Forum Discussion

JabreyHowell's avatar
JabreyHowell
Qrew Trainee
8 years ago

QB App and SAP sharing info back and forth?

I am writing in hopes of  gaining some information, or some education in layman?s terms, of how much 2 way information sharing can take place between QB and SAP.      I am curious if SAP can take data entered into my existing Quickbase application and pull it into SAP.     Or does an application have to be designed in a completely different manner in order to work with and share information between it and SAP.           For instance.     We create jobs in SAP and they are identifiable with a unique JOB ID. We then create jobs in Quickbase using this same JOB ID.   We do this because the SAP Interface is horrible for the end user and compiling related job data into one view.    We would like to be able to tell SAP to get related job information from specific fields in quickbase, and vice versa.      I have looked online for a better understanding of how this happens in real-life behind the scenes and what has to be in place to make it work, but I can?t find anything that lays it out in a way that is relatable without a background in database design.    I have literally learned as I have gone with Quickbase.    In a few days I am having a meeting with many groups to go over my application as a means to get other districts across our company to look into using this application, and exploring the possibility of opening up communication with SAP, but I simply don?t know enough about the IT integration and setup of this behind the scenes in order to know if it is possible and what has to be in place to make it happen.         
Ask about Quickbase functionality
  • MCFNeil's avatar
    MCFNeil
    Qrew Captain
    8 years ago
    The short answer:  QB and SAP both have very robust API functionality, so basically anything you want to send back and forth is possible.  Especially because you have a common denominator (job ID).

    You are going to want to involve an engineer to see the complexity of the the data model, business model, and your goals to give you an accurate level of effort.

    Usually you have to decide where the 'true' source of information resides, i.e. SAP or QB.  Because you want to make sure the data doesn't override the real stuff with outdated information.

    The long game;  Most companies I know of once they get the QB app built out the right way they can get rid of SAP altogether.  So it depends on what your goals are in the long run, and just plan for that.