HubBroker iPaaS - FTP protocol
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) can be seen as an easy, fast way to integrate your ERP or Accounts Payable solution to the HubBroker iPaaS. HTTP and SOAP web services are still the recommended best practice method of integrated business document exchange between trading partners and marketplaces due to their nature of using synchronous handshakes and communicating via structured requests and responses between clients and servers. FTP, however, might be the first choice if the technical infrastructure or know how to set up an HTTP based integration is not available or if very large files are exchanged.
FTP and security
HubBroker iPaaS Exchange via FTP requires secure FTP connections. Customer's FTP client must support secure file transfer via FTPs (FTP over TLS/SSL, port 990) or sFTP (Secure Shell (SSH) FTP, port 22).
Sending and receiving documents via the HubBroker iPaaS FTP Service
Customers can choose to send and/or receive electronic Catalogues, Orders, OrderResponses, change orders, Invoices, CreditNotes or vendor master data via FTP upload and FTP polling. On request, HubBroker iPaaS Service Desk does the necessary configuration in the applications and provides URL, username, and password to dedicated directories for upload respectively download of following documents:
- HubBroker iPaaS - Supplier master data via FTP upload
- HubBroker iPaaS - CostObjectInformation, TradingPartnerUserInformation, G/L Mapping via FTP upload
- HubBroker iPaaS - Catalogues via FTP upload
- HubBroker iPaaS - Orders and change orders via FTP upload
- HubBroker iPaaS - OrderResponses via FTP upload
- HubBroker iPaaS - Invoices and CreditNotes via FTP upload
- HubBroker iPaaS - Supplier master data via FTP polling
- HubBroker iPaaS - Catalogues via FTP polling
- HubBroker iPaaS - Orders and change orders via FTP polling
- HubBroker iPaaS - OrderResponses via FTP polling
- HubBroker iPaaS - Invoices and CreditNotes via FTP polling
FTP polling and Service Level Agreements (SLA)
With the delivery to the HubBroker iPaaS FTP server the possibility to track the transport of a business document from one trading partner to the other ends. The SLA for successful document transfer between HubBroker iPaaS and the customer, therefore, covers the transport only until the point that the document has been stored in the FTP folder which the customer has access to. It is the customer's responsibility to regularly check that folder for new messages. After successful download, the directory shall be emptied by deleting the retrieved files from the HubBroker iPaaS FTP area to avoid the processing of the same documents multiple times and to increase the transparency of which documents have been downloaded and which are new.
