Qvidian Proposal Automation (QPA) 10 Quick Facts Last Updated: 5/14/2013
Topic List This white paper lists Qvidian Proposal Automation (QPA) quick facts that address questions commonly asked by Qvidian customers and prospects. These quick facts are separated into the following topics: General Architecture Deployment Client Installation Client Platform Authentication Options Server Database Connectivity Content Storage Database Design Integration Capabilities Email Integration CRM Plug-In(s) Third Party Components Citrix Disaster Recovery Service Licensing Contact Information 1
General Architecture QPA utilizes a 3-Tier Client/Server Web browser client Microsoft IIS hosted, ASP.NET based web application Database Server (Microsoft SQL Server) Distributable? The IIS web application and database server may reside on same machine or on separate machines. Scalable? IIS web servers may be: Scaled up using increased processor, memory, and hard disk Scaled out in a web-farm and load balanced Database server may be: Scaled up using increased processor, memory, and hard disk Redundancy? IIS web servers redundancy using web farms Database server redundancy using server clustering Deployment Software as a Service (SaaS) QPA is hosted by Qvidian at its Internap datacenter. Using a state-of-the art, SAS 70 Type II certified data center located in Somerville, MA Internap provides redundant power, HVAC, fire suppression, network connectivity, and physical security. QPA will be configured for SSL (HTTPS). Clustered SQL servers. Customer data are segregated via dedicated databases, with unique SQL credentials for each customer. Data are NOT shared amongst customers. Explicit, forms-based authentication Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication is possible with additional licensing fees and a SAML 2.0 compliant service, such as Ping s PingFederate, provided by the customer. General Notes: Client connection must use same IP address for entire session. Multiple client-side proxies cannot be used with QPA. If using proxy servers for QPA connections, proxy caching should NOT be used. For details, refer to the QPA 10 Hosted Customer Technical Portfolio located in your Qvidian Customer Community. 2
Client Installation Web browser configuration, detailed in table, requires administrative rights on the Client PC. There is no client-side software installation required and no Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or ActiveX components required. For advanced user features and operations, QPA 10 leverages Microsoft Office Add-Ins containing VBA scripting to achieve Microsoft Office applications automation. The QPA 10 Office Add-Ins can be downloaded via a dropdown menu option in the QPA interface. If QPA 10 is configured as a Trusted Site and you will using QPA s full Microsoft Office automation and integration features (e.g., including automated MS Office Add-Ins downloads, save to clipboard, automated content editing/exporting, etc.), the user must manually download the MS Office Add-Ins found under the Options menu on QPA s navigation bar. For details, refer to the QPA 10 Client PC Configurations Guide (IE, Firefox, Chrome) located in your Qvidian Customer Community. Client Platforms For details, refer to the QPA 10 Client Requirements White Paper located in your Qvidian Customer Community. Authentication Options Explicit, forms-based authentication. Single Sign-On (SSO) using customer supplied and configured SAML 2.0 compliant service, such as Ping s PingFederate. Authenticated user id is validated against QPA user accounts. New users authenticated via SSO may automatically be provisioned within QPA. Optionally, QPA product licenses, user information and user role membership may be derived via SSO provider at connection time. Server Database Connectivity QPA web application hosted on IIS Server(s) connects to database server using.net ADO connections. Database credentials: Each customer has their own QPA application database configured with unique database credentials For details, refer to the QPA 10 Hosted Customer Technical Portfolio located in your Qvidian Customer Community. Content Storage Customer QPA content is stored in the customer s QPA application database. No content is stored or managed within a file system. 3
Database Design Registered customers of QPA may request the QPA Database Logical Data Model document via the Qividian Support web site. Integration Capabilities QPA Web Services: Available with QPA 10 release Provides customers a web services based API toolkit to develop highly customized integrations to/from QPA QPA Web Services installation and Developer s guides are available by request via Qvidian Support. Email Notifications QPA email triggers provide the ability to send email notifications to individuals when key QPA operational events occur. CRM plug-in(s) Available for Salesforce, Microsoft CRM, Microsoft Outlook, and Oracle On Demand providing ability to populate basic customer information into QPA from CRM contacts record. DLL specification is available for customers who wish to develop similar capability for other CRM tools. Note that further CRM integration would require QPA Web Services. Supported Microsoft Outlook Versions: Outlook 2007 Outlook 2010 Third Party Components Several 3rd party components are licensed in our applications, primarily these include: ComponentArt web-ui controls (for user Interface) Aspose (for Office and.pdf file manipulation) AjaxUploader (for uploading files into QPA) Verisign (for signing of the Office templates that may be installed on the user s machine) SharpZipLib for.net Framework 2.0 Alachisoft NCache (for memory caching of application objects) log4net (for application logging) Citrix QPA does not operate in the Citrix environment regardless of the method of delivery. 4
Disaster Recovery Service QPA provides its hosted customers with access to an environment that includes a production data center and disaster recovery system. This environment includes enterprise class equipment with 24x7x365 monitoring. The disaster recovery system is located in another city from the production environment and offers a Recovery Time Objective of 4 hours and a Recovery Point Objective of 2 hours. Recovery Time Objective is the expected time required to restore access to QPA should a catastrophic event disable the production data center. Recovery Point Objective is the potential data loss that could occur as a result of a catastrophic event. Therefore, any database changes occurring in the two hours before the catastrophic event could be lost. For details, refer to the QPA 10 Hosted Customer Technical Portfolio located in your Qvidian Customer Community. Licensing QPA conforms to a named user licensing structure. Contact Information Qvidian US Corporate Offices Headquarters 175 Cabot Street Suite 210 Lowell, Ma 01854 Cincinnati Office 10260 Alliance Road Suite 210 Cincinnati, OH 45242 Phone: 513.631.1155 Toll free: 800.272.0047 Fax: 513.791.4580 Sales: 888.448.7268 Email: support@qvidian.com Support Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. 6:00 p.m. ET 5
Qvidian United Kingdom Office Qvidian (UK) Ltd Forum 3 Solent Business Park Whiteley, Hampshire PO15 7FH United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)870 734 7778 Fax: +44 (0)870 734 7779 Technical Support Web: www.qvidian.com/support Email: support@qvidian.com Phone: U.S. 888 550 7268 U.K. +44 (0)870 734 7780 Support Hours Americas (North, South America, and the Caribbean) Time Zones: Eastern 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Central 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Mountain 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Pacific 8:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. Europe, Africa, and Middle East 9:00 to 18:00 GMT 6