Overview

We've got some great articles in our Integrations section, talking about what Integrations are available and how to set them up, but what's actually happening and why?  We'll use this article to speak more generally about how Parallax is interacting with a CRM or a Timesheet tool, for a broader understanding of what's happening.  It does this primarily in two different ways:

• Syncs at regular intervals
• Webhooks

Syncs are the synchronization of all relevant data, meaning all fields mapped to Parallax are updated.  Syncs are big jobs that pull in a lot of information and tend to take much longer. 

Webhooks are a narrower way of pulling in specific pieces of information, as a result, they're much faster and can trigger on an ongoing basis.  Webhooks are triggered by actions you take in your CRM, Parallax, or your Timesheets that cause a subset of information to be pulled into or out of Parallax. 

In general, where data is concerned, Parallax is the middle ground between your CRM and Timesheets, which means:

• Parallax doesn't push data into your CRM
• Parallax only pushes data to your Timesheet where already none exists 

Syncs

From your CRM an initial sync is done when you first connect, but typically you don't need to sync your CRM after that.  Syncing your CRM involves pulling in a significant amount of data from every Deal in your CRM, only a small amount of which is likely to change regularly, so syncing is typically only occasionally performed by Support as a solution to a challenge in the app.

Timesheets, however, have information being updated constantly as new hours are being logged.  Rather than continue to fire webhooks constantly to catch every new second or minute that is logged, Timesheets will sync every hour to pull lots of changes at once.  Unlike your CRM, Timesheets can be synced individually by Project from the Integrations tab on that Project.

Webhooks

Instead of syncing, webhooks automatically send specific changes in our CRM within seconds.  The benefit of this is if you make a change, the webhook fires right away.  However, the important thing to remember is that not every change will fire a webhook, and webhooks won't fire on Deals in a Stage that Parallax isn't "listening" to (see below).

There are no webhooks for Timesheets, we continue to sync regularly, but you can always sync a specific project to see the most up-to-date info.

What does Parallax "listen" to?

CRM Webhooks will only listen to the Stages you set up on your Settings > Integrations page.  If a change below is made while moving to/from an excluded Stage or a Closed Stage (such as Closed Won/Closed Lost), Parallax will only listen to the Stage Change, no other changes.

If the Deal is already at an included Stage*, it will listen to changes in the following fields (where applicable - terms will vary by CRM):

• Name
• Target Budget
• Project Start Date
  • When Target Start Date is present/applicable - this will be Project Start Date
  • When Target Start Date is absent/not applicable - Close Date will be Project Start Date
• Stage
• Client

Timesheet Syncs (whether automatic or manual) will pull in:

• Any new People not already in Parallax
  • Included Fields are:
    • First and Last Name
    • Email Address
    • Worker Type (FTE or Contractor)
• Any changes made in the Timesheet to an Person that is already in Parallax
• All recorded Actuals for all Peoples
• People Profile avatars

What does Parallax NOT "listen" to?

CRM Webhooks will NOT listen to:

• Any changes moving to/from a "Closed Won" or "Closed Lost" Stage
• Any changes moving to/from an Excluded Stages (see your Settings > Integrations page for which are excluded)
• Any changes moving to/from Excluded Pipelines (also see Settings > Integrations)
• Other custom CRM Fields

What "listens to us" as Parallax?

Webhooks only work one way, so CRM Deals will not listen to Parallax at all. Any changes you make to a Project prior to Winning the Deal are best made through the CRM and pushed into Parallax. Any changes after Winning the Deal are best made by un-Winning, then re-Winning the Deal in your CRM.

Timesheets will listen to a few things, but keep in mind that wherever there is a conflict, the Timesheet is considered the "winner" and will overwrite Parallax.  Here are the things you can push into your Timesheet tool from Parallax:

• Creation of New People (done during setup/editing in Settings > People)*
• Creation of new Timesheet projects (through the Integrations tab)
• Archiving Timesheets (by Completing the Project)

How it Works

A project in Parallax will flow through the different parts of the system depending on its current stage in the project lifecycle:

• A New Deal is added to the CRM and a Project automatically appears in the Parallax Sales Pipeline ready to be estimated
  
  
• As a New Deal moves through the buying process, Parallax mirrors the deal’s current CRM Pipeline stage so delivery teams are properly aware of what might close
  
  
• During the sales estimation process, Sales and Delivery teams will come together in Parallax to add Service Offerings (one or several) and through Shaping will add the potential resource needs to deliver the scope being sold
  
  
• This Shape creates alignment on effort, budget, and margin to ensure you sell work appropriately for the business
  
  
• A New Deal is Won and becomes an Active Project in Parallax, but sits in the Awaiting Start status so final adjustments can be made
  
  
• While the project is in Awaiting Start, post-sale teams make final adjustments to the shape, budget, and assign people to take on the work
  
  
• When work begins, a project is marked In Progress, budgets are locked, and we connect each Service Offering to a project in the Timesheet System
  
  
• As a project progresses towards completion, Parallax syncs hours logged to timesheets and displays them together with what was planned allowing for delivery teams to make more intelligent updates to their shapes going forward
  
  
• A project is Completed when work finishes and is removed from active views, and disables new hours being added from the Timesheet System