3 Keys to Successful Software Integration Projects

Most software projects in logistics don’t involve building anything new.

Rather, these projects mostly consist of combining existing technologies.

These are called software integration projects and can range from very simple connections to complex, multi-month projects.

Since these integration projects are so prevalent, today I wanted to discuss what you need to know when starting an integration project including:

• How to avoid the integration work entirely

• “Gotchas” to look out for before beginning an integration

• The 3 most popular mechanisms you have for integrations

How to Avoid the Integration Work Entirely

The first point around integrations is that it’s often worth reaching out to the developer teams of the software you use to see if they can build the integration for you.

This way, the integration becomes a native part of the software and you don’t have to write any code. This integration can end up being useful for their future customers as well.

This can happen especially when you are a large client of the software company, so they are more likely to make the changes you need.

Furthermore, if the software company is smaller, they may be more accommodating for your needs as they are trying to grow.

I’ve seen this work out several times in my own practice.

In a recent project I completed, the existing API’s that a carrier consolidator offered for integrating with their systems wasn’t compatible with a client’s existing system.

However since they were still relatively small, their developer team ended up making the changes we needed, thus helping us avoid the integration work completely.

Takeaway

Before trying to build a custom integration, consider reaching out to the developer teams to see if they can build the integration for you.

This could save a lot of work!

What to Do Before You Begin the Integration

The second thing about integrations is it’s critical to plan how you will do this integration before jumping right in. 

Some questions I often ask myself during the planning phase include:

1. How will you migrate existing data?

2. Do the API’s you want to integrate with have all the information you need?

3. What data transformations need to happen to make the API’s compatible?

4. Are there any “gotchas” and limitations in the API’s?

5. Are there any alternative API’s you can use?

These questions can save you from making tremendous integration mistakes.

In one project involving integrating with image recognition API’s for example, I noticed that the performance of API’s in this space varied wildly.

Some API’s were able to correctly recognize images 50% of the time, while the best ones were able to do it 90% of the time.

That’s a huge difference!

Thankfully we had investigated these differences before starting implementation. This saved us weeks of time from going down the wrong paths.

Takeaway

Don’t jump straight into implementation when working on integration projects.

Make sure you allocate enough time to investigate the behavior and limitations of your API’s to avoid any nasty surprises during implementation.

Understanding the Options: Zapier, API’s and Webhooks

Lastly, I’ve noticed that most software offer 3 main ways to integrate with other systems. They are:

1. Zapier - This is like “no-code” integrations. You setup integrations using a nice web interface, without ever having to dive into any code. It’s often used when integrations are simple.

2. API’s - API’s are great because it makes customization and data transformations easy to perform in code. API’s are also often implemented as “poll” models, where you have to “poll” the API when you want information.

3. Webhooks - These are similar to API’s except instead of having to “poll” for information, you are automatically updated when new information is available (aka a “push” model).

For example, Google Drive offers webhooks that trigger whenever a folder’s contents changes. If you used an API, you wouldn’t be automatically notified as you’d have to “poll” for it.

For the simplest of integrations, Zapier can be a good option, as you don’t have to be technical to use it.

However, as integrations get more complex, it’s often better to use the “code” option with API’s and webhooks as it allows more flexibility.

The downside is that you may need a developer team to build these integrations for you.

Takeaway 

Consider using Zapier for simple integrations.

But when there are more integrations, data transformations, and complications to the project, API’s and webhooks are your best bet for integrations.

Final Thoughts 

Integrations make up a large portion of the software work in supply chain and logistics. 

If possible, I would always try to get your software products’ team to do the integration for you to avoid complications.

But if that’s not possible, always remember to allocate some time to planning and consider the 3 options you have for implementation as well.

This will help ensure your integration goes as smoothly as possible!

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