Link Integration

This topic explains how to integrate HCL Link as a data source for CDP, focusing on creating Link connectors and configuring Link actions.

HCL Link is an HCL product that provides a framework for creating various connectors to external data sources. In this integration, Link acts as an intermediary, handling communication with external platforms like Google BigQuery, and then pushing the data to HCL CDP.

As part of this integration, we certify the Link integration framework's ability to connect to HCL CDP and ingest events. Customers can then build and customize their own connectors in HCL Link based on their specific source systems, data models, and business requirements. This approach ensures maximum flexibility while providing a validated foundation for reliable data exchange with HCL CDP.

Key Concepts

  • HCL Link: An application that provides a framework and connectors for reading from and writing to various external data sources.
  • Link Connection: Defines a new source type within CDP, such as a Google BigQuery connection.
  • Link Action: Configures the specific details for fetching data from a Link connection, comparable to defining a new source in CDP.

Link Integration Workflow

Creating Link Connection

This is a two-step process within the CDP UI.
  • Navigate to the Settings > Link Connection section. The Link UI is rendered directly in HCL CDP.
  • Create a new connection by specifying a connection type (e.g., Google BigQuery).
  • Provide the necessary connection-specific configuration details (e.g., Google BigQuery URL, client ID, client secret).
  • On creating a Link connection, a new source type is added in the Sources. For example, if you create connections for Google BigQuery, these will become available as new source types.

Configuring Link Connector in HCL CDP

To configure the link connector, follow the steps below:

  1. After creating a link connection, navigate to Data Pipeline > Sources.
  2. Click +Create New Source.
  3. In the Source Type page, the link connection you created will appear as a new source type in the list. Select it.
  4. Click Create New Action, and provide additional information and configuration specific to this source to create a "link action." Define how the data will be read and processed by the CDP.
  5. Save the new action. The new link-based action will now appear in your list of sources, allowing you to fetch data from the external platform through the configured link connection.

Data Flow

HCL Link communicates with configured external data sources, such as Google BigQuery, to retrieve data. Once the data is obtained, Link transforms it to align with CDP's specific requirements. Subsequently, Link pushes this processed data to CDP utilizing the Data Ingestion (DI) REST API.

Reference Link Connectors as Source

These reference Link connectors enable ingestion of profile and event data into the CDP from a variety of external data sources:

  • Google Big Query
  • HubSpot CRM
  • Zoho CRM
  • GA 4
  • AppsFlyer
  • GCS
  • Azure Blob Storage
  • Amazon S3

Each connector provides a baseline integration. Customers typically extend or customize these connectors to match their data models, event taxonomies, identity structures, and operational requirements. This ensures ingestion flows align with business processes while maintaining compatibility with the HCL CDP's unified data model.