Connecting QuickBase with Data(bases)Peter Fearey, Customer Success Group Manager

What’s The Problem People Want to Solve?

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Reference Data• Employee info• Customer firmographics

Transactional• Sales / Orders• Support tickets

…which can require additional data…

…that’s stored in variety of formats

Business Needs…

• Give users more reference data• Improve reporting with add’l data

Files Databases Business Apps

QuickBase Application

Importing Examples

What’s The Problem People Want to Solve?

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Reference Data• Employee info• Customer firmographics

Transactional• Sales / Orders• Support tickets

…which can require additional data…

…that’s stored In variety of formats

Business Needs…

• Give users more reference data• Improve reporting with add’l data

…where need to get data out to other data sources

Business Needs…

• Use “enterprise reporting” tools• Integrate with a data warehouse• Backup / Archive data

Files Databases Business Apps

Databases

Reporting Tools

BusinessApplications

Files

QuickBase Application

Importing Examples Exporting Examples

And to Accomplish Business Needs, Need to…

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QuickBase Application

Databases

Reporting Tools

Files

Files

Databases

Business Apps

Business Apps

Extract Load

Transform

EXTRACT TRANSFORM LOAD

MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS “ETL”

General ETL/Integration1 Options

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API Scripting

QuNect ODBC

QuickBase Desktop

App-Link Boomi

Programming Required Point and Click

1 This list only includes technologies not specific to single packaged business applications2 The list of supported applications is a representative sample and not ALL supported apps

Complexity Continuum

Sampling of Apps

Integrates with 2

Anything that has a programmatic API that can be called from a

script

MS ExcelMS Access

Crystal ReportsBusiness Objects

MS SQL Server

VB built appsVB.net built apps

MS Access MS Excel FreshbooksQuickBooks

NetSuiteSalesforce.com

MS SQL ServerOracle Database

Oracle E-BusinessPeopleSoftSAP ERP

Offering Strengths

Extract

Load

Extract

Load

Extract

Load

ExtractTransform

Extract Transform

Load

What Is It?

A set of APIs and SDKs

that can be used to integrate QuickBase

An ODBC driver that allows you to access QuickBase

An MS Access Database that

Sync’s with QuickBase

An Excel template with

VBA routines that connect Excel to

QuickBase

An integration platform-as-a-service that

connects cloud & on-premise apps

Who offers? Intuit Partner Intuit Partner Partner

• What it requires…– A developer that can use the HTTP API or one of the QuickBase SDKs– A scripting environment (which one depends on that language want to use)– A server for triggering/running the scripts and logging results

• How you do it…– Pick a language/SDK and development environment want to use and get educated on it

• Review example code (e.g. what’s on QIN and what’s in QuickBase Desktop)• Learn about ways to import/export data…

- API calls used for data integration: API_ImportFromCSV, API_AddRecord and API_DoQuery- Techniques for exporting, including defining reports that export data in specific formats…

– Start developing… (see other Tech Fest presentations for help)

• Best for…– Integrating with other custom developed applications– Coding complex business logic and data processing

• Example: Doing a lookup for a related master before importing

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API Scripting

For more information, go to our QuickBase Innovator’s Network (QIN)…

http://quickbase.intuit.com/developer/

• What it requires…– A computer with Microsoft Access installed– A copy of the QuickBase Desktop MS Access template/file

• How you use it…– Download and open a copy of the “QuickBase Desktop” MDB file– Enter username/password, which will prompt QuickBase to list your apps– Select which tables you’d like to sync down to your desktop / MS Access– QuickBase will pull 1) field/report definitions and 2) all data to local machine

• Best used for…– Archiving of data– Pulling data onto local server for a reporting engine to access for advanced analytics

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QuickBase Desktop

For more information, go here…

http://quickbase.intuit.com/developer/ and search for “QuickBase Desktop”

• What it requires…– A server or client machine to install the driver– Software to run the driver e.g.

