A system can be frustrating without being useless. The difficult part is deciding whether to connect it to the rest of the business, repair the way it is used, or replace it altogether.
Replacing everything can be expensive and disruptive. Connecting a system that is already failing can preserve the problem. The answer should come from the work people are trying to do, not from a preference for a particular product.
Start with the actual problem
Write down where time is being lost or mistakes are being made. Examples include:
- Staff type the same customer details into several places.
- A booking changes but operations and finance are not updated.
- Reports are rebuilt by hand because systems disagree.
- Customers cannot complete a common task without calling the team.
- Only one person understands how a critical spreadsheet or database works.
This gives you something specific to test each option against.
When integration usually makes sense
Keeping and connecting an existing system is often sensible when:
- It performs its main job reliably.
- Staff understand it and can complete their work without awkward workarounds.
- It has a dependable API, export or other supported way to exchange information.
- Replacing it would create more disruption than the problem justifies.
- The missing piece is a clear handover to another system.
An integration might create a customer record from a website enquiry, update finance when an order reaches a milestone, or give a portal access to selected information without exposing the whole back-office system.
When replacement is more likely
Replacement becomes more reasonable when:
- The supplier no longer supports the product.
- Security updates are unavailable.
- Important information cannot be exported reliably.
- The system cannot handle the volume, permissions or workflow the business now needs.
- Staff have built so many workarounds that the original system is no longer doing the job.
- The cost of keeping it alive is greater than the cost and risk of moving.
Check the hidden costs
Compare more than licence or development costs. Include data cleaning, migration, staff time, training, testing, support, temporary double-running and the effect of disruption on customers.
For an integration, include monitoring, failure handling, supplier API changes and who will support the connection after launch.
A sensible first step
Map one important process from beginning to end. Identify who does each step, where the information sits, what is retyped and what happens when something goes wrong.
That map normally makes it clear whether the priority is a small workflow change, a targeted integration, a new interface around an existing system, or a planned replacement.
See how T3N approaches systems integration and bespoke software, or send us the messy version of the problem.