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Connected systems: why integration matters more than another new app

When work feels slow, the usual answer is to buy another app. In many businesses, though, the problem is not too few apps. It is apps that do not talk to each other.

The Otora team · 3 min read
A laptop showing charts on a desk by a window

Signs your systems are not connected

Check whether any of these happen in your business:

  • Sales figures at the till differ from those in the finance report.
  • Warehouse stock lives in a spreadsheet separate from the sales system.
  • Staff retype orders from WhatsApp or marketplaces into another system.
  • The monthly report takes days because the data comes from many places.
  • When numbers disagree, nobody is sure which one is right.

If two or more sound familiar, your problem is most likely the connections between apps.

New apps often create new data islands

Every app keeps its own data. The point-of-sale app has a product list, the marketplace has a product list, the accounting app has a product list. Without connections, every price or stock change has to be made in three places, and those three places slowly drift apart.

Adding a fourth app without connecting it just adds one more island. There is more copying to do, and more chances to mistype.

Good integration is invisible. All you notice is that the copying work has disappeared.

Start with a map of your data

Before buying or building anything, draw a simple map:

  1. List every app and spreadsheet in use, including chat groups used for orders.
  2. For each type of data (customers, products, stock, orders, payments), note where it is first entered.
  3. Mark where the same data is typed again.
  4. Choose one source of truth for each type of data. Other apps read from it.

The map often shows straight away which connection will save the most time.

Three ways to connect apps

Official APIs. Most modern services, such as payment gateways, marketplaces, and accounting apps, offer an API. API connections can run instantly and in both directions.

Scheduled sync. For apps that can only export and import files, the system can fetch and send data automatically at set times.

Bridges for legacy systems. Old systems without an API can still be connected, for example by reading their database in a limited way or processing the report files they produce.

What to look after

  • Security: each connection uses its own access key with the fewest rights possible.
  • Logging: every data transfer is recorded, so differences can be traced.
  • Failures: if a connection drops, data waits in a queue and is resent automatically instead of being lost.
  • Ownership: each type of data has one clear owner in the team.

Integration is not a one-off project. It needs monitoring like any other part of operations. If you would like to map the data flows in your business, we can help you get started.