Senior Integration Engineer / Agency Needed: Bidirectional Smartsheet Microsoft Dynamics 365FreelanceJobs • Canada
Senior Integration Engineer / Agency Needed: Bidirectional Smartsheet Microsoft Dynamics 365
FreelanceJobs
- Canada
- Canada
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The entire project decision hinges on whether we can deliver a reliable, maintainable, bidirectional integration between Smartsheet and Business Central.
Important constraint: The client has explicitly rejected third-party automation/iPaaS intermediaries (e.g., Zapier / Make / n8n).
They do have the full Microsoft stack, so Power Automate may be acceptable only if it meets all constraints (near real-time, bidirectional, monitoring, no forbidden intermediaries, robust ops). Our preferred approach is a custom integration gateway/service that connects both platforms via API.
We are looking for an experienced engineer or agency to design, build, and deploy this integration with strong operational quality (monitoring, retries, reconciliation, documentation).
What you will build
Goal
A bidirectional, near real-time synchronization between Smartsheet and Business Central so that:
• Business Central remains the operational system of record for ERP data.
• Smartsheet serves as the project control layer (project plans, WBS/tasks, reporting dashboards).
• Updates in either system propagate to the other with clear rules for ownership, conflict resolution, idempotency, and traceability.
Integration approach (you must recommend + implement)
Please propose and implement one (or a hybrid) with a clear rationale:
Option A — Custom Integration Gateway (preferred)
A lightweight integration microservice/gateway that:
• Connects to both APIs (Smartsheet + Business Central)
• Uses event-driven sync where possible (webhooks/subscriptions)
• Falls back to scheduled polling where necessary (define best achievable latency, e.g., 1–5 minutes)
• Requires no external business database (see "No External DB constraint")
Option B — Power Automate (acceptable only if it fully complies)
• Must meet near real-time and bidirectional requirements
• Must support robust monitoring, error handling, scalability
• Must not rely on forbidden intermediaries
In your proposal, explicitly state whether Power Automate can fully meet constraints. If not, explain why the custom gateway is required.
Core requirements (non-negotiable)
1) Bidirectional sync
• ERP → Smartsheet and Smartsheet → ERP
• Near real-time preferred (event-driven); otherwise best-latency polling with delta updates
• Idempotency: prevent duplicates and infinite loops (A updates B triggers back to A)
• Conflict resolution: deterministic rules (field-level ownership and/or last-write-wins with timestamps; ERP master for certain entities is likely)
• Selective sync: only agreed entities/fields sync; everything else ignored
• Traceability: correlation IDs and clear auditability of what changed where
2) Initial baseline scope (final scope confirmed in discovery)
At minimum, the integration should cover:
• Projects
o Smartsheet: project sheet / project rows
o Business Central: Jobs / Projects (or equivalent)
o Direction: Bidirectional
• Tasks / WBS
o Smartsheet: rows (tasks) + columns
o Business Central: job tasks / planning lines
o Direction: Bidirectional
• Resources
o Smartsheet: assigned contacts/resources
o Business Central: employees / resources
o Direction: ERP → Smartsheet baseline, optional bidirectional
• Time
o Smartsheet: hours logged per task
o Business Central: time entries / job journal lines
o Direction: Bidirectional (or ERP-master if required)
• Costs / Budget
o Smartsheet: cost fields & calculated metrics
o Business Central: actual costs, budgets, margins
o Direction: ERP → Smartsheet baseline, optional bidirectional
• Status & Dates
o Smartsheet: status, start/end, % complete
o Business Central: status/posting/scheduling fields
o Direction: Bidirectional
3) "No external database" constraint
The client does not want a new separate DB storing business records. However, minimal sync state is needed (mappings, event checkpoints, subscription IDs, replay protection, etc.).
