Your online store does not know what is in your accounting. Your CRM does not know the appointments in your calendar. Someone retypes the same data from one screen into another every day. An API integration takes that work away: two systems exchange data without a person in between. On this page you read when to have an integration built, what it involves and what to check.
What is an API integration?
An API is the entrance through which one program can request data from another program and pass data on to it. An API integration uses that entrance to let two systems talk to each other. When an order comes in at your online store, the integration prepares the invoice in your accounting. When a customer changes their address in your CRM, it is also correct in your invoicing.
The difference with an export and an import is that it happens by itself, at the moment something changes, and that nobody has to remember it.
Standard integration or custom work?
Many packages have ready-made integrations with other well-known packages. Always look there first: a standard integration is faster and is maintained by the supplier.
You need custom work when:
- there is no standard integration for your two systems;
- the standard integration exists but does not do what your process asks, for example because you work with your own fields, price tiers or statuses;
- more than two systems are involved and the data has to pass through in a fixed order;
- one of the systems is self-built or heavily adapted.
What having an integration built involves
1. Defining which data goes where
Which data goes from which system to which system, and when? Which system is in charge when two systems say something different? This looks like a detail, but it is the question on which an integration succeeds or stalls. You need someone for it who knows the process, not someone who can program.
2. Checking what the systems allow
Not every package releases everything through its API. Sometimes you can read but not write, sometimes you may only make a limited number of requests per hour, sometimes the API is only part of a more expensive subscription. You should know that before anything is built.
3. Building and testing with real cases
An integration that works well with an ordinary order can get stuck on a return, a credit note or a customer with two addresses. So test with the exceptions from your own practice, not only with the standard case.
4. Agreeing what happens when it goes wrong
Systems go down and suppliers change their API. A good integration reports it when a message does not arrive and tries again, instead of stopping silently. Ask beforehand who gets that report and who solves it.
5. Maintaining
An integration is not a one-off project. When one of the two systems changes, the integration has to change with it. Agree who does that and how fast.
Combinations people often search for
For these combinations business owners often look for an integration:
- Online store with accounting: orders, invoices and payments.
- Online store with stock or ERP: products, prices and stock levels.
- CRM or booking system with accounting: customers, quotes and invoices.
- Website or form with CRM: enquiries arrive directly with the right person.
- Calendar with customer system: appointments and reminders.
Whether a particular combination is possible depends on what both systems release through their API. That is step 2 above.
Integration or AI agent?
An integration moves data according to fixed rules. That is enough when the input always has the same form. When text comes in that first has to be understood, such as an email, an enquiry in plain language or an invoice as a PDF, you need more. An AI agent reads what comes in, makes a proposal and then uses the same integrations to put it into your systems.
It can start with an integration; the agent comes in for the work that does not fit fixed rules. How to choose which process to tackle first is in business process automation: where to start.
What to check in a builder
- Do they ask about your process first, or do they start with technology?
- Do they check whether a standard integration is enough before proposing custom work?
- Who gets the report when the integration falters, and who solves it?
- Who maintains the integration when one of your systems changes?
- Who owns the code, and can you take it with you if you change builder?
What we do
Automatevia builds integrations through APIs and webhooks, separately or as part of an AI team that takes work off your hands. For clients we built integrations with the payment provider Mollie. For our own team we connected calendar, email and WhatsApp. With an AI team, important actions go through you first.
More about the AI team is on the page about AI automation services for small businesses.
Frequently asked questions about having an API integration built
What is an API integration?
An API integration lets two systems exchange data without anyone retyping it. One system passes on through its API what changes, the other system takes it over.
When do you have a custom integration built?
When there is no standard integration for your systems, when the standard integration does not fit your process, or when more than two systems have to work together in a fixed order. Always check first whether a standard integration is enough.
Can every system be connected?
No. It depends on what a system releases through its API. Some packages allow reading but not writing, or offer the API only in a certain subscription. You check that before anything is built.
What does having an API integration built cost?
That depends on the number of systems, on how much data goes in which direction and on what the systems allow. An integration between two well-known packages with a fixed pattern is the least work. Always ask what maintenance costs as well, because that continues after the build.
What is the difference between an API integration and an AI agent?
An integration moves data according to fixed rules. An AI agent understands text that comes in, makes a proposal itself and then uses integrations to record it. For work with a fixed form, an integration is enough.
Start with the free scan
Want to know which retyping work can go at your business? Send us your weekly tasks and we tell you what a system can take over. To the free scan.
