SaaS integrations: FAQs and everything you need to know

A SaaS integration is the process of taking a business’s SaaS enterprise systems and connecting them together to allow for seamless data exchange between each service and various different endpoints, like your website.

With nearly 31,000 SaaS companies offering their products to businesses, it can be difficult to know what services can be connected together or with your website, portal, or app. Here are a few examples of the different types of systems that can be integrated:

• Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) – Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and HubSpot
• Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) – e.g. Oracle, Infor and Workday
• Digital Asset Management systems (DAM) – e.g. Bynder and Canto
• Accounting systems – e.g. Xero, QuickBooks, Zoho and Sage
• Content Management systems (CMS) – e.g. Payload, Magento and Shopify
• Project Management systems – e.g. Asana, Jira and Trello
• Human Resource (HR) systems – e.g. Workday, Zoho People, SAP and BambooHR
• Payment Gateways – e.g. PayPal, Stripe and Adyen

Your SaaS systems can integrate with one another to allow for smooth data transfer, but they can also integrate with digital products like your website, a customer portal, or an app. For example, you could integrate your DAM system to populate your website with product images, or you could integrate your CRM to capture lead data from your app.

With a comprehensive SaaS integration, you can:

• Automate workflows to save on admin time
• Sync data in real-time so you know data is up-to-date across the board
• Unify disparate SaaS tools for cross-platform communication
• Customise the integration to work with your business processes
• Create a scalable solution that grows as your business does

All of these can be huge time and cost savers for your business.

Yes, you can integrate multiple SaaS systems with one another, as well as your app, portal, or website. We did exactly this for Harwin, where we connected their Salesforce system with their website, as well as their DAM and various other SaaS systems for seamless data exchange. By connecting multiple services, they felt the benefits even more, improving their workflows internally.

Advanced integrations are generally very secure. We use our own Si Middleware, which features a private API, so it’s safe from prying eyes. Using secure authentication and data encryption also keeps data safe and secure.

To ensure a smooth integration, it’s worth defining clear goals and KPIs before you begin. When you integrate with us, we’ll run a workshop during the discovery phase with you to determine what these are so everyone knows what we’re working towards. It’s also important to fully test an integration before it gets deployed. This ensures the data flows are working properly, reducing the risk of mismatching data entries or out-of-date data.

The benefits of integrating your SaaS systems can be huge and have lasting effects on the way a business works and how efficient it is. Some of the top benefits our clients find are:

• Less admin – there’s less time spent updating multiple data points. Simply update in one place, and the changes are reflected everywhere
• Reduce errors – with fewer places to update data, you minimise the chances of human error when entering data significantly
• Improved security – encryption and authentication reduce the risk of spam and data leaks, keeping your business’s data safe and secure
• Scalability – no need for a rebuild in three years’ time, our advanced integrations are fully scalable, so more SaaS systems can be added as your business expands
• Automation – data can be synced automatically, so you won’t have to worry about data updates being missed
• Always up-to-date – ongoing maintenance means your integration is always running smoothly, so less time spent fixing issues

If you’ve got any questions we’ve not answered, let us know in the comments. And if your business uses disjointed SaaS systems, check out our integrations services or get in touch to book a consultation.