You must propose one of:
Approach 1 (preferred): store mapping/state in-system
• Store Business Central record IDs in Smartsheet (hidden/admin columns) and/or
• Store Smartsheet sheet/row IDs in Business Central (custom fields or an integration table inside BC)
Approach 2: minimal external state store (only if unavoidable)
• A small technical metadata store only (not business data), e.g., Redis / cloud table storage
• Must be justified and kept minimal
4) Security & access
• OAuth 2.0 / Azure Active Directory for Business Central (as applicable)
• Smartsheet OAuth/token management best practices
• Secrets stored in a managed vault (Amazon Web Services Secrets Manager or Azure Key Vault)
• Least privilege scopes
• TLS in transit; no sensitive data in logs
• GDPR-aligned handling (data minimization, log retention policy)
5) Reliability & supportability
• Structured logs + correlation IDs
• Retry/backoff + dead-letter strategy
• Admin-friendly reconciliation (manual replay of failed events, sync status visibility)
• Health endpoints + uptime monitoring
• Documentation + runbook for operations
Expected technical architecture (baseline)
We expect a small integration layer including:
• Event capture: Smartsheet webhooks and/or Business Central subscriptions where supported
• Transformation: mapping, normalization, validation
• Sync engine: idempotent writes, conflict rules, retries
• Deployment: containerized service (Docker) or serverless functions
• Hosting: Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services — recommend best option (Microsoft stack is available)
Delivery phases & milestones
Phase 0 — Discovery & Technical Design (mandatory)
Deliverables:
• Confirm exact Business Central entities used (Jobs/Job Tasks/Time Entries/etc.)
• Confirm Smartsheet sheet templates/columns/dashboards
• Field-by-field mapping specification
• Sync rules (master system by entity/field, conflict resolution)
• Architecture design + security design
• Final implementation plan + refined quote
Phase 1 — Proof of Concept (PoC)
We need a rapid confidence-builder since this is a new integration pair for us.
PoC deliverables (1–2 key flows):
• One Business Central entity synced to one Smartsheet sheet (ERP → Smartsheet)
• One Smartsheet update pushed back to Business Central (Smartsheet → ERP)
• Demonstrate idempotency + basic error handling
• Short demo video + technical summary
Phase 2 — Full Build
• Implement full agreed scope objects
• Monitoring/logging/runbooks
• Retry + reconciliation tooling
Phase 3 — QA + UAT + Go-Live
• Unit/integration testing + test plan execution
• UAT support
• Production deployment + hypercare
Acceptance criteria (Definition of Done)
• Bidirectional sync works for all in-scope entities/fields
• Updates propagate within agreed SLA (e.g., ≤2–5 minutes typical, or event-driven near real-time where possible)
• No duplication loops / no repeated writes
• Errors are captured with actionable logs and retries
• Security requirements met (OAuth, vault, least privilege, safe logging)
• Operational documentation + runbook delivered
Budget & engagement model (tell us your quote)
Please provide pricing in two formats:
1. PoC fixed price (Phase 1 only)
2. Full implementation (Phases 0–3) — fixed price or T&M with a cap
Guidance (not a commitment):
• Discovery + PoC: ~40–80 hours
• Full build: ~160–320 hours depending on scope and ERP complexity
Also include:
• Hosting recommendation + monthly operating cost estimate (low/medium/high usage)
• Optional maintenance packages (e.g., 10h/month, 20h/month) including monitoring + incident response
What we will provide
• Smartsheet workspace access, sheet templates, API credentials (sandbox first)
• Business Central API access (sandbox preferred)
• Sample data sets and project structures
• A functional contact to confirm mapping and business rules
What we need from you in your proposal
Please include:
A) Recommended approach
• Custom Gateway vs Power Automate (or hybrid), with a clear rationale against constraints
B) Team & experience
• Team composition (roles + seniority)
• Similar work: API-to-API integrations, ERP integrations, Microsoft stack integrations (links or descriptions)
C) Delivery plan
• Timeline with milestones by phase
• Key risks and mitigations (especially "real-time" feasibility + webhook limitations)
• Commercial terms: payment milestones, warranty period, support model
Reference documentation (for your technical team)
Smartsheet API:
Business Central API (v2.0):
Contract duration of 1 to 3 months.
Mandatory skills: API, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Smartsheet, REST API, webhooks, ERP Software
Sprachkenntnisse
- English
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