Integrate with live Act CRM Data in Jitterbit

Jitterbit is an enterprise iPaaS (integration platform as a service) that lets you streamline your data workflows. When paired with CData Connect AI, Jitterbit gets access to live Act CRM data. This article demonstrates how to connect to Act CRM using Connect AI and integrate with live Act CRM data in Jitterbit.

CData Connect AI provides a pure OData interface for Act CRM, allowing you to query data from Act CRM without replicating the data to a natively supported database. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect AI pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc.) directly to Act CRM, leveraging server-side processing to return the requested Act CRM data quickly.

Configure Act CRM Connectivity for Jitterbit

To work with Act CRM data from Jitterbit, we need to connect to Act CRM from Connect AI, provide user access to the connection, and create a Workspace for the Act CRM data.

Connect to Act CRM from Connect AI

CData Connect AI uses a straightforward, point-and-click interface to connect to data sources.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection
👁 Adding a Connection

2. Select "Act CRM" from the Add Connection panel
👁 Selecting a data source

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Act CRM.

   The and properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid Act! user credentials. In addition to the authentication values, see the following:

   • Connecting to Act! Premium

     In addition to the authentication values, the to Act! is also required; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/.

     Additionally, you must specify the you will connect to. This is found by going to the About Act! Premium menu of your account, at the top right of the page, in the ? menu. Use the Database Name in the window that appears.

   • Connecting to Act! Premium Cloud

     To connect to your Act! Premium Cloud account, you also need to specify the property. This property is found in the URL address of the Cloud account; for example https://eup1-iis-04.eu.hosted.act.com/ActCloudName/.

   Note that retrieving ActCRM metadata can be expensive. It is advised that you set the property to store the metadata locally.

   👁 Configuring a connection (Salesforce is shown)
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Act CRM Connection page and update the User-based permissions. 👁 Updating permissions
   

Add a Personal Access Token

When connecting to Connect AI through the REST API, the OData API, or the Virtual SQL Server, a Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each service to maintain granularity of access.

1. Click on the Gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open the settings page.
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
3. Give the PAT a name and click Create. 👁 Creating a new PAT
   
4. The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.

Configure Act CRM Endpoints for Jitterbit

After connecting to Act CRM, create a workspace for your desired table(s).

1. Navigate to the Workspaces page and click Add to create a new Workspace (or select an existing workspace). 👁 The Workspaces page.
   👁 Adding a new Workspace.
   
2. Click Add to add new assets to the Workspace.
3. Select the Act CRM connection (e.g. ActCRM1) and click Next. 👁 Selecting an Asset (Salesforce is shown).
   
4. Select the table(s) you wish to work with and click Confirm. 👁 Selecting Tables (Salesforce is shown).
   
5. Make note of the OData Service URL for your workspace, e.g. https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}

With the connection, PAT, and Workspace configured, you are ready to connect to Act CRM data from Jitterbit.

Connect to Act CRM from Jitterbit using Connect AI

To establish a connection from Jitterbit to CData Connect AI using the OData protocol, follow these steps.

1. Log into Jitterbit.
2. Create a project in Cloud Studio and provide a workspace environment for it. 👁 Creating a new project in Jitterbit.
   
3. click Sources and enter OData in the search bar.
4. Select the OData connector.
5. Enter the OData connection properties.
• Connection Name: enter a connection name.
• OData Metadata URL: enter https://cloud.cdata.com/api/odata/{workspace_name}.
• Authentication: select Basic Auth.
• User Name: enter your CData Connect AI username. This is displayed in the top-right corner of the CData Connect AI interface. For example, [email protected].
• Password: enter the PAT you generated on the Settings page.
👁 Configuring connectivity to the Connect AI OData endpoint.

6. Click Test to test the connection, and then click Save Changes.
7. Choose the operation you want to perform and drag it to the workflow in your project. 👁 Selecting the operation for the workflow.
   
8. Double-click the query operation to see all the tables and derived views available in your OData endpoint. 👁 Viewing the available endpoints.
   
9. Select a table and configure the query.

You can now transform and integrate live Act CRM data in Jitterbit.

Get CData Connect AI

To get live data access to hundreds of SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from Jitterbit, try CData Connect AI today!