How To Avoid Common Pitfalls During Third-Party Integration

Integrating with third-party solutions has become a fundamental practice for businesses aiming to employ external tools, services, and technologies.

Over the past two decades, the need for such integrations has dramatically grown, driven by the desire to improve functionality, extend capabilities, and provide more comprehensive solutions.

But these integrations, while essential, pose significant challenges that can disrupt even the best-organized development projects.

This article dives into the integration challenges of third-party solutions and provides practical tips to overcome common issues.

What Is Systems Integration?

Integration between systems means connecting different software or hardware systems so they can smoothly work together. Normally, it involves:

1. Data Transfers: Sharing information between systems, like databases or real-time data streams.
2. Push/Pull Models: Either sending data automatically when it changes (push) or requesting data when needed (pull).
3. APIs: Using predefined rules to let systems communicate and share functions without knowing each other’s details.

Integration helps businesses run more efficiently, make better decisions with shared data, and create powerful solutions. But it also requires handling challenges like data compatibility, security, and system changes.

The Typical Pitfalls When Dealing With 3d-Party Integration

When integrating with 3d-party solutions, companies often face many pitfalls that can lead to disruptions, inefficiencies, security risks, or failed projects. It’s crucial to be aware of these potential issues to effectively plan and execute integrations.

Here are some typical pitfalls.

Estimation and Planning

The pitfall of underestimating the complexity and integration challenges can lead to significant planning difficulties. To mitigate this pitfall, it is important to take the following steps:

• Request an additional step for analyzing the integration before providing any estimates: One of the most critical aspects of successful integration is a comprehensive understanding of the third-party solution you’re working with. Before providing any estimates, insist on a thorough analysis of the integration requirements. This will help uncover potential challenges, dependencies, and complexities that might not be evident initially.
• Thoroughly read the documentation and check feedback from others: Rely on the documentation provided by the third-party solution, but don’t stop there. Seek out real-world experiences and feedback from other developers who have integrated with the same solution. Their insights can highlight common issues and provide valuable context.
• Prototype the integration: Create a prototype or proof of concept to test the feasibility of the integration. Prototyping allows you to identify potential roadblocks and estimate the effort more accurately.
• Add a buffer of at least 20% to your original estimates: Despite thorough planning, you can face unexpected challenges. By adding a buffer to your estimates, you create a safety net to adjust to unforeseen issues without disrupting the project timeline.
• Inform your customer that integration is an iterative process: Many customers expect a straightforward integration process. But in reality, it often involves iterations and adjustments. Clearly communicate this to your customer, setting expectations from the beginning.
• Maintain detailed control over the integration process: Regularly review and re-estimate the effort required for each integration phase. Be prepared to adjust your plans based on new information or changing circumstances.

Availability of the Test Systems

The availability of test systems for integration is a critical but often underestimated pitfall that can seriously impact the success of an integration project.

To mitigate this pitfall, it’s crucial to:

• Ensure that test systems are available from both your side and the third-party solution provider’s side: Integration testing is essential to identify and resolve issues before deploying the solution in a production setting. Both parties must provide access to test systems to enable thorough testing and validation.
• Ensure the availability of test systems: Without access to test environments, you’re virtually working in the dark. Test systems allow you to imitate real-world scenarios, validate data transfers, and detect potential conflicts early on.

Availability of Technical Support

The availability of technical support from the integration system provider is essential for troubleshooting, resolving issues, and maintaining the integrity of the integrated systems.

Here’s a detailed expansion of what you need to do:

• Have a dedicated contact person for technical support: During integration, you can face some issues that may require prompt resolution. Therefore, having a designated point of contact on the side of the third-party solution provider is a must. The best way to establish this contact is through instant messaging or chat rooms for faster and more effective communication.
• Reliable technical support is crucial for resolving any issues: Integration projects can encounter unexpected burdens, such as compatibility issues, data discrepancies, or unexpected errors. Having access to responsive technical support guarantees that you can address these challenges on time, reduce downtime, and minimize the impact on your project.

Security

Security breaches can have serious effects, including disclosure of confidential information, financial loss, reputational damage, and legal consequences. To mitigate security pitfalls, consider the following steps:

• Carefully check and clarify security aspects during the analysis phase: Security should be a top priority when integrating with third-party solutions, especially when you deal with sensitive data. Understand the security measures and protocols employed by the third-party system, and make sure they align with your organization’s security requirements.
• Address security concerns with the third-party solution provider: If you identify any security vulnerabilities or have specific security requirements, clearly discuss them with the third-party provider. Also, get confirmation that the integration does not compromise the system’s overall security.

Documentation Mismatches

This pitfall refers to a situation where the documentation provided by one or more parties involved in the integration process does not accurately reflect the actual behavior or requirements of the systems being integrated.

This misalignment between documentation and the real system can lead to confusion, errors, delays, and unexpected challenges during the integration project.

