Features   Pricing   Methodology   Implementation   Support Services

DemandCaster Implementation, Data Integration, and Security Overview

DemandCaster Fast Start Implementation and Training:

Fast Start includes ERP integration, training, and guidance in deploying planning policies designed to achieve your operational objectives. Up to 2 custom reports in excel, XML, or PDF formats are also included. Each Fast Start process is designed to meet the demand planning and optimization needs of your operation.

Pricing depends on numerous factors mainly the ERP system that DemandCaster will be connecting to and the complexity of the operation.

Please visit our ROI Calculator page to assess the potential cash flow and profit impact a comprehensive demand planning and supply chain optimization initiative may yield.

Data Integration:

DemandCaster is a cloud based application that resides on dedicated servers that Cadent Resources manage. These servers are not shared with any other application and are continually backed up, updated with the latest security patches, and optimized for performance.

The life blood of DemandCaster is data. To that end, DemandCaster is built with an integrated data management service that securely extracts, transforms, and loads data from virtually any ERP system or data source to the DemandCaster application located on our secure servers.

There are two components to the DemandCaster Data Management process:

  • Data Connector: Connects to any application or data source.
  • Data Hub: Data transformation and load into DemandCaster and when applicable load data back to on-premise or cloud application.

Here is just a selection of the ERP systems we have integrated with:

DemandCaster Data Connector

Most on-premise applications are typically kept behind a firewall, with no direct access via the Internet. To handle this requirement, the DemandCaster Data Connector is a lightweight 75 MB package which consists of a Java Virtual Machine, various JDBC drivers, a JDBC-ODBC bridge driver, and the actual Java based Data Connector application. It runs as a windows service on a workstation or your server and serves as the communication link between your application and DemandCaster. No changes to the firewall are required. The Data Connector supports a full bi-directional movement of data in a normalized XML format between your data sources and DemandCaster.

Prior to installing the Data Connector, the following information is entered into the DemandCaster Data Hub: Connection string (IP, database instance name, database name) and database account credentials (username and password). The Data Connector is then downloaded to the location where it will reside, installed, and started. Your IT administrator can populate this information in the data hub or one of our consultants can assist you in the setup.  Once entered, your passwords are invisible and encrypted to everyone including our authorized support staff.

Upon completion of the Data Connector installation, our support staff are only able to work through the data connector via SQL queries that are written and stored in the Data Hub. Our support staff are not able to log into your server or gain access to your network without the assistance of your personnel. The only way we would be able to get access independently is if we were provided a remote desktop connection.

As a further security measure, you can limit the Data Connector to read only and provide it access to only certain data tables. This can be controlled via the database login credentials you provide. Blackout periods may also be included to prevent the Data Connector from communicating with the Data Hub during certain times when maintenance processes are running for example.

Numerous data connectors may be installed across your extended supply chain to promote end to end supply chain planning and collaboration.

DemandCaster Data Hub

The Data Hub contains all the SQL queries necessary to extract and transform your data into a format that may be analyzed by DemandCaster. All data formats are supported, including XML, EDI, flat file, and varying database formats i.e. MS SQL, MySQL, Pervasive, Oracle, or Access to name a few.

The Data Hub may be scheduled to run an extract per a schedule or on demand as needed. The Data Connector pings the Data Hub periodically i.e. every 300 seconds to know if there is a new data extraction scheduled. If a new extraction is scheduled, the Data Connector receives the SQL queries from the Data Hub and starts extracting the required data and sending the data in chunks via https back to the Data Hub for transformation. It is important to note that the Data Connector will always initiate the connection and there is never ‘pushing’ of data from the Data Hub to the Data Connector.

The Data Hub may also send analyzed data to another application or back to your ERP for purchase order or job processing. DemandCaster may also send calculated forecasting, safety stock, and reorder point data back to your ERP to run MRP directly in the ERP as opposed to DemandCaster.

After the Data Connector is deployed behind the firewall, the Data Connector will continuously be in contact with the Data Hub for ‘tracking’ and ‘status’ information. No inbound firewall ports need to be opened in order for the Data Connector to communicate with the Data Hub as all communication is initiated by the Data Connector to the Data Hub. The following communication information is recorded in the Data Hub:

  • Online Status - the Data Connector will communicate on an ongoing basis with the DemandCaster Data Hub to indicate its status. The Data Hub will know in near real-time if the Data Connector goes offline for any reason.
  • Data Connector Updates - the Data Connector is automatically updated as new versions are released.
  • Error Details – We log the communication between the Data Connector and Data Hub. If there are communication issues a detailed error message explaining what the error was and what caused it to fail.

When the Data Connector initiates the connection to the Data Hub, the Data Connector uses a GUID which authenticates the Data Connector to the Data Hub. At the beginning of an SSL session, an SSL handshake is performed using DemandCaster SSL Certificate. This handshake produces the cryptographic parameters of the session. All communication from the Data Connector to Data Hub uses SSL 128 bit encryption. All outbound communication from the Data Connector to Data Hub is HTTPS, port 443.