Custom Aareon Tobias integration development
Tobias is Aareon Nederland's ERP for housing associations. Many associations still work with Tobias AX, while others have moved to Tobias 365, which runs on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and is delivered from Azure. Around that ERP sit systems that Aareon supplies itself, such as Mareon and Sonar, but also your own portals, a data warehouse and software from suppliers that are not part of the partner system. Appfront builds the integration between Tobias and those systems, so that tenants, units, contracts, repair requests and financial data are not entered twice.
What is an integration with Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations?
An Aareon Tobias integration connects a housing association's ERP to the other systems that need data about tenants, units and money. According to Aareon, Tobias is the ERP for housing associations. The older generation, Tobias AX, runs on Microsoft Dynamics AX; Tobias 365 is the successor on Dynamics 365, delivered as Software as a Service from Azure, with workspaces and integration with Office 365 and Power BI. Around Tobias, Aareon supplies, among other things, REMS, the contractor portal Mareon with DICO messages, Sonar for reporting and Aareon DMS for archiving.
In practice, work gets left between the systems. An association has its own tenant portal or a property register from another supplier, a contractor works outside Mareon, or the controller wants to combine data from Tobias with data from other sources. Then lists are exported, changes are retyped and discrepancies are only found at month-end close. When moving from Tobias AX to Tobias 365, there is the added question of which existing integrations need to come along and how.
We build custom because every association has a different landscape. One works with Aareon's apps and portals and only needs an integration with its own data warehouse, while another has several suppliers for maintenance, customer contact and property data. Aareon talks about an open partner system with "one connection"; we have not found public API documentation for Tobias. Which route suits you, we look at in the first step with your application manager and, where needed, with Aareon.
Enter once
Data from Tobias passed on.
Differences made visible
Discrepancies per exchange.
Ready for 365
Integrations come along when you move.
How we build your integration with Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations
We start with your landscape: which version of Tobias you use, which Aareon products and partner solutions already surround it, which systems sit outside it and where data is currently retyped. Then we build the first integration, usually the flow with the most manual updates, such as tenants and units to a portal or maintenance orders to a contractor. Your application management team uses it in practice for a while. Reporting, financial flows and the move to Tobias 365 follow if that goes well. After that, we maintain the integration as Tobias or the other systems change.
Version, products, flows.
Where most of the retyping happens.
Reporting, finance, 365.
Go-live, monitoring, and maintenance when things change.
What an integration with Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations, actually does
The components below appear in almost every Tobias integration. Which ones you need depends on your version of Tobias and the systems around it.
Tenants and units
Master data passed on.
Contracts
Changes processed on time.
Maintenance
Orders to and from contractors.
Finance
Postings and payments.
Validation
Discrepancies flagged.
Switching
From Tobias AX to 365.
Who we build an integration with Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations, for
The integration is intended for housing associations and suppliers that regularly exchange data between Tobias and other systems. The more systems outside the Aareon landscape, the more it delivers.
Housing associations
Your own portal and data.
Contractors
Orders outside Mareon.
Software vendors
Connecting to Tobias.
Information managers
Moving to 365.
Technology and integrations
This page is about integrations with Aareon's Tobias. If you want custom software for your housing association, see our page on software for housing associations. For an integration with Dynamics 365 outside Tobias, see our page on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration; for reporting, our page on the Power BI integration; and for settling service charges, our page on service charge settlement software. You can read about our way of working on building software.
Why Appfront for your integration with Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations?
A tenant who sees a different address in the portal than in Tobias, a repair order that never reaches the contractor, or an integration that quietly stops working after the move to Tobias 365 costs a housing association time and tenants' trust. That is what we build against: data entered once, every exchange checked, and integrations that keep working when the ERP changes.
Less retyping
Updates passed on automatically.
Reliable
Discrepancies flagged.
Future-proof
Ready for Tobias 365.
Security and privacy in an integration with Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations
A housing association processes tenant data, including income, payments and contact details. The integration only passes on the fields the receiving system needs, with a separate account per integration and the permissions your application management team grants. Every exchange is logged with time, number of records and result.
The integration runs in a European data centre, with encrypted connections and storage and daily backups. If Tobias AX still runs in your own environment or with a hosting partner, we work with your IT management to see how the integration can be connected securely. For Tobias 365, we follow the routes and conditions Aareon sets for the cloud environment.
Frequently asked questions about an integration with Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations
Questions that information managers, application managers and suppliers of housing associations ask before they get started.
An integration between Tobias, Aareon's ERP for housing associations, and other systems, such as a tenant portal, a property register, a data warehouse or a contractor's software. Data on tenants, units, contracts, maintenance and finances is exchanged automatically in both directions.
Tobias AX is the generation built on Microsoft Dynamics AX. Tobias 365 is its successor, built on Dynamics 365 and delivered by Aareon as Software as a Service from Azure. Housing associations are switching over gradually, and existing integrations then need to be reviewed again.
Yes. Aareon offers Mareon for contractors, Sonar for reporting, and apps and portals connected to Tobias, among other things, and works with partners in an open partner ecosystem. If that covers what you need, custom work isn't necessary. We build for the systems and flows that aren't included.
We haven't found any public API documentation. Tobias 365 runs on Dynamics 365, and Aareon mentions an open partner ecosystem. We'll look at which route suits your environment together with your application management team and, if necessary, with Aareon before we build anything.
We draw up an overview of your existing integrations, what they do and which data they use. Then, for each integration, we determine whether it becomes redundant because Tobias 365 handles it natively, whether it needs to be rebuilt, or whether it should run via a different route. That way, nothing grinds to a halt during the move.
Yes. If a contractor or maintenance company works with its own system, an integration can exchange work orders, completion notifications and invoices. Whether that runs via Mareon and the DICO messages or directly depends on what the housing association and the contractor already use.
For housing associations with systems outside the Aareon landscape, a lot of manual updates or a move to Tobias 365 on the horizon, and for suppliers serving several Tobias housing associations. If it's only a few exports a month, a fixed export file is often enough.
Want Tobias integrated with your other systems?
Tell us which version of Tobias you use, which systems surround it and where data is currently retyped by hand. We'll show you how an integration can take that over.