Helix recently announced plans to add additional security and data integrity measures to Andar. While much is still unknown about these plans, Upic will be communicating with Helix and the Andar CAB to better understand and inform the Upic community how these changes will affect them. As the security of donor data and integrity of Andar are extremely important, Upic supports measures to increase donor security. We’ll be populating this blog entry with a list of frequently asked questions as we learn more, and will reach out to customers directly once we have enough information to recommend a course of action. 

What is changing?

Helix announced that they are adding additional security and data integrity measures to the Andar database. They have not announced how this will be implemented for further analysis.

Does this impact my United Way?

 Probably. Most United Ways using Andar have integrated it with third party tools for a variety of purposes, including reporting/BI, CRM and external marketing platforms. Any tool or service integrated with Andar, but not using the Andar connector or the to-be-released API are “likely to fail or cause Andar to fail”.

When will this change occur?

Helix has announced that the changes will occur in 2018.

What action should my United Way take?

Upic’s current recommendation is that you wait for more information which we will post here in the coming weeks. There is not adequate information yet to make a recommendation, but we are working with the Andar CAB and Helix to provide one.

Update – April 3, 2017

In continued conversations with Helix, they have committed to creating an API which will fully support all needed operations. Additionally, the changes planned should have minimal impact on read-only integrations for reporting/BI needs. Helix’s also plans on providing ample time for testing and migration to the API. The Andar API will require extra licensing, but provides a safe, supported integration with 3rd party applications.