eStore Advantage ? Extending Microsoft eConnect for MBS Great Plains

eStore Advantage allows front-office applications to communicate with back-office business environments. It has a built-in support for electronic payment processing, and serves as a core integration platform for Nodus Technologies front-to-back office connectivity suites including RMS and CRM Advantage.

eStore Advantage for Microsoft Business Solutions-Great Plains leverages Microsoft eConnect to provide seamless integration into Great Plains back office. Here are some of the highlights of eStore Advantage, and how it extends eConnect's EAI interface to provide a complete end-to-end solution.

Reduced Deployment Time:

Microsoft eConnect is a powerful tool for Great Plains back office integrations. Although it provides a robust XML interface, the system integrators still need to be familiar with MBS Great Plains table structures and field names. eStore Advantage simplifies Microsoft eConnect's XML document interface by providing an easy to use business object layer. Application developers don't have to know about Great Plains or eConnect, they just utilize the provided objects to implement their business logic. All the underlying integration issues are handled by eStore Advantage, thus reducing the deployment time and the learning curve associated with eConnect implementations.

Connected / Disconnected Modes:

The eStore Advantage framework is designed to operate in both disconnected and connected environments. In disconnected mode information is exchanged through Nodus Web Service hosted at the back office, in cases where web service is down or not available, messages are queued at the front office till the communication is restored. In connected mode all the data follows to the back office without being queued, however the web service can still be deployed if deemed necessary.

XML-based Architecture:

Designed for easy maintenance and durability eStore Advantage Business Objects utilize XML for serialization, queuing and data transport between front and back office environments. It not only offers existing storefronts, web solutions, and custom applications the ability to integrate with back office environment, but also provides developers a powerful infrastructure for their electronic commerce and enterprise applications. Customers don't have to worry about different eConnect intrinsic XML documents types and field names. They have the flexibility to define their own fields, and customize how they are mapped to eConnect documents. In addition they have the ability to access custom tables defined within Great Plains or an external database.

Simplified Integration - Helps You Focus on Business Level Issues:

In short eStore Advantage significantly decreases implementation time from months to days, enabling customers to focus on business logic and application development rather than integration issues. eStore Advantage for Great Plains comes pre-packaged with Credit Card Advantage and Microsoft eConnect Runtime providing a complete solution that's both practical and cost effective.

For more information contact Nodus Technologies, Inc.

(909) 482-4701

http://www.nodustech.com

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Does eStore Advantage come with eConnect?

A: Yes. eStore Advantage comes pre-packaged with Microsoft eConnect for ISV.

Q: What documents are supported by eStore Advantage?

A: Current release of eStore Advantage provides objects for SOP, Inventory, Cash Receipts, Purchase Orders and Customer Maintenance.

Q: How can we access information from other modules not supported by eStore Advantage?

A: eStore Business Objects include a DataSet object, which can be configured to access any eConnect XML Document. In addition you can use the same DataSet object to get information from custom tables defined in Great Plains database.

Q: Can I process electronic payment using eStore Advantage?

A: eStore Advantage has a built-in support for processing electronic payments. Using our transaction server you can process credit cards, echecks and ACH transactions through variety of payment gateways. The approved transactions are added as payment lines to new or existing SOP transaction and carried over to Great Plains.

Q: What if we want to pre-authorize credit cards from the web site, and charge them later upon shipment?

A: When processing pre-authorizations through eStore Advantage, the payment information is saved in Nodus-specific tables. No payment lines are created for the associated order or invoice. When shipping department is ready to fulfill the order they use Nodus' Credit Card Advantage to charge the credit card. This automatically creates the payment line and sets the amount received.

Q: Is it possible to migrate from Microsoft eCommerce to eStore Advantage?

A: Yes. Microsoft eCommerce uses a disconnected model, where Front and Back Offices are kept in-sync through Business Document Exchange (BDX) messaging. By replacing the BDX components with Nodus Web Service, and modifying Front Office Commerce Server pipeline to use eStore Business Objects, we can provide the same integration using Nodus' eStore Advantage and Microsoft eConnect.

About The Author

Nodus Technologies, Inc. delivers State-of-the-Art Electronic Payment Processing solutions which allows companies to easily and quickly set up and accept electronic payments within Microsoft Business Solutions - Great Plains, Small Business Manager, Retail Management System, CRM, eOrder, and eCommerce. Our Payment Advantage Suite of solutions includes Credit Card Advantage, eStore Advantage, CRM Advantage, and RMS Advantage. For more info visit: http://www.nodustech.com

josh@nodustech.com