My developer friends either just threw up in their mouths or rolled their eyes at that title. For those uninitiated, the integration part of developing software is for most the most challenging and rewarding part.

According to the survey in this article, 60 percent (think about that for a few minutes) of small businesses are having an issue integrating their data across multiple networks. Meaning, businesses that store their sales, finance and marketing data in multiple sources. That should worry us all right?

Wrong, it provides an opportunity.

New platforms are launching every day. Sure, they start out as decent apps. What separates them from a culture-altering platform is users. That’s how Salesforce, Quickbooks and other amazing platforms became household names. As much as we would like to think the software small business owners purchase are going to work as smoothly with their other programs and platforms, data shows differently.

This is leverage we as entreprenuers can use to make better platforms that can actually personify the word “seamless”. Of course, this requires people with the insight and architecture to handle all of this information. Partnerships are needed; deals to be struck. For all of the so called “partners” that companies like Salesforce has in tow, people still struggle to integrate with platforms such as theirs on a daily basis. 

There are times I get frustrated on my team during the integration stage of a sprint. Nothing like the action of weaving new code into your framework to point out the flaws in your design. Of course, I’m not the one doing the work so I trust them to sort their own side out. To further integrate all of these wonderful ways of accumulating data in the modern business world, we must strive to integrate better.

I can think of a few friends of mine running said small businesses that would be appreciative.

Blog Post: Integration, Integration, Integration

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