Assisted Vendor onboarding guide

Introduction

This article explains how to request new Vendor onboarding to the Platform and what to expect from the initial request until go-live. The process involves submitting a request, completing documentation, attending alignment meetings, and validating the integration before production launch.

In this article:

• Submit a vendor onboarding request
• Complete the vendor onboarding checklist
• Attend the alignment meeting
• Review financial estimation and timeline
• Participate in proof of concept
• Complete end-to-end integration
• Review the final demo
• Validate production and go-live
• Integration documentation

Submit a vendor onboarding request

To begin the Vendor onboarding process, you need to submit your request through the Ideas portal.

1. Go to Submit Product idea at https://ideas.appxite.com/ or submit an idea in your custom Ideas Portal.
2. Choose "+Add a New Idea".
3. Provide the following information:
   • Vendor name
   • Brief scope description
   • Desired timeline
   • Customer priority
   • Request type: either Prioritized request for proposal or Idea Submission for future roadmap consideration

Complete the vendor onboarding checklist

After submitting your initial request, you will receive documentation to complete.

1. You will receive the Vendor Onboarding form in the Ideas Portal.
2. Fill in the form completely. The form includes questions that help us understand the scope and integration requirements.
3. Complete the example sheets with minimum required information about Offers, including description, ID, and pricing details.

Attend the alignment meeting

We will schedule a meeting with all stakeholders to confirm integration requirements.

1. We review your submitted onboarding form and identifies any gaps.
2. We share the agenda for the next steps and arranges an alignment meeting with Partner, Vendor, and our teams.
3. During the meeting, we confirm the end-to-end flow covering catalog, Order, provision, usage, and billing processes.
4. Any gaps in the onboarding form are discussed and closed during this meeting.

Review financial estimation and timeline

After the alignment meeting, we provide a detailed estimate for the integration work.

1. We evaluate the integration complexity and provides an estimate of the hours required.
2. We define an approximate timeline for completing the integration.
3. This information is added to the Vendor Onboarding idea in the Ideas Portal.
4. You will need to confirm the financial estimation if applicable before proceeding to the next step.

Participate in proof of concept

We develop a prototype to validate the integration approach before full development.

1. We develop a prototype of the Order provisioning flow and outlines the overall integration concept.
2. A POC demonstration meeting is scheduled with the Partner, Vendor, and our teams.
3. We present the prototype during the meeting.
4. The Partner and Vendor validate that the proposed process aligns with the Vendor's capabilities and the Partner's requirements.
5. Feedback is collected to refine the approach before proceeding to full integration.

Complete end-to-end integration

Based on POC feedback, we build the complete integration solution.

1. We proceed with building the full end-to-end integration incorporating feedback from the POC meeting.
2. Sandbox testing is performed to validate provisioning, billing, and data flows.
3. All components are tested thoroughly before moving to production environment.

Review the final demo

Before going live, we demonstrate the complete integration for final validation.

1. We demonstrate the complete end-to-end flow in a final demo session.
2. The Partner and Vendor review the outcome and integration results.
3. You either confirm readiness for production or provide final feedback for minor adjustments.

Validate production and go-live

The final step involves production validation and making Vendor Offers available.

1. We perform final validation, including Invoice and billing checks.
2. Adjustments are applied if required based on validation results.
3. Once validation is successful, Vendor Offers become available for Partner to publish to the Partner's catalog.
4. Published Offers are made available to Sellers and Customers.
5. Post-launch, we monitor the integration and applies minor optimizations based on early usage signals.

Integration documentation

Documentation is prepared to ensure maintainability of the integration.

1. Internal documentation is prepared describing the Vendor integration to ensure maintainability and extensibility.
2. If the Vendor can be made available for different Partners, a brief description of the integration is prepared when the Vendor integration is announced.
3. Documentation is available in the Knowledgebase and includes key details such as:
   • Requirements to enable the Vendor
   • Available Offerings
   • Provisioning logic
   • Invoicing logic
   • Other key integration points

Summary

The Vendor onboarding process involves nine steps from initial request to go-live. You submit a request through the the Ideas Portal, complete documentation, participate in alignment meetings and proof of concept validation, review the full integration, and validate production readiness. we support you throughout the process with technical expertise, testing, and documentation to ensure successful integration of new Vendors into the Platform.