What Are Connections in Hoicko?

What are connections in Hoicko?

Hoicko connections allow your workspace to communicate with external applications or services so information and actions can move between systems as part of an automated business process.

Modern businesses rarely work inside a single application. A procurement team may use one system for requests, another for communication, and another for financial processing. When these systems operate independently, employees often have to copy information manually from one place to another.

Connections help reduce this manual work.

Instead of repeatedly transferring information, a connected workflow can move relevant data between Hoicko and another service when a defined event occurs.

How do Hoicko connections work?

A typical connected process contains three parts:

1. Hoicko workspace

This is where the business record, task, request, project, or workflow originates.

2. Connected application

This is the external service that Hoicko communicates with.

3. Automation

The automation determines when the connection should be used and what action should take place.

A simple process can therefore look like:

New Record → Trigger → Workflow → Connection → External Action → Hoicko Update

Example

Imagine a vendor onboarding process.

A procurement employee creates a new vendor record in Hoicko.

The workflow can detect that the vendor has been approved and then initiate the next configured action through a connected service.

Instead of the procurement employee manually copying information and notifying another team, the process becomes partially or fully automated.

When should you use a connection?

Connections are useful when:

• Two applications need to exchange information.
• Employees repeatedly copy the same information.
• An external application needs to be triggered by a Hoicko event.
• A business process depends on information from another system.
• You want to reduce repetitive administrative work.

Connection vs workflow

These two concepts should not be confused.

A connection enables communication between systems.

A workflow defines what should happen.

For example:

Connection = Hoicko can communicate with another application.

Workflow = When a request is approved, send the relevant information to that application.

Best practices

Before creating a connection:

1. Identify the business process.
2. Determine which system owns the original information.
3. Decide what information needs to move.
4. Define the event that starts the process.
5. Identify the expected result.
6. Determine who should manage the connection.

FAQs

What is a connection in Hoicko?
A connection allows Hoicko to communicate with an external application or service as part of a business process.

Are connections the same as workflows?
No. A connection establishes communication, while a workflow determines when and how that communication should be used.

Why are Hoicko connections useful?
They can reduce manual data entry, connect applications, and support automated business processes.

Can connections be used with workflows?
Yes. Connections are particularly useful when a workflow needs to exchange information with an external service.

Who should manage business connections?
Connections that affect business-critical processes should generally be managed by authorized administrators or users responsible for integrations.