Since RetailVista 2025 it has become possible to set up synchronization with an Azure cloud database server. This functionality is mainly intended for BI partners. The advantage is that a BI partner no longer needs to build an API integration with RetailVista but can instead connect to an Azure SQL database through a simple ODBC connection. The mutations in RetailVista are automatically synchronized to Azure once per day. As a result, BI data will always be one day behind. In practice this is not an issue, as BI information is used for strategic decision-making rather than short-term operational decisions.
Within RetailVista, each branch can mark one or more entities (data files) that must be sent to Azure. A license must be purchased for the number of entities that will be synchronized. If more entities are activated than the license allows, synchronization for that branch will be temporarily paused. To determine which entities are required for certain reports, assistance from a NedFox consultant is necessary. The consultant translates the reporting requirements into the needed data files.
A task must be created in the task planner to send the data to Azure every day at a fixed time. In the example, this occurs at 23:00.
In the module Connectors a connector must be created for the connection with an Azure server. The Azure environment must be supplied by an external service provider; NedFox does not deliver Azure installations. The login credentials, such as username and password, are also provided by this service provider.
In the Advanced tab additional settings must be entered, such as the server name, database name, and schema name. The server name is a plain server reference without additions like http. The database name is the name of the Azure database where RetailVista may store data. The schema name, usually dbo but sometimes different, is also supplied by the service provider.
The connector must then be selected in the settings, within the Statistics section, as the connector for Azure data communication.
In branch maintenance each branch must be marked as included in the Azure synchronization. The existing fields for server name, database, username and password are no longer relevant and will be removed in RetailVista 2026.
After this, one or more entities can be added through Azure subscriptions. These entities will be included in the synchronization.
For each entity it is visible whether it has already been synchronized and what the date and time of the last synchronization was. In the detail screen an entity can be marked as expired. It will then no longer be synchronized and will no longer count towards the license limit.
From that moment on, the task planner will synchronize the selected data files with Azure every evening. For each synchronization a task is created, and the task report shows how the synchronization process was completed.