to your back-end ERP system.)

To see a detailed presentation about SAGE Connect and other integrations, watch the following SAGE Academy webinar.