How to Choose the Right Integration Tool for Your Company’s Needs

Business Integration tools is the process of combining all applications and software tools so that they all work together harmoniously. This allows businesses to avoid any issues that may lead to confusion and costly errors. They make your work and that of your employees easier, boosting productivity and morale as well as encouraging collaboration amongst different departments and application types. Last but not least, it reduces your running costs, allowing your business to generate more revenue while offering cheaper products or services to customers.

Though it sounds simple, integration can be a relatively complex and painstaking process, especially if your business has a sophisticated ecosystem of IT systems. Yet if done improperly, this process can end up costing you your business in the long run.

Luckily, there’re many systems out there designed to help you with the integration process. There are some kinds of integration tools, which are:

• Inventory Control Management(ICM): Used to control the stock
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Used to manage clients and leads
• Decision Support(DS): Used to analyze data and taking smart decisions
• Employee monitoring systems to help both contractors and employers monitor the time that various tasks take.

However, it’s crucial to note that these integration solutions for businesses aren’t created equal. Some are good, suitable for your business, and probably going to work for you as advertised 😄. At the same time, others are bad, unsuitable for your entity, and perhaps going to disappoint you beyond words. Avoid wasting your resources (time and money) by choosing the wrong integration solution. Here’s how to select the right one, instead;

What are the best integration tools for you to use in your business? Well, there are thousands of them, but here we will explore 4 that for sure you help you on your business.They are:

• Dell Boomi
• Celigo
• Zapier
• Kommo

Dell Boomi is ideal for businesses of all sizes. This cloud-based integration software is one of the best choices in the industry. It’s known to offer best integration practices to enhance digital transformation and ensure that all the applications and software tools of each business are well interconnected. On top of that, it supports hundreds of software including CRMs, and has a user-friendly interface, making the integration process a piece of cake 🍰.

Celigo is designed for businesses that want to quickly connect applications and software tools to automate business processes 🚀. This business integration software offers the right solutions and functionalities necessary for flawless integrations. Whether you need a complex integration between multiple applications and software tools or a simple FTP integration, Celigo can be a great piece of software to accomplish that purpose.

Zapier offers the right features and functionalities to integrate thousands of enterprise apps and software tools including your favorite CRM software. What sets this integration app for your business needs is that it also acts as an automation tool. As such, you can use it to automate your process, increasing your output to a greater extent.

Kommo is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) which is used to manage leads and clients, an essential integration for your marketing strategies. It can be integrated with WhatsApp Business, Instagram, Facebook Ads and even specific business tools, like RD Station, Slack, Zapier, Stripe and much more.

🚀 See more about Kommo integrations here.

Here’s how to select an integration software tools that perfectly caters to your business’s needs, you have to consider the following thing:

• Consider Your Business’s Needs
• Choose a User-Friendly Integration System
• Select a Versatile and Future-Proof Integration System
• Pick a Scalable Integration System
• Go For a Secure Business Integration System Consider integrating an enterprise password manager.
• Choose An Integration System You Can Afford
• What Are Others Saying About The Integration System?
• Pay Attention To The Customer Service Of Each Company You May Consider
• Decide Whether You Want a Cloud-based Data Integration System or an On-Premise One Depending
• Talk To A Consultant

There’s no getting away from the fact that each business has its unique needs for an integration system. The best system integration is one that’s built with your business’s needs in mind. In other words, it should have adequate capabilities to fulfill those needs.

For instance, if your enterprise relies on legacy infrastructure because you need to preserve the traditional nature of your business for one reason or another, it means you’ll require an integration system that’s built with this need in mind 🤔. Don’t forget that legacy infrastructure works with older technologies, which many products on the market may not support.

An excellent way to improve your team's productivity and make your business easier is through Integration tools which are easy and intuitive to use. It's not worth choosing a tool with one million features if it's hard and complex to use. Choose an integration system that’s simple to understand and easy to use. 👍

Shouldn’t be so complicated that it forces you to look for an expert to help you with it.

On the contrary, it should have features that make it user-friendly such as a drag-and-drop user interface for simplifying things. Not only is a complex system frustrating and time-consuming, but also costly.

A good integration system for your business should be versatile and able to be used in many different ways in the integration process. Furthermore, it should be able to work with all your existing systems and future systems that you may decide to put in place. Don’t forget that integration can sometimes be a continuous process. Think of it this way; you may invest in a new system, which may well need to be integrated into the existing systems.

