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    Integrations can Make or Break your B2B Business Transformation
    Digital Strategy

    Integrations can Make or Break your B2B Business Transformation

    By Ralf Hetzer22nd February 2022March 9th, 2023No Comments
     

    Home / Blog / Integrations can Make or Break your B2B Business Transformation

    Integrations of 3rd-party services have a major impact on the customer and end-user experience, but are often thought of as a technology-only challenge. The rise of composable enterprise architecture means that companies have a wider range of services to choose from than ever before, and that integrating these services is a critical piece to business success.

    Integrations in a Composable World


    In their announcement of the top strategic technology trends for 2022, Gartner states:

    “In the continuously changing business context, demand for business adaptability directs organizations toward technology architecture that supports fast, safe, and efficient application change. Composable application architecture empowers such adaptability, and those that have adopted a composable approach will outpace the competition by 80% in the speed of new feature implementation.” 

    Composable tools share data in a well-defined way, typically via APIs, which allows services to be mixed, matched, and adapted based on business needs. This gives the freedom to do things like switch frontend frameworks while using the same CMS or replace your product search without having to rip-and-replace your entire commerce platform. We believe in this freedom of choice and are certified members of the MACH Alliance for good reason.  

    Integration projects have traditionally been long and expensive, but with composable Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), an integration can be up and running in a few weeks. Going composable keeps companies from being “locked-in” to any single service provider, and gives them speed and negotiating power to make more strategic decisions about which services to integrate. Examples of services/integrations are payment service providers (PSP), logistics providers, product ratings, on-site search, and a multitude of other services that are running “under the hood” of any transactional platform.

    An Essential Part of Project Inception


    At the start of any project, my colleagues and I make it a point to understand how the client’s business runs. This gives us context for the technical considerations of a project as well as an idea of which integrations (a.k.a. internal and external services) are crucial to the business model and which can be reevaluated.

    A migration project (e.g. from SAP Hybris to commercetools) is a good moment to evaluate integrated services because you’re already touching your platform, so there is some freedom to make changes. Instead of replicating integrations one-to-one to the new platform, there’s an opportunity to clear up both technical and business debt. Has your business model or your customers’ expectations changed since the integration was first added? Does the service fit your current needs, or is it time to change?

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    This evaluation is also a chance to look at innovation happening at the service providers you already integrate with. Maybe they are solving new market problems in more beneficial ways, or at a fraction of the cost as other providers. Or they might have additional services you could take advantage of that you weren’t aware they offered.

    You’ll likely keep the majority of your integrations and services the same, but a quick evaluation in the inception phase of a project helps teams make informed decisions that can turn integration from roadblocks to transformation enablers.

    Integration Evaluation Framework


    Let’s use a setting we often see at our clients to make it more tangible. Let’s say the client is a B2B player that already has a significant online business running on its end-of-life Hybris platform. They have chosen to migrate towards a composable solution like commercetools. To complement Hybris functionalities, they are currently using internal and external services (e.g. for credit checks, payment, logistics, search, content management, etc.) that complement Hybris functionalities and would like to evaluate if these services are still the right choice going forward.

    Having looked at our client’s current integrations top-down from the goals of the business and bottom-up from the requirements of their existing systems, we’ll have a good idea of what services will definitely remain the same and which are worth reassessing. For the latter, here is a light framework to run through to quickly evaluate each integration.

    1

    Is the service still needed?

    The first question should be if the service is still needed. If the answer is yes, it should be checked if the new platform has the needed features already onboard as a standard.
    2

    Build or Buy

    If it is clear that an additional service is needed, it must be evaluated whether it makes sense to migrate the in-house development (if available), whether a new solution should be developed in-house, or whether it would be better to purchase the service from outside. A market analysis provides the necessary clues as to which features are market standard today and how large the gap is, for example, to the existing in-house development.

    An example would be our customer's self-developed on-site search solution, which offered an excellent search experience in the past, but no longer met customer expectations for search convenience. Instead of tying the new eCommerce platform to the existing solution, he could opt for a SaaS solution that matches the performance and customer experience of his new eCommerce platform.

    3

    Asses the Parties

    Next, our client should take a look at the rate of innovation of existing and potential service providers. Are they driving great ideas in their space, and can they be a source of inspiration that spill over into our client’s business? In a composable world, working with a service provider should be highly collaborative, so our client should also assess how well the attitude, working style, and culture of a current or potential service provider fits to them.
    4

    Technical Considerations

    Technical aspects will, of course, play into the decision. This includes checking that an existing integration can hold up to the performance of the new platform that our client will be implementing. For example, if the legacy Product Information Management (PIM) system can’t handle data at the size and speed the new Commerce platform needs, it’s going to hinder the overall experience for customers.
    5

    Cost of Service

    With qualitative aspects having been assessed in step 3, the financial side is the last aspect to be checked. The pricing model and its mechanics should be assessed together with the technical team working on the platform so that architects and coders are aware of what drives the cost of a service (e.g. a transaction, an API call, storage used) and can be mindful of these drivers when implementing. Even if our client is just starting the journey with a new service provider, they should also ensure they can exit the relationship at a reasonable cost down the road.

    This assessment can be very pragmatic. Business and technology stakeholders can first generate a spreadsheet of all integrations and services they intend to use. Then classify each of these as keep, check, or replace to narrow down the scope of work. The stakeholders assess each “check” and “replace” line along aspects two to five. The use of sub-aspects and a grading system is very helpful here. Finally, there is a quantitative assessment of each integration that will indicate the most beneficial and future-proof way forward for the company.

    Tackle the Hardest Parts First


    When implementing a new system, it can be tempting to do the more eye-catching frontend pieces first. Especially when there is a need to present early progress to less technical teams that expect a nice-looking screen. However, the easy-to-build screens should be saved until after the more challenging task of getting the right data at the right speed from your architecture to that screen. 

    Integrations can be tricky and are often the most difficult part of a project. Tackling them first gives time to react to unforeseen issues, work through complexities like systems of record and order of operations, and identify early on if there are any dependent processes that will need to be updated in parallel. 

    At Mindcurv we know that integrations can make or break a digital transformation project, so we make sure to understand both the technical requirements and business impact of the projects we work on. We approach digital solutions from all sides, with multidisciplinary teams on hand to help guide projects from strategy to execution to long-term operations. If you’re looking for a partner for your B2B transformation, we’d be happy to chat.

    Tags 3rd party Integration, Digital Transformation, MACH

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    Author

    Ralf

    Ralf Hetzer

    Vice President

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