SQL Server to Zoho Interface/Integration
I have a client with a mission-critical SQL Server-based application. The application is not going to migrate to a new platform for the foreseeable future. However, they do want to build a customer portal that would give customers access to order status information and also enable customers to enter orders. Naturally, of course, Zoho comes to mind for that customer portal. Our expectation is that the Zoho portal app would have its own database separate from the SQL Server system - and that the two would transfer data back and forth as appropriate. If nothing else, the client does not want to risk exposing their back-end system to the internet in case of a break-in, and thus would prefer to have a separate database with limited data for internet access.
I would appreciate some thoughts on how to best interface/integrate a Zoho application with a back-end database that uses SQL Server. One obvious answer is a regular batch transfer of data (uploads and downloads), and it's not out of the question for this approach. I would hope that there are better, less manually intensive ways of building the interface/integration.