The compute triggers, %%INSERT and %%UPDATE are, in my opinion the best option. They are specifically supported for this purpose and are completely seamless between SQL and Objects. Callbacks and other options may not be seamlessly supported by both filers.

Our JPL implementation, called "ASQ", is not very fast (yet, we are working on that) but it works well for small sets of data.

LATEST:USER>:pp obj.apply("$[*].items[*].externalPositions[*]")
do ##class(%ASQ.SetUtils).pp(obj.apply("$[*].items[*].externalPositions[*]"))
[
  {
    "pureId": 0,
    "appointment": {
      "uri": "string",
      "term": {
        "en_GB": "Some text"
      }
    },
    "appointmentString": {
      "en_GB": "Some text"
    },
    "period": {
      "startDate": {
        "year": 0,
        "month": 1,
        "day": 1
      },
      "endDate": {
        "year": 0,
        "month": 1,
        "day": 1
      }
    },
    "externalOrganization": {
      "uuid": "196ab1c9-6e60-4000-8b89-29269178a480",
      "systemName": "string"
    }
  }
]

I agree - $system.external is the correct interface. You should be able to find out more about the $system.external interface by calling $system.external.Help().