What comes to your mind when you hear the word “integration?” You probably think about something you can add to the other to make it work better. Right? The same goes for custom software. Custom software integrations are when you combine one software with the other to make it function better.
For example, you can combine the Hubspot CRM with your HRIS (Human resource information system). Now, you can directly link the employee’s sales commission to the HR system, adding them directly to an employee’s gross salary. In this blog, we’ll discuss four custom software integrations and how they benefit your business.
What is a Custom Software?
Custom software is any software that has been developed specifically to serve the goals of a specific organization. But, why do businesses go for custom software? Generic/off-the-shelf software is built, keeping in mind the needs of the wider population, and treats every user in the same manner. However, this isn’t the case with custom software.
Custom software can include various features that suit a particular set of users. The entity that requires the software can ask the developer to include a set of features that it sees fit, and those that it doesn’t. Moreover, the company can also request further integrations into the software as and when needed. Moving forward, let’s look at some of the benefits of adding custom software integrations into your software.
The Benefits of Including Custom Software Integrations
Including custom software integrations into your business software can provide various benefits such as:
- Facilitating cross-functional coordination among different departments.
- Reducing costs because of not requiring multiple software for different functions.
- Allowing you to upscale your software for different users.
- Centralizing the flow of data throughout the organization and ensuring accessibility to all users.
Now, let’s look at four examples of custom software integrations and how these can help your business.
Examples of Custom Software Integrations and How These Can Help Your Business
There are various productive examples of how you can integrate your custom software with other software. Such as:
- Integrating Your Legacy System with Your Website.
- Integrating Your CRM with Your CMS.
- Integrating Your Business Software with Your E-Commerce Platform.
- Integrating Your Healthcare CRM with Your Online Healthcare App.
- Integrating Your Legacy System with Your Website
The first major example of a custom software integration involves integrating your legacy system with your website.
So, what is a legacy system?
A legacy system is software that is being used by a business for a long period, and most users are acquainted with it.
Since it is an outdated software, any integration that you’ll make to your legacy system will have to be customized.
So, you can hire a reputable web development company to create a workaround that allows you to integrate the website with your legacy system. The website company will follow the following steps:
Step 1: Assessment
Your web development partner will try to understand the ins and outs of your existing legacy system, such as the firmware that it uses, and the build on which it currently stands.
Step 2: Goal assessment
The company will ask you to identify what goals you aim to achieve by integrating your legacy system with your website. For example, do you aim to bring in leads and queries directly and convert them into long-term customers? Or, do you want to directly upload information from the system onto the website?
Step 3: Suggesting an integration approach
Based on your needs, the company will suggest different types of integration approaches. These can include:
- APIs ( Application programming interfaces): APIs are intermediaries that allow the website to communicate and exchange data with the legacy system.
- Middleware: This acts as a bridge between different systems.
- Data Layer Integration: Creating a new data layer that acts as the go-between the website and the legacy system.
Step 4: Development and integration
This builds a connection between the website and the legacy system based on the chosen approach. The web development company will choose the custom code, configure the middleware, or create the API.
Step 5: Testing and deployment
As a final step, the company will test and deploy the custom software integration and evaluate the results.
So, this is how you can integrate legacy systems with your website.
- Integrating Your CRM with Your CMS
Your CMS includes various blogs, case studies, newsletters, and press releases. On the flip side, your CRM includes information about all of your customers, such as their tastes and preferences.
Through a custom software integration of your CRM with your CMS, you can provide:
- Customized reading suggestions in your customer’s news feeds.
- Send them push notifications to read the latest published blog/article on your website.
- Send them notifications and emails to read your newsletter.
Thus, integrating a CMS into your CRM has numerous benefits for your business.
3. Integrating Your Business Software with Your E-Commerce Platform
Another custom software integration involves integrating your e-commerce platform with your business software. Doing this allows you to:
- Get accurate inventory forecasts from your e-commerce software.
- Track all customer data from a centralized location.
- Gather data that helps show customers the right products based on their needs and preferences.
- Integrating Your Healthcare CRM with Your Online Healthcare App
As a healthcare organization, managing patient healthcare can become a tedious task. But, it can be made easy by integrating your healthcare CRM with your online healthcare app. Doing this provides numerous benefits, such as:
- Automating the patient appointment booking process.
- Allowing patients to receive online consultations from practitioners.
- Providing data-driven insights that the organization can use to deliver personalized recommendations to patients for tests, therapies, and wellness programs.
Thus, integrating the healthcare CRM with an online healthcare app brings numerous benefits to the medical industry.
Now that we have explored four examples of how custom software integrations can benefit businesses, let’s revisit what we understood throughout the blog.
Conclusion
In conclusion, custom software integrations offer a powerful solution for businesses seeking to streamline operations and boost efficiency. By connecting disparate software systems, you can create a centralized hub for data, eliminate information silos, and automate manual tasks. This not only saves time and money but also fosters better collaboration across departments.
If you’re looking to optimize your business processes and gain a competitive edge, consider exploring custom software integrations. By investing in these solutions, you can unlock the full potential of your existing software and empower your teams to achieve greater success.