Often with larger clients, we find that the corporate intranet contact directory information is out of sync with the latest HR information in Chris21. As a consequence, when staff member accesses the directory, they find that their personal or colleague’s contact information is out of date.
So how do you ensure that the latest employee information is available on the contacts directory within the company intranet? The answer is that there are two ways to go about this: simple and advanced. This article will look at the simple integration method between Chris21 and the SharePoint intranet.
To achieve simple integration between the two systems you would need to get an idea of the information flow and stakeholder relationships. For the purpose of this blog, let us assume the following scenario:
- Chris21 is a tool for the HR/Payroll department to create and maintain employee records. It comprises of name, position, department and manager.
- The IT department will initially create the employee AD account as part of the employee onboarding process.
- There are additional fields that employees would like to update themselves on the corporate intranet but don’t necessarily go into Chris21.
Export Employee Records
Firstly, we will have to copy the employee fields from Chris21 into SharePoint over a simple overnight batch export. Chris21 has the facility of exporting a nightly batch of employee records with the required fields. The unique identifier for the employee record is the employee number from Chris21. The export is set up within Chris21 to occur every night to a network path accessible by SharePoint.
Using a simple routine that is developed in SharePoint to pick up the latest CSV or XML file, the information can be then parsed and matched with the employee number. The underlying assumption is that the employee login has already been created in Active Directory by the IT department and thus exists in SharePoint. The outcome of the export/import routine is that SharePoint updates with the most important employee information such as position, department and manager.
Figure: Showing Chris21 Integration with SharePoint Contacts Directory
Further Configuration
By configuring SharePoint “User Profiles” correctly, you can automatically sync SharePoint and Active Directory overnight. The trick is to schedule the sync service to occur after the Chris21 import routine. There might be some fields that the employee has updated themselves through the intranet “About Me” page. These can go into Active Directory such as room number, location, time zone and profile picture. Users can also update this information to Active Directory through the User Profile Sync.
Finally, there are some fields that will just remain in SharePoint such as “My Interests”. It will never go into any other system and that’s fine.
More About Integration
Although what I have described above is straightforward and simple in terms of data integration, Chris21 does have an API. It allows a more integrated and streamlined approach.
Finally, we get this question a lot. “Can you integrate Chris21 and Active Directory without SharePoint?” The answer is yes, by installing our integration service scripts. However, please note that some IT administrators are not comfortable with having a third-party application updating AD directly. Ultimately, it comes down to each business’ needs and integration workflows that determine the final solution.
To find out how Empower IT can help you integrate Chris21 with your other Microsoft systems like Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365 click here.
Other article that may be of interest:
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Chris21 – SharePoint Integration Connector :
Empower IT used Microsoft SharePoint to achieve simple integration between Chris 21 and Active Directory for the human resources and payroll departments. Read on
