Integrations

The heart of every integration from and into epilot is the ERP Toolkit. It enables seamless bi-directional data synchronization between your ERP system and the epilot platform. It provides a robust, event-driven architecture for managing customer data, contracts, meters, and other business entities across systems.

What is the ERP Toolkit?

The ERP Toolkit is an integration layer that:

• Transforms data from ERP-specific formats into epilot entities
• Synchronizes entities bi-directionally between systems
• Tracks changes with full audit trails and monitoring
• Handles complexity of entity relationships and dependencies

Integration Directions

Inbound (ERP to epilot)

Transfer data from your ERP system into epilot. Common use cases include:

• Synchronizing customer master data (contacts, accounts)
• Importing contracts and subscriptions
• Loading meter readings and consumption data
• Updating billing information

Learn more about Inbound Integration

Outbound (epilot to ERP)

Transfer data from epilot back to your ERP system. Common use cases include:

• Sending new customer registrations
• Exporting contract changes
• Triggering billing processes

note

Outbound integration documentation is coming soon.

Key Concepts

Integrations

An Integration represents a connection to an external ERP system. Each integration contains:

• Unique identifier and name
• One or more Use Cases defining specific data flows
• Configuration for authentication and endpoints

Use Cases

A Use Case defines a specific data synchronization scenario within an integration:

Property	Description
type	Either inbound or outbound
enabled	Toggle to activate/deactivate
configuration	Mapping rules and transformation logic

Mapping

Mappings define how ERP data transforms into epilot entities:

{
  "entities": [
    {
      "entity_schema": "contact",
      "unique_ids": ["customer_number"],
      "fields": [
        { "attribute": "first_name", "field": "firstName" },
        { "attribute": "last_name", "field": "lastName" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Architecture

Integration Patterns

There are two primary patterns for integrating your ERP system with epilot: Pull-based (Delta Sync) and Event-driven. The right choice depends on your ERP system's capabilities and data transformation requirements.

Event-Driven (Direct Integration)

In an event-driven approach, your ERP system sends events directly to the ERP Toolkit whenever data changes.

When to use:

• Your ERP system supports webhooks or can send HTTP requests on data changes
• Data can be sent in the format expected by the ERP Toolkit (JSON)
• No complex transformations or validations are required beyond what the mapping configuration supports

Advantages:

• Real-time or near-real-time synchronization
• No additional infrastructure required
• Simpler architecture with fewer moving parts

Pull-Based (Delta Sync with Middleware)

In a pull-based approach, a middleware layer periodically queries your ERP system for changes and pushes them to the ERP Toolkit.

When to use:

• Your ERP system cannot send webhooks or events
• Complex data transformations are required before sending to epilot
• Business logic or validations must be applied during synchronization
• Data from multiple ERP endpoints needs to be aggregated
• You need to implement retry logic or handle ERP-specific rate limits

Advantages:

• Works with any ERP system, regardless of webhook support
• Full control over transformation and validation logic
• Can implement custom batching and scheduling strategies
• Enables delta sync patterns (only sync changed records)

Choosing the Right Pattern

Requirement	Event-Driven	Pull-Based
ERP supports webhooks	✅ Required	Not required
Real-time sync needed	✅ Best fit	Depends on polling interval
Complex transformations	Limited to mapping config	✅ Full flexibility
Custom validation logic	Limited	✅ Full flexibility
Aggregating multiple sources	Not supported	✅ Supported
Minimal infrastructure	✅ Best fit	Requires middleware

tip

Many integrations use a hybrid approach: event-driven for simple, real-time updates (like contact changes) and pull-based for complex scenarios (like aggregating invoice data from multiple systems).

Getting Started

1. Create an Integration - Set up a new integration in epilot
2. Configure Use Cases - Define your data flows and mappings
3. Send Events - Push data from your ERP system
4. Monitor - Track synchronization status and errors

Continue to the Inbound Integration Guide for detailed setup instructions.

Configuration

Learn how to configure integrations, use cases, and mappings in the Configuration Guide.