Deltek and IBM Sterling integration

What moves between them

Outbound, ml-connector reads approved AP and AR invoice data from Deltek Vantagepoint, maps each to a standard EDI invoice, and writes it into the correct Sterling mailbox so the platform translates and sends it to the trading partner. Inbound, it polls the Sterling mailboxes where partners drop purchase orders, extracts the EDI payload, and creates the matching record in Deltek against the right firm and project. Trading partner identities in Sterling are aligned to Deltek firms so each document references a partner that exists on both sides. Invoices move outbound, purchase orders move inbound, on the polling cadence you set.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector stores both credential sets encrypted. On the Deltek side it accepts the full tenant URL per customer, since there is no shared base address, and refreshes the OAuth2 token when a call returns 401. On the Sterling side it accepts the customer host and Liberty port and authenticates with a dedicated non-super-user account, because a super-user account is rejected by the REST API. To send an invoice it first creates a Document to get a documentId, then creates a mailbox message that references it, since the EDI content cannot be inlined. Because Sterling has no webhooks and Vantagepoint has no signed event push, both directions run on a schedule. Deltek has no idempotency header, so ml-connector checks for an existing invoice by number before posting to avoid duplicates, and it tracks partner-to-firm mappings so a document never references a partner missing on either side. Every record carries a full audit trail and can be replayed if a downstream call fails.

A real-world example

A mid-sized engineering and construction firm runs Deltek Vantagepoint for project accounting and bills several large clients that require EDI invoices through their own portals. The firm already operates IBM Sterling B2B Integrator on premises for that EDI traffic, but the finance team rekeyed each client invoice from Deltek into a file for Sterling by hand, and logged incoming client purchase orders into Deltek manually. With Deltek and IBM Sterling connected, approved Vantagepoint invoices become EDI documents in the right Sterling mailbox automatically, and client purchase orders arriving in Sterling create Deltek records without manual entry. The duplicate keying and the lag at month end go away.

What you can do

• •Turn approved Deltek Vantagepoint AP and AR invoices into standard EDI documents placed in the correct IBM Sterling mailbox.
• •Pull purchase orders that partners drop into Sterling mailboxes and create the matching records in Deltek.
• •Map IBM Sterling trading partner identities to Deltek firms so every document references a partner that exists on both sides.
• •Bridge Deltek OAuth2 tenant login and IBM Sterling Basic Auth on the customer host and Liberty port.
• •Run both directions on a schedule with duplicate checks, retries, and a full audit trail on every record.

Questions

Which direction does data move between Deltek and IBM Sterling?

Invoices move outbound and purchase orders move inbound. ml-connector reads approved AP and AR invoice data from Deltek Vantagepoint and writes EDI documents into Sterling mailboxes for partners, while it polls those mailboxes for incoming purchase orders and creates the matching records in Deltek. Trading partner identities in Sterling are aligned to Deltek firms in both directions so each document references a known partner.

Why does the integration poll IBM Sterling instead of using webhooks?

The Sterling B2B REST API does not support outbound webhooks, so there is no callback URL to register when a mailbox message arrives. ml-connector polls the mailbox messages endpoint on the schedule you set and extracts new EDI payloads since the last run. Deltek Vantagepoint also has no signed event bus for this work, so the outbound side runs on a schedule as well.

How does ml-connector handle Deltek's tenant URL and IBM Sterling's host and port?

Deltek Vantagepoint publishes no shared base address, so ml-connector accepts the full tenant URL such as company.deltekfirst.com per customer. IBM Sterling B2B Integrator runs on premises with no public cloud endpoint, so the connector accepts the customer host and Liberty port and authenticates with a dedicated non-super-user account, since the REST API rejects super-user accounts.