Setting up a Datafeed

The Benefits of a Datafeed

More and more suppliers are adopting this as their preferred method for sending us their data. Once they have been set up, datafeeds are the least time consuming method, as they require no human intervention. This makes them a huge time saver in the long run and the risk of input error is minimised; so the data becomes more reliable.

Other benefits include:

Data can also be collected as soon as it's published, which means better accuracy and the scheduled information is completely up to date.
Having your outlines and your schedule in a single file.
Much richer data, like location addresses, exam and residency details.

A datafeed is definately beneficial if:

You have your schedule stored in a database or centralised data store;
Your schedule changes regularly;
You want to free up your staff from repetitive and time consuming tasks.

You will need someone with a little technical know-how. The person who operates your website or manages your database is ideal, but there may be others in your organisation with the skills required. Send them to this page; it contains all the information they need determine whether a datafeed is possible.

How often will you access the data?

What we don't do is access the feed everytime someone searches for training on our portals (like insurance comparison sites often do). What we do is use the feed to routinely download a local copy of your data into our own database, in our own format. We use the feed to keep this local information up to date. This means you do not need to be concerned about bandwidth issues. We typically call the feed twice a week; and never more than once a day.

How do we proceed?

We have sophisticated data capture systems that have evolved over the last 5 years. Therefore we can afford to be flexible. If you have a preferred or existing method for sending us your data in an automated fashion, contact us and we can discuss it. The following describes some of the most common methods. Whilst we have attempted to be non-technical you may not be acquainted with all the terms used. Don't worry - the "techie" person in your organisation will understand this and can advise you.

There are two major decisions to make:

Delivery method
Delivery format

Once we have decided on a mutually workable data feed, we will wait until it is complete at your end (offering any assistance you need) before testing and activating it on our end.

Delivery Method: Web or FTP

There are two obvious choices.

Web: Publish your data on the internet using a public URL. This would typically be a webpage on your main website "hidden" from normal visitors but available to us. Of course you might also have other domains that you could use. Our data capture system would routinely access this file to capture the latest data.
FTP: Automate a task on your systems to build a data file. This file would be saved, and then sent to our server using FTP credentials we'd provide; or loaded into your own FTP server that we have been given access to. Our data capture system would access this file to capture the latest data.

Do you have another suggestion? Let us know, we can probably accomodate you.

Delivery Format: XML or CSV

Again, there are two commonly used file formats which, whether published to a webpage, or FTP'ed to us, work very well:

XML: ticks all the right boxes. This open format is the least error prone; the most future proof; and very easy to maintain. Chances are your "techie" can publish an XML format with just a few lines of code. We'd prefer that the XML structure be as simple as possible. [View Example]
CSV: is well known and popular. This open format has been around for a long time. It is simplicity itself; easy to read and write; and the file can be checked for integrity simply by opening it in any spreadsheet software. [View Example]