📚 Automation is essential to improve productivity on your business. Learn more on our article Sales automation in 5 steps with Kommo

Another important consideration is scalability. You want to select a scalable integration system able to continue meeting the needs of your business when it starts to grow or evolve in the future. In other words, the software you choose as a smaller organization should be scalable enough to continue serving you best when your business expands 🚀. With so many scalable integration systems on the market, it is an amateur mistake to pick something you'll have to ditch in the future when your business grows too big.

How secure an integration system is should be one of your most important considerations when choosing the right system for your business’s needs 🧑‍✈. That’s because many products on the market have low-level security that can put your crucial data at risk. Instead of choosing such an integration software tool, look for an alternative option compliant with industry standards for security. At its most basic level, the software should include features like intruder alerts and reporting to help you guard your data.

Business integration systems are priced differently, depending on many things including the features and tools that a product comes with. You want to choose a product that you can afford as some products are just way too expensive for your budget.

On top of that, it’s always a good idea to select a product that offers subscription-based pricing based on the sizes of businesses. That way, you’ll end up paying a justified amount and also enjoy the freedom to cancel your subscription and look for a better alternative should you get disappointments in the product.

Finding out what others are saying about something is one of the classic ways to find out whether that thing is good or bad. In this case, you should check for reviews of the business integration system you are considering buying and take note of the feedback people have provided about it. Are most of the reviews good? If yes, chances are high that you’re looking at suitable software for your business, and vice versa.

The business integration system you choose should be from a company that offers excellent customer support. That’s because, after buying the software, you may encounter a technical issue that needs the immediate attention of the vendor, while trying to use it in your integration process. Note that excellent customer support should be maintained across all platforms including email, help desk, phone system, and call system to customize messages to clients

Without good customer support, getting technical assistance from the company can prove to be a painstaking process. This can create a negative experience for you, hindering the integration process.

How do you tell that a company has great CS at a glance? Well, it’s simple, look at its website and answer the following questions;

• Is there a Customer Support feature on the website?
• Did you try using the feature?
• Was it user-friendly?
• Did you get a response quickly?

If you answered each question with a YES, you know that you are looking at a company with good Customer Service. If you did so with a NO, that means you are dealing with a firm that has a bad one.

You could also check what others have to say about the company to determine whether its CS is top-notch or wanting. To do that, go to a few reviews and forums online that discuss it and note what people are saying about its CS.

You’ll need to decide whether you want a cloud-based data integration system or an on-premise one. Keep in mind that each integration system has its suitability.

Cloud-based data integration is usually done via the cloud, just as the name suggests. A cloud integration system is suitable for enterprises that have their systems running on the cloud. If you want to learn more about cloud integration, it’s good to look for the best cloud consulting companies that can give you more information.

On-premise data integration, on the other hand, entails integrating an enterprise’s systems on-site or locally. Unlike cloud-based integration systems, on-premise integration systems are suitable for businesses that run their on-premise.

Choosing a cloud-based integration system when your business has on-premise systems will not result in successful integration. Neither is selecting an on-premise integration system when your business’s software ecosystem is cloud-based.

Finally, if you find the tips above challenging or if you want to save time in finding the right integration system for your business’s needs, just talk to an IT consultant. There are many reliable consultancy firms near you that not only can advise you but also give you a few product recommendations.

As a business, integration can sometimes become a necessity when you want to harmonize all your systems to have smoother and more efficient system operations through data consistency. All these can be to ensure increased productivity, revenues, and profits in the long run.

Choosing the right business integration tools is the only way to ensure that your integration project is successful.

With the right knowledge and information, finding one need not be challenging. While selecting options consider your business’s needs, usability, versatility, future-proofness, scalability, and how secure the software is. What’s more, pay attention to the price, what others are saying about the product and the nature of the company’s customer service.

On top of that, decide whether you want a cloud-based data integration system or an on-premise one, depending on your systems’ ecosystem. Last but not least, talk to a consultant if you find it difficult to use the other tips above in finding the right integration system, or if you want to save time in the process.

Kommo is a pioneering Messenger Based Sales CRM software that helps businesses achieve more sales and create long-lasting relationships with their customers. It is a tool that enables companies to reach better results and increase their profits.