[SalesForce] Is it possible to call external webservice(API) in ExactTarget

We suppose the action will be triggered in some steps in Automation Studio or Journey Builder. After action is triggered, a remote webservice call is made to 3rd party system, and we can use the returned data to update Data Extension.

So far i cannot see any "custom script" options in automation studio and journey builder, alternatively i may add AMPscript function HTTPPost() in my email template to do similar thing but i am not sure whether it is the best practice.

Best Answer

As Timothy pointed out SSJS Activities would be the way to go in Automation Studio. If you like to add this functionality to Journey Builder, you will have to create a custom activity, that calls your external Webservice/API with the given inArguments from Journey Builder and passes the response to the following activities using the outArguments.

Example for basic architecture: You can check out a custom split activity, that I created to see a working example of a custom journey builder activity. However you need to change it to be a REST-activity rather than a RESTDECISION-activity. But in my opinion basic concepts like the postmonger-events, user interface and how the backend is built could be helpful for you.

Further reading: