The world of integration has grown dramatically over the last decade delivering Salesforce customers a significantly larger spectrum of potential solutions ready to solve virtually every possible scenario. Often though, customers could use some help on the front-end determining the toolset and technology that fits their organization best. Today, we’re offering seven strategies to help you sort things out and set your Salesforce integration project up for success.
- Outline Your Objectives in Detail
Defining an integration project before you begin is so important and is a critical factor in long-term success. Outline, in detail, the business processes you’re looking to automate and define the objects and fields you’ll be impacting. This first step is crucial in ensuring success across users, teams and ancillary platforms. If you’re running into road blocks, don’t hesitate to engage a third-party consultant like your Salesforce or integration partner to help you connect the dots.
- Educate Yourself on iPaaS Solutions with a Salesforce Connector
Utilizing an iPaaS solution allows you to build, test and maintain all your organization’s integrations in a single interface accessible by any user. Look for toolsets with a pre-built Salesforce connector and spend the time to learn as much as you can on the front-end. Attending webinars, reading blog articles and activating free trials are great ways to get started.
- Determine Cost of Entry and Scalability
This is an uber important yet often over-looked strategy. Once you’ve identified potential solutions, dig deep into the cost of entry to get started plus expected costs if you add additional connections and integrations down the line. Here are key factors to evaluate:
- Is there a cost to add connections?
- What defines a connection?
- Are there limits or price increases based on number of users, data volume or number of integrations?
- What support, onboarding or training is included?
- Are discounts offered for subscriptions paid in advance?
- Identify Experts to Handle the Heavy Lifting
Integration is inherently complex, and you want integration experts in your corner to ensure your iPaaS is configured properly for the short and long-term. These experts could be internal resources who’ve worked on integration projects in the past. If those team members aren’t readily available, engage your Salesforce or integration solution provider on the consulting services they offer.
- Look for an iPaaS Built for All Types of Users
It’s another element often missed that can dramatically impact your experience. Search for a solution partner whose software is built to marry the worlds of power users, IT, consultants and developers. You don’t want this solution to be a giant black hole everyone is afraid to go near. Ensure it’s simple for users to maintain integrations and eases the process of error handling – with the power and performance option of developer scripting to handle any scenario or transformation you run into.
- Ask About APIs
APIs have significantly improved the integration landscape the past half-decade, imagine the impact the next five years will bring. The flexibility to integrate with any REST or SOAP API allows you to maximize your ROI and impact more areas of your business. Strong API management from an iPaaS partner also ensures minimized maintenance and maximized ROI. Investigate the limits and restrictions of any third-party APIs you want to integrate with and ensure your iPaaS can accommodate.
- Take Advantage of Templates
Templates offer you the ability to build integrations faster and achieve positive ROI sooner. Be sure to see if your iPaaS offers templates for your integration scenarios. Think of templates like a house that’s been framed half-way through construction. They should allow you to bypass the heavy lifting with a pre-built structure yet offer the flexibility to customize and personalize each integration to match your business.
Have further questions on how to make your Salesforce integration a success? Drop me a line at luke.steckler@eonesolutions.com.