Introducing Siebel Server Sync

Introducing Siebel Server Sync for Microsoft Exchange Server

This chapter provides introductory information about Oracle’s Siebel Server Sync for Microsoft Exchange Server (SSSE) product. It includes the following topics:

About Siebel Server Sync for Microsoft Exchange Server

Siebel Server Sync is a server-side integration product that synchronizes Siebel Business Applications data with Personal Information Manager (PIM) server products. The current version of Siebel Server Sync supports synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Server only. This version of the Siebel Server Sync product is referred to as Siebel Server Sync for Microsoft Exchange Server (SSSE). Synchronization with Microsoft Exchange Server allows Microsoft Exchange client software such as Microsoft Outlook to access the synchronized data. For more detailed information about supported PIM server products, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

Note: For Siebel CRM product releases 8.1.1.9 and later and for 8.2.2.2 and later, the system requirements and supported platform certifications are available from the Certification tab on My Oracle Support. For information about the Certification application, see article 1492194.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

SSSE can synchronize data that appears in the My To Do List, My Calendar, and My Contact views of Siebel Business Applications. Synchronization of data between Siebel Business Applications and Microsoft Exchange is done automatically and with a frequency an administrator can tune. No user action is required to initiate synchronization. However, each user must use the Add To Sync List command to designate the individual contact records thatSSSE will synchronize for that user.

If anyone adds or changes a record in Siebel Business Applications, thenSSSE automatically exports or synchronizes the change with Microsoft Exchange. Likewise, if anyone adds or changes a record in Microsoft Exchange, thenSSSE automatically imports or synchronizes the change with Siebel Business Applications. SSSE performs these operations on a single-user basis, using a synchronization schedule that administrators can adjust. Typically,SSSE synchronizes a data change within a few minutes after a user makes the original change.

SSSE Deployment Options

The following information shows the SSSE components in relation to Siebel Server and Microsoft Exchange Server.

Deployment Options. This image is described in surrounding text.

SSSE is composed of two separate, but related, components:

PIM Server Integration (PIMSI) Engine and Dispatcher. Allows server-based synchronization of data between Siebel Business Applications and Microsoft Exchange. See Siebel Server Sync for Microsoft Exchange Server Architecture Overview.
Siebel Outlook Add-In. Allows users to access Siebel data from within Microsoft Outlook and associate Siebel data with Outlook contact, calendar and task records. See Setting Up and Using Siebel Outlook Add-In.

You can choose to deploy SSSE with or without the Outlook Add-In.

See the following chapters for information about PIMSI Engine and PIMSI Dispatcher:

After you install and set up PIMSI Engine and PIMSI Dispatcher, then you can install Siebel Outlook Add-In, if you choose to do so. For more information, see Setting Up and Using Siebel Outlook Add-In.

Caution: Do not activate PIMSI workflows. The workflows that are provided in seed data are not currently used by SSSE and will cause the PIMSI Engine to fail if deployed.

SSSE Synchronization Options

SSSE supports the data synchronization options shown in the following.

Synchronization Level	Description
Full Sync	Bidirectional synchronization of data between the Siebel database and one or more Microsoft Exchange Servers occurs.
Export Only	Changes made in Siebel Business Applications are exported to Microsoft Exchange Server.
Import Only Note: Import Only synchronization is supported for the calendar domain only.	Changes made to calendar records in Microsoft Exchange Server are imported to Siebel Business Applications. For information about Import Only synchronization, see Implementing Import-Only Synchronization of Calendar Records and About the Limitation Against Import Only Synchronization Level.
None	No synchronization of data takes place.

Administrators set synchronization levels. Administrators can set these options for each user on each Siebel information domain. The Siebel domains for which synchronization of data is supported are:

Task items
Business contacts
Calendar items

The following table shows the default synchronization settings for each Siebel domain.

Siebel Domain	Default Synchronization Level
Business Contact	Full Sync
Siebel Calendar	Full Sync
Siebel Task	Full Sync

Synchronization levels are set for users. A user can be an individual user or groups of users specified by Organization, Position, or User List. For more information, see Process of Setting SSSE Group and User Access Controls.

If synchronization is enabled for calendar and task (to do activity) items for a user, thenSSSE automatically synchronizes new or changed calendar and task records for that user. The administrator can optionally configure SSSE so that records that originate in Microsoft Exchange are not synchronized with Siebel Business Applications if they are flagged as Private, or unless the user designates them for synchronization by specifying an appropriate value for the Category field.

If synchronization is enabled for contact records, then the following strategy is employed:

If a Contact record originates in the Siebel application, then an opt-in approach is employed. This means that the user must use the Add To Sync List command to direct SSSE to synchronize that contact to be synchronized between the Siebel Server and the Microsoft Exchange mailbox for that user.
If a Contact record originates in Microsoft Exchange, then SSSE synchronizes the record unless it is marked as Private. For more information on designating records for synchronization, see Using Siebel Server Sync for Microsoft Exchange Server.

Important SSSE Terminology

This topic provides definitions of some important terms related to SSSE operations:

Siebel Domain. A set of Siebel objects that SSSE considers for synchronization with the PIM. The Siebel domains currently include Business Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks.
PIM Domain. A set of PIM objects that SSSE considers for synchronization with Siebel Business Applications. The PIM domains currently include Microsoft Exchange Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks.
Domain Mapping. A mapping between Siebel domain objects and PIM domain objects. This determines which Siebel domain object is synchronized with which PIM domain object.
Outbound Synchronization. The process of sending data from the Siebel Server to the PIM Server.
Inbound Synchronization. The process of sending data from the PIM Server to the Siebel Server.

2Introducing Siebel Server Sync