Integration Overview

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Written By Tad Staley

This article provides guidance on how to plan for and execute a project to automate the integration of PaymentWorks data with your ERP. This document provides an overview of the methodology, stages of which are detailed in the Integration Project Outline article in this section.

This approach is based on experience gained from dozens of integration projects and can be tailored to suit the needs of your organization. If you’d like to learn more or discuss this approach, please reach out to us at bestpractices@nvrpartners.com.

What is PaymentWorks Integration?

At the heart of the value delivered by the PaymentWorks platform is obtaining and managing accurate, fraud-proof, supplier profile data. This ensures that you know who you are dealing with and guarantees you are paying the right recipient.

Suppliers use PaymentWorks to create and maintain their business profile in their own payee account. This data includes everything from tax and legal information, to addresses, diversity, insurance and more. When a supplier registers with their customer (the payer), the profile data that is stored in PaymentWorks must be migrated - after approvals - to the ERP, accurately and securely.

PaymentWorks integration is the process of transmitting the supplier data stored in PaymentWorks to your organization’s ERP.

Walk Before Running

When most PaymentWorks customers launch their use of the platform, the supplier profile data from PaymentWorks is manually migrated to the ERP for some period of time. This means that vendoring personnel will use some combination of exporting, importing and re-keying the data from PaymentWorks to move it to the ERP.

This approach has the advantage of getting value from the platform as soon as possible, since automating the integration process entails executing a substantial project. It also provides the vendoring team some experience with the data and configuration, which may need to be refined from the original. And it’s best to make those refinements before undertaking an integration project.

But there are obvious disadvantages to manual entry, including data entry errors and omissions, and the toll on workers having to migrate the data by hand.

To improve efficiency and minimize error, automating the integration is imperative.

How Long will it Take?

Although there are many variables that can impact the duration of any IT implementation project, with this methodology a PaymentWorks integration project can generally be completed in as quickly as 14 weeks. This assumes that the appropriate resources are allocated, competent and focused.

This integration methodology is divided into the following phases, each showing typical time frames for execution. For details on the recommended tasks for each stage, see the Integration Methodology Outline article in this section.

  • Preparation (1-2 weeks)

  • Configuration (1-2 weeks)

  • Design (3-4 weeks)

  • Development (6-8 weeks)

  • Testing (2-4 weeks)

  • Rollout (1-2 weeks)

What Resources are Required?

The resources needed on a PaymentWorks integration project may include the following:

Technical:

  • Participate in data mapping of fields and transformations between PaymentWorks and ERP

  • Participate in design of integration architecture, providing ERP-specific expertise

  • Development of integration code

  • Participate in troubleshooting errors and gaps in integration

  • With Functional team members, validate the data as received in ERP

Expected level of effort: 1-2 dedicated resources for the duration of the project

Functional:

  • Participate in solution design to ensure compliance with business practices.

  • Participate in data mapping of fields and transformations between PaymentWorks and the ERP.

  • Participate in troubleshooting errors and gaps in integration

  • With Technical team members, perform end-to-end user acceptance testing to validate quality of the solution

Expected level of effort: 3 hours/week through design and development. 6 hours/week for three weeks of user acceptance testing.

ERP Support:

  • ERP expertise to support data mapping of fields and transformations between PaymentWorks and ERP

  • Configuration and access to ERP

  • Ongoing management and support of the ERP test environment

  • Migrating between test and production environments

Expected level of effort: 3 hours/week for the duration of the project

Next Steps

To learn more about this PaymentWorks integration methodology or to discuss your specific area of interest or concern, please reach out to set up a complimentary consultation. We’d be happy to connect!

You can fill out this form including an overview of your interest, or simply email us directly at bestpractices@nvrpartners.com.

Tad Staley
Next

What Gets Integrated and How?