• MS Excel, MS Access, MS Word, MS Visio, Crystal Reports• WinSQL, FuzzyDupes, SQL Server, Informatica

– A purchased license to the driver

• How you use it…– Install QuNect and configure ODBC sources on server/system– Depending on application/environment you’re using…

• If Excel / Crystal, can import or build reports by pointing to created data source • If developing custom app (e.g. VBA app), can start referencing data in code

• Best used for…– Leveraging eco system of ODBC software

and team of developers who know SQL– Building easily maintainable scripts

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QuNect ODBC

For more information, go here… http://quickbase.intuit.com/partners/featured-extensions

• What it requires…–MS Excel installed on all user’s machines– A VBA developer who’s able to customize (or can get partner help)– A purchased license of Advantage Software’s App-Link template

• How you use it…– Configure the tables and reports want to download– Build dashboard content & summary reports to render the data

• Best used for…– Creating custom dashboard & reporting–Offering smart, sophisticated data input

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App-Link

For more information, go here… http://quickbase.intuit.com/partners/featured-extensions

• What it requires…– Subscription to Boomi AtomSphere– A developer who’s capable of creating integration scripts

• How you use it…– Connect QuickBase with any other SaaS or on-premise application using

drag-and-drop web-based workflow environment– Deploy integration into Boomi’s cloud, or on-premise for integrating apps

behind the firewall

• Best used for…– A platform for coding and scheduling many integrations– Integrating with many

different packaged apps

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Boomi

For more information, go here…

http://www.boomi.com

Other Partner/Targeted Examples…

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For more information, go here…

http://quickbase.intuit.com/partners/featured-extensions

• Like any other business we have two key needs…– Front line employees need…• Systems that are easy to use / navigate (and we chose QuickBase :->)• Access to information relevant to doing their job

–Management needs…• Dashboard reporting to see daily results (without huge costs)• Access to information across all functions (e.g. operations, sales, etc)

• So we set out to do two things…1. Consolidate all invoice and credit card charge info2. Build a data warehouse of all cross-functional business data

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A Case Study… The QuickBase Business Warehouse

Enabling Front Line Teams With Data they Need

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QuickBase

Oracle DB w/Invoice Data

Extract LoadTransform

CSV File SQL ServerIntegration

Services

QuickBaseDesktop

Automated Sync

Oracle “Job”

API_AddRecord called from

Billing Application

Credit Card Billing App

• The Problem… Front line teams needed to be able to see payment status for each account, and

1. Invoice data resided in company billing system- an Oracle database2. Credit card charges were done in back end system and not stored in easy to access repository

• The Solution…

• ROI and Impact…• Front line teams can…

• no longer need to click between many screens to get basic billing info...saves hours • be more proactive about helping accounts deal with billing during renewal time

• New reporting has helped identify handful of “non-paying accounts”

• Lessons Learned…• There’s no single approach to data integration because every system has unique challenges• Automated two-way sync’ing and permissions with QB Desktop simplified loading

Customer CentralApplication

Match / Lookup Augment

QuNect Single

Record Updates

SQL Bulk Load

QuNect

Bulk Extract

SQL Bulk Load

Building Enterprise Data Warehouse and Reporting

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Account Data

Extract LoadTransform

SQL ServerIntegration

Services

• The Problem… Team needed ability to run reports on huge amounts of data Data we needed resided in various sources: QuickBase, SQL Server production database, logs, etc

• The Solution…

• ROI and Impact… Daily updating gives us almost real-time access to how the business is doing Key decisions are backed by sound analysis and are grounded in data (as opposed to opinion)

• Lessons Learned… Single record updating gives us ability to notify team members when changes occur Multiple reporting technologies can be necessary for different levels of detail and capability

QuickBase

SQL Analysis Services

QuickBase

Dashboard &Pivot tables

Customer CentralApplication

Customer CentralApplication

QuickBase Reports

Web Server Logs

Aggregate

Consolidate

Match / Lookup

Augment

SQL DataWarehouse

Report

• Realize that there’s no “one size fits all” approach…– Each integration is unique…and it just takes time to build them out– It’s good to be aware/familiar with different techniques and technologies

• Focus on the integrations that will help the largest # of people first

• Standardize on one “platform” for scheduling and monitoring the entire environment. Options include:– Custom scripting environment using SDK / API– Packaged tools: SQL Server Integration Services, Boomi, Informatica, etc

• Select the tools / languages you’re organization knows best…– And if necessary, don’t be afraid to get help from one of our partners

http://quickbase.intuit.com/partners

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Best Practices to Working with Data

But most importantly, remember that…

QuickBase is a database, and like other databases, it can be integrated with most anything

QUESTIONS?

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