ConnectMagic

  • Provides continuous, bi-directional syncing for both cloud and on-site systems
  • Syncs any-and-all classes of information present in your systems
  • Fixes data inconsistencies across your multiple systems
  • Can operate in Dry Run Mode to produce a spreadsheet of:
    • Inventory item mappings
    • Duplicates or items missing from either system
    • Proposed creation/deletion and update actions
  • Supports:
      • AutoTask
      • Certify
      • LogicMonitor
    • Salesforce
    • ServiceNow
    • SQL Server
    • …and many, many more.

How it works

Introduction

ConnectMagic provides two two-way sync between any number of systems.  It does not act as a central repository, instead federating data around your systems.

Each object’s existence is determined by one “main” system, so:

  • if an object appears in the main system, ConnectMagic will create it in downstream systems;
  • if an object is deleted in a downstream system, ConnectMagic will recreate it in the downstream system;
  • if an object is deleted in the main system, ConnectMagic will delete it in downstream systems; and
  • if an object appears in the downstream system, ConnectMagic will remove it.

Though object creation and deletion is determined by one system, each individual CI fields can originate in any system of your choice, or even from multiple systems.  Fields can easily be combined and split using any business logic you can specify, so information mastered in one field in one system can be combined with other fields from a second system, finally ending up in multiple fields in third and fourth systems.  All this means that your data is automatically and correctly mapped across your federation of systems.
ConnectMagic One System Architecture To understand how ConnectMagic syncs data between systems, let’s first look at how data is synced between the Remote System and “State”.  State is ConnectMagic’s internal representation of the data.  It is only held in memory for better performance.

When ConnectMagic is started (or restarted), it first obtains a view of State by querying the Remote System via the API. 

State is made up of multiple DataSets, one per class of information.  These classes will generally correspond to concepts held in your remote systems, but needn’t have precisely the same meaning and may be filtered.  For example, there may be a single “Hardware Inventory” table in one system, but filtered queries may mean that ConnectMagic maps them into two DataSets: “Network Devices” and “System Devices”.

When all systems have been queried, ConnectMagic considers what actions should be taken.  Objects are created, updated and deleted via each system’s API.

ConnectMagic can cross-reference between classes, enriching one with data from another.  For example, it may be possible to tag a Router from the “Network Devices” DataSet with an Id from the “Account” Dataset.

Example

In this example, we’re going to synchronise LogicMonitor with AutoTask PSA.  We’re going  to consider “Account” and “Configuration Item” classes in AutoTask PSA, and “Resource Group”, “Resources”, “Dashboard Group” and many other classes in LogicMonitor.  We are going to use AutoTask PSA to manage Customer Accounts, and LogicMonitor to discover and manage Devices.

Firstly, note that we define two DataSets in ConnectMagic:

  • Account; and
  • Device

Create/Delete direction

Let’s look at Account first.  The Create/Delete direction is from AutoTask to LogicMonitor.  This means that:

  • If an Account is created in the AutoTask PSA, ConnectMagic can be configured create the following items in LogicMonitor:
    • Resource Group
    • Dashboard Group
    • Dashboard
    • Netscan Group
    • Collector Group
    • Role Group
    • One or more Roles
  • If any of these are accidentally deleted in LogicMonitor, ConnectMagic will recreate them;
  • If an Account is marked “terminated” in AutoTask PSA, ConnectMagic will clean these items up from LogicMonitor
    • This can provide conisiderable savings, ensuring that system licenses are only used where needed
  • If a stray Device or Dashboard is created in LogicMonitor, ConnectMagic will remove it
    • This can prevent accidentally leaking data with non-approved configuration

Mappings

Although the creation and deletion of objects is controlled by the Create/Delete direction, data can flow between individual fields in either direction via “Mappings”.  Data can be combined, split and transformed as part of this process, using the power NCalc expression evaluation language.  The following diagram shows that although the Create/Delete direction is from AutoTask to LogicMonitor, the LogicMonitor Resource Group Id and Dashboard Group Id can be stored in AutoTask PSA user-defined fields (UDFs).

For LogicMonitor Resources, the Create/Delete direction is reversed and objects discovered in LogicMonitor are created as CIs in AutoTask.  AutoTask Ids can be mapped back into LogicMonitor, meaning that alerts raised by LogicMonitor can be correctly mapped to CIs in AutoTask Incidents.

Pricing

An annual ConnectMagic subscription is £2530 (USD and EUR invoicing also available) per integrated system and includes:

  • Access to bugfixes, new features and updates
  • Ability to submit feature requests
  • Choice of hosting options, as below

We will then advise on the number of hours Professional Services you will need for set up, system support and system configuration. As an example, 250 hours is the average amount. Hours are charged at our usual Professional Services hourly rate + VAT.  Further hours can always be purchased if needed.

Hosting Options

Using Our Azure Instance

A SaaS subscription in our Production Azure instance includes:

  • ConnectMagic fully configured for you
  • Automatic system updates with active subscription
  • On termination of the subscription, the service will cease to function
  • PDL is responsible for system availability

In Your Own Azure/AWS Instance

A subscription for use in your own Azure/AWS instance includes:

  • ConnectMagic fully configured for you
  • Automatic system updates with active subscription 
  • All in-flight data stays within your Azure domain
  • PDL holds no responsibility for system availability
  • Perpetual right to use, even after subscription expiry, but with no further software updates
  • An additional set-up fee of £7.5K (USD9500) applies

System Spec for an Azure/AWS instance:

  • Windows:
    • 4 CPU
    • 4GB memory
    • 150GB disk
  • Linux
    • 2 CPU
    • 2GB memory
    • 150GB disk

No effort is required on your part, other that to describe exactly what you need synced, from which system, to which system. To discuss your requirements, book a free meeting or provide a list of systems and data classes you need to sync in the description field, below.