What is a custom integration? Simply put, it means creating a customized software solution that fits your use case. This code can be as simple as a plugin to shuffle data from one database to another, all the way to a full-blown customized content management system. These integrations can require hours or even weeks of development – each one is unique.
Custom integration is often required to help your business integrate your website, software, systems, or platforms with each other to meet your unique needs and specifications. A good example is a custom integration between your website and back-end systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) functions.
Below are some common examples of situations that may require custom integration:
- Do you need to connect a legacy ERP system running on a 20-year-old server in your basement to a public form so that users can easily submit support requests through your website? Use a custom website integration;
- Do you have an Excel spreadsheet that you’ve been running around for years with all your locations and you want to display them on a map, but don’t mind easily updating your listing like you’ve always done? You need a custom website integration;
- Do you need to provide your customers with data stored in some obscure standalone database? Add a custom integration.
How custom integrations work
Here’s where “custom” comes into the equation. Every integration is different, and in most cases, creating the code required to build a custom integration requires the expertise of a skilled developer.
That’s why you’ll likely need a trusted web design and development partner who can assess your needs and help you achieve your specific goals.
An experienced website development firm will meet with key stakeholders in your organization, review and document your current website architecture, and design solutions to add the new features you’re looking for. This may include leveraging existing hooks and APIs (application program interfaces) in your current software solution or finding a way to export data from your software to a more universal format.
When your custom solution is developed, the ultimate goal is usually to not even know it exists. A properly built custom integration will become your silent partner; it runs in the background and does its job without complaint. It’s kind of like your robot butler that perfectly replaces the manual process in your organization and saves you hours every week.
This doesn’t mean that your custom integration can’t evolve; often you’ll find that once you automate one manual process, the other manual processes in your organization will seem old-fashioned and you’ll want to make more custom integrations.