Here’s a more detailed overview of the steps to take to get over this issue:

• Request a plan for updating APIs from the integrating system: APIs are a central component of integration, and they can evolve over time. Make sure that the third-party solution provider has a plan for API updates and obsolescence. This prevents you from investing time and effort in integrating with APIs that may soon become outdated.
• Be prepared for differences between documentation and the actual system: It’s common to encounter inconsistencies between the documentation and the real-world behavior of the integration system. Stay flexible and be ready to adapt based on the system’s actual behavior.

Over-Reliance on Past Experience

This integration pitfall occurs when individuals or teams involved in an integration project rely too heavily on their past experiences with similar projects or assume that what worked previously will work again.

This approach can lead to overlooking critical details, making incorrect assumptions, and neglecting potential risks.

Here’s a more detailed expansion on this pitfall:

• Use your previous experience as a basis for estimating: Your past experience with a similar third-party solution can provide valuable insights. But it’s vital to recognize that technology evolves. Older versions of the solution may differ from the current version, and assumptions based solely on past experiences can lead to underestimating the effort required for integration.
• Approach each integration with a fresh perspective: While your previous experience serves as a reference, treat each integration as a unique challenge. Stay open to learning, adapting, and exploring new approaches to provide a successful integration.

Inadequate Error Handling

Throughout the integration process, errors can arise from various sources, including system failures, data inconsistencies, network issues, and so on.

Inadequate error handling can lead to disruptions in the integration, data corruption, incomplete transactions, poor user experiences, and even security vulnerabilities.

• Develop the integration to handle unexpected cases and errors: Integration processes can meet various unexpected scenarios, such as network outages, data format discrepancies, or system failures. Apply robust error-handling features into your integration to easily handle these situations.
• Implement data rollback mechanisms where possible: In situations where data integrity is critical, consider implementing rollback mechanisms that allow you to revert to a previous state in case of errors. This is particularly important when you deal with financial transactions or other instances where data accuracy is a must.
• Include error handling in your planning and development efforts: Allocate time and resources specifically for error handling. A well-designed error handling can greatly improve the stability and reliability of your integration.

Integration Stability

Ensuring integration stability is crucial for sustaining efficient business processes, minimizing disruptions, and providing a smooth user experience.

However, various factors can lead to instability in integrated systems. To maintain stability, implement monitoring tools that can track the health and performance of the integrated system.

These tools can notify you of potential issues before they escalate and allow you to take necessary measures.

Integration Performance

Performance problems can severely impact the efficiency, responsiveness, and scalability of the integrated solution, leading to slower processes, poor user satisfaction, and even system failures under heavy load.

• Choose asynchronous integration to prevent unexpected delays: Asynchronous integration allows for more flexible and efficient data transfers. By decoupling the integration processes, you can avoid bottlenecks and provide smoother data flow without unexpected delays.
• Consider the quality of the Internet connection: The integration performance can be heavily influenced by the speed and reliability of the Internet connection. If possible, assess the network conditions and make sure they meet the integration requirements.
• Estimate data sizing and requirements: Understand the volume and nature of data that will be transferred during the integration. This information is vital for optimizing the performance of the integration process.

Lack of Standardization and Documentation

Without proper standardization and documentation, organizations may face confusion, inefficiency, and increased risks in their integration efforts. Here’s a more detailed overview of the measures to take:

• Be prepared for unique integration requirements: While some third-party solutions may offer a standardized integration approach, it’s essential to remain flexible. Each integration has its own nuances. And deviations from the standard can arise due to specific business needs or custom configurations.
• Be flexible and adaptable: Admit that not all integrations follow a cookie-cutter pattern. Your ability to adapt to unique integration scenarios sets the stage for a smoother and more successful integration process.

Maintenance and Support Challenges

Integrations require ongoing attention to remain functional and secure. Failing to address maintenance and support can lead to system instability and increased operational burden.

• Understand the specific nature of the integrations: Be aware of whether you’re dealing with on-premise systems or cloud services. Each type of integration comes with its own challenges, such as security considerations for on-premise integrations or scalability concerns for cloud services.
• Recognize that the described pitfalls apply to both types of integrations: Whether you’re integrating with internal systems or external cloud services, be prepared to address these challenges irrespective of the type of integration.
• Prepare for more complexities when integrating within the company: Integrations involving services from other departments within the same organization can be quite difficult. Expectations may not align, priorities might differ, and communication can become more complex. Approach internal integrations with attention, realizing that surprises may arise.

Conclusion

Though software integration services may seem quite challenging, they are an important part of modern outsource project work.

Developers should approach them with care and realistic planning. While documentation and preparation are important, don’t get stuck in over-planning.

Balance speed and understanding by moving towards integration while grasping project needs.

An iterative integration approach also works well. Analyze and prototype in manageable steps for insights. This reduces estimation errors and surprises.

By being proactive, thorough, and flexible, developers can create robust and efficient integrations that deliver real value to their organizations.

Ready to conquer complex integrations and streamline your development projects? As a software development company, we’re ready to handle the toughest integration challenges, providing tailored solutions that drive success.