Salesforce Integration to External Application

Question

We have some Rest webservices in external system which are available in intranet, which needs to be called from Salesforce. I would like to know what are the steps needed to call webservices from SF.

As per my understanding below are the steps to call.

1. Webservices has to be switched from intranet to internet based.
2. Salesforce server IP address needs to be whitelisted from Salesforce.
3. Make Http callout from Salesforce to webservices.

Is my understanding is correct? Or have I missed a few steps?

I would also like to know if it is required to have CA Signed Certificate or Self Signed certificate to make it work.

Answer 1

You do need access to the service from the internet. Whitelisting is one possible method, but salesforce also supports other authentication mechanisms such as two way SSL or signed messages. The only requirement is that the service should meet your organization's IT policies. Whitelisting is one acceptable mechanism, but the may require some tweaking from time to time as salesforce adds new resources. Call outs to external systems also requires that the endpoint be registered in salesforce's security settings to allow call outs to that domain.

Answer 2

For anyone else reading this and looking for a more "dynamic solution", I've put together a plugin for Salesforce Visual Workflow which works with any HTTPS endpoint to POST JSON data. Saves writing APEX code or custom triggers.

SFDC Any Object to POST HTTPS JSON Webook