Software Integration

How It Works

Long-gone are the days of standalone software; now most actions can be automated between two or more systems. For example, want to automatically create a contact record in your CRM when a client reaches out via a chatbot. You may also want to invite a client to your customer portal from a single button push. Have a complex spreadsheet that you want to automatically update? You get the idea.

Software integration generally requires some coding expertise. The biggest reason for this is that the same data can be represented quite differently. Parsing and formatting play a large role in its complexity. Business logic (ie. business rules specific to your company) is another source of challenges that usually require help from a developer.

Is it worth it?

If you are considering integration already, the answer to this is almost always a resounding yes. That said, the questions you need to ask yourself are:

• Do I (or my employees) spend a large portion of my workday doing tasks that could be automated?
• Could my (or my employees') time be better spent doing something else?
• Have I (or my employees) made mistakes doing these trivial tasks?
• What damages could come as a consequence of human-error?

As mentioned, most of the time integration is worth the effort of developing. Strategic automation can greatly improve the efficiency of your business and mitigates risk due to human-error.

Can I do it on my own?

There is a chance you might! A lot of platforms like Zoho Flow take away a lot of the mentioned complexity. They are certainly worth looking into if you can afford the time and can handle a lot of integration challenges. For more complex workflows, however, it is definitely worth getting a professional opinion.