The customer was using a FileMaker-based system to record and manage customer data, including companies they collaborate with. To ensure the accuracy of this information, they had previously implemented an integration with the ARES database (Administrative Register of Economic Subjects), from which they automatically downloaded and updated company data. Unfortunately, after a change in the data structure on the ARES side, their existing solution stopped working. Therefore, they reached out to us with a request to restore the automated integration in a way that would remain reliable even with future changes to the ARES data format.
Instead of establishing a direct connection between FileMaker and ARES, we created a middleware component in the form of a custom web API, which handles communication with ARES, consolidates the data, and provides a unified output format. This API is now used by several of our other systems as well. We integrated new scripts into FileMaker that now retrieve data via this API. As a result, any future changes to the ARES data format will only require updates to the API level, not in each connected system.
To meet this specific customer's needs, we further extended the API with new data structures tailored to the exact information the customer downloads. The result is a robust and sustainable integration capable of operating reliably in the long term, even in the face of external changes, without requiring modifications to the FileMaker database.
