Iress Open Standard Integration - FAQs

[jim.farrell]

Question:

How does the 'Standard Integration' work?

Answer: 

Iress designed a solution that simplifies connectivity with Xplan utilising a selection of our existing API calls.  To do this we have introduced a Backend For Frontend (BFF) layer which allows Iress to logically group API calls and reduces the traffic from an integrator to Xplan.

For example with regards to extracting contact information; instead of requesting a title, then requesting a first name, then middle names, then surname the integrator can simply request contact information, and the data behind these 4 separate calls would be returned, along with any other information in the same group.

This layer exists now and is available for integrators to interrogate and investigate the art of the possible.  Once a third party has built up a service that joins up to this integration type, and in agreement with Iress, the connection can be ‘switched on’ quickly on a site by site basis meaning that deployment to live is vastly reduced.

Question:

Is the integration really two way?

Answer: 

Yes.  Unlike other provider solutions the Iress will allow data to be retrieved (GET), populated (POST), amended (PATCH), or deleted (DELETE).  There are some limitations - in the interests of security and data protection as you might expect.

Question:

What data is within the scope of the Standard Integration?

Answer: 

Iress have built an API doorway that facilitates the Two-Way transfer of data for the following endpoints.

Address	Read / Write	Liability	Read / Write
Asset	Read / Write	Goal	Read / Write
Client	Read / Write	Expense	Read / Write
Contact	Read / Write	Income	Read / Write
Dependant	Read / Write	Retirement Income	Read / Write
Document Note	Write Only	Pension	Read / Write
Insurance Summary	Read Only (write under detail)	Portfolio	Read Only
Insurance Detail - General / Medical / Life	Read / Write	Locale Specific - i.e. Superannuation	Read / Write

Important Note: Dependent on their own solution requirements and the evolution of the third party product some integrators may only use some of the endpoints.

Question:

How much data is available under each endpoint?

Answer: 

 This varies - the lower level of detail is published in the Iress swagger documentation which is available to analysts and developers.

A word of caution where data is passed into Xplan via an integration it has the potential to continue on a journey, further/deeper into Xplan.  On its journey in xplan, the data may be converted/changed at a level that is not available to the integrator.  Therefore, care needs to be taken when patching existing data, to ensure the information is being updated correctly.

Question:

Does the Standard Integration link up custom xplan fields?

Answer: 

No.  In order to maintain the benefits of quick and repeatable deployments the standard integration will only service core Xplan fields.

Question:

What data validation is performed within the integration?

Answer: 

The existing Xplan field validation (as there is for direct input) will be in operation.  There is no new validation for data passed into Xplan from integrations.  Therefore the integration / user of the integration should validate the data (as much as is feasibly possible), before it is sent.  

Question:

Can we process bulk updates though Iress Open?

Answer: 

The standard integration utilises the Iress restful API suite and has been built to manage individual synchronous calls.  Batched messages or bulk updates are not best supported using this method but if an integrator needs to operate in this manner we can discuss a custom build.

Question:

How does the integration handle currency conversions?

Answer: 

Each Xplan site will have a base site currency set.  If an integration needs to send a value in EUR to a GBP Xplan site, the appropriate conversion will need to be made before the message arrives in Xplan.  Conversely values will be passed out in the base currency.

If the nature of your query is more detailed / technical you could also try here - Trouble Shooting .