Is it time to switch to a different integration platform?
You might think that all of our clients are either companies who are setting up an integration for the first time or those who are purchasing a new SaaS system and need to add to their current integration offering. Many of them do fit into these categories, but there is a significant percentage of clients who are turning to us or our partners to get away from their current integration provider.
Chances are, if you've implemented an integration, it hasn't been the smoothest of processes. Integrations rarely are. But how do you know when it's time to move on?
Switching integration platforms can be messy and time consuming, and many iPaaS vendors are banking on the fact that you'll stick with them because it's such a hassle to make the switch. Often, you'll continue with their solution, as painful as it might be, for several years, even if you're not getting from it what you hoped. Eventually, you should probably break up with them. Here's what you should look out for:
1. You're getting nowhere with their support teams and hear "This is just the way it is"
You've spent countless hours going over the same issues with your vendor's support team without any real solutions being presented. Or, if solutions are presented, they're not quite what you need and are just a "patch". If the vendor has become complacent or just plain refuses to make modifications to their software to accommodate reasonable requests, you're not getting what you need from the software and it's probably time to move on.
2. Duplicates are often being created and you can't adjust the dedupe settings
Duplicate records are often inevitable, but if they're occurring frequently enough, you might get to the point where you have to hire a part time or temporary resource to help clean up your database for you. If the criteria that your company uses to distinguish records is not the same as your vendor, and if your vendor does not have the ability to customize the merging/deduping criteria, it might be time to move on.
3. You can't sync the data that you really need
As an example, if you've set up an integration between a Marketing Automation system and a CRM and you're unable to sync the marketing data, such as website visits, clicked links, etc., due to limitations with the vendor's product, what's the point in using the vendor's software at all? It's probably time to move on.
4. The cost of the product is increasing without any added value to you
You've been struggling with your iPaaS vendor, you've got a dozen open tickets, your data just isn't syncing, and now you've received a yearly subscription bill with a 40% increase? This is a pretty clear indication that your vendor's out of touch with your account and that you're not getting the attention that you need. It's time to move on.
5. You're spending more time managing the integration than working with the synced data
The whole point behind data automation is to free up your time and your team's time to do what they should really be focusing on. If they're instead spending all of their time fixing issues resulting from the integration instead of following up on leads, the integration is costing you a lot more than just the annual subscription fee. It's definitely time to move on.
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