Apatar can be used as data integration software of choice for a variety of implementation options. However, sometimes our development team faces challenges of developing custom data integration applications that would fit specific needs of the customer. In my previous post, I told you about the integration with MS Dynamics CRM. Today, I will tell you why the team voted for a custom data integration application to be developed in PHP.

First, the team considered Apatar to be implemented for data integration. To success fully apply this solution, a GUI Server had to be installed and configured first. The customer didn’t have a GUI Server and did not intend to deploy one. Besides, it was challenging to support customer’s database triggers with Apatar.

The team decided to build a custom data integration solution. They had to figure out what would be the best tool for this application, considering three major languages: Java, Delphi, and PHP.

To run the application on Java, the team would have had to build a custom server, and implement an .http or a custom protocol. In case they would have implemented a custom protocol, some additional application features had to be developed as well. It appeared to be a complex and time-consuming task. Delphi had the same limitations as Java; what’s more, it is not a cross-platform tool and works with Windows environment only.

Finally, the team voted for PHP, as it appeared to be the right tool to suit customer’s requirements. PHP can be deployed on most Web servers, many operating systems and platforms, and can be used with many relational database management systems. It does not have the limitations of the above-mentioned tools. Moreover, customer’s hosting server had a configured PHP environment, so it did not require any additional settings.

As a result, PHP was the right solution for building a custom data integration solution in a short period of time. The deployment of the solution has not required additional costs and efforts on implementing new features and technologies.