How Advantage's Extensibility Services Framework Gives You Control

Advantage offers many integration options within a technical ecosystem. One of those is done through Advantage’s Extensibility Services framework. This framework allows our clients to create custom implementations of standard interfaces (e.g., address hygiene). This approach is an integral part of AdvantageCS’s open system strategy.

The mechanics of the framework are straightforward: Advantage provides the extensibility service contract and interface files while the developer provides the implementation of the service. The service itself could be local to the Advantage software, distributed on a network, or web-based. In contrast, Advantage also supports many out-of-the-box point-to-point integrations to specific vendor packages (e.g., CyberSource for credit card transactions).

The key benefit of this framework is control. With Advantage positioned at the center of an operation, it can be time-consuming and costly when clients need to change systems that integrate in a point-to-point architecture. If clients instead choose to build extensibility services, then the timing and cost of switching vendors is completely up to them. We can certainly help, but putting the control of these services into the hands of clients is beneficial to all parties.

The Extensibility Services framework was first introduced in 2013 and we continue to enhance its capabilities. There are currently over a dozen services supported, ranging from address hygiene to taxation. It’s one way AdvantageCS continues to evolve and enhance our ability to serve our clients across a diverse technical landscape by providing flexibility to integrate with third-party solutions through a consistent, common interface. If this is a feature that you’d like to explore, or for more information on these services, contact your AdvantageCS representative.