You know you need B2B data integration. But what’s the right strategy for your organization? How do you connect with the right trading partners while minimizing downtime and costs?
The world of B2B integration can be incredibly complex, and it’s easy to choose a non-optimal solution if you don’t know the space.
Luckily, you can get the right B2B integration strategy with a little careful planning. Here are five key questions to ask to point you in the right direction.
1. Is your B2B integration strategy mission-critical?
How central is B2B integration to the success of your business? Will you experience significant operational disruption if your integration goes down?
No one likes to think about these scenarios. But they do occur sometimes, especially if your integration strategy doesn’t include proactive managed services maintaining your solution.
If B2B integration only accounts for a small portion of your revenue, or you only work with a few trading partners who aren’t that important, maybe your integration isn’t mission-critical.
But if B2B integration is central to your success, then your integration strategy should include safeguards to keep everything running smoothly. That means managed services to support, maintain, and upgrade your B2B integration solution.
2. How complex are your requirements?
B2B integrations come in all shapes and sizes. Some organizations just need to move a few datapoints consistently between two systems, and those data fields and mapping relationships never change. That’s the simple side of the spectrum.
Other companies may have complex dependencies driven by ERP configuration rules—like pricing or inventory calculations—that are unique for each customer. Add multiple systems and frequently changing data field mappings, and you have complex requirements in B2B integration.
Your integration strategy will have to account for your simplicity (or complexity).
iPaaS (integration platform as a service) is one option. When coupled with robust managed services, iPaaS can address complex scenarios. However, so-called “self-service” versions of iPaaS (or any toolset) may fall short.
Whatever the platform or approach, technology solution without services won’t fully address complex requirements. You need the right people and resources, as provided by expert managed services.
That’s what we offer through Corsica Integration Cloud. You get a powerful integration platform that’s proactively maintained and supported by B2B integration experts.
3. How many trading partners need to be integrated?
Your total number of trading partners will directly impact the complexity of your B2B integration—as well as your ideal choice of integration software.
If you only work with one trading partner, and you’ll never add any more, a “point-to-point” integration solution may be sufficient.
If you start with point-to-point and continue adding trading partners, each one will need its own point-to-point integration—and each integration will require its own support effort. There is no scalability of support investment here, which means your cost of support will continue to grow significantly as you add trading partners.
If you plan to work with multiple trading partners, and you want to leave your options open, it makes more sense to use a managed B2B integration solution like Corsica Integration Cloud. Our “any to any” integration platform allows you to grow while taking advantage of economies of scale through our expert management and support. It’s a smart strategy if you need to integrate multiple B2B partners both now and in the future.
4. Who do you call if your B2B integration breaks down?
An iPaaS solution may or may not come with real support from humans. But either way, the tool will be limited by its out-of-the-box capabilities. It can’t be customized, only configured.
A traditional EDI VAN provider may offer support services, but they’re rarely up to the task of helping midmarket companies succeed. These large providers focus on their biggest customers, which leaves the rest of us with a lackluster service experience.
Why is this? Because these providers aren’t service companies first and foremost. They’re product companies that sell services as an add-on, not as a core focus. Read more here: B2B Integration Service Providers: 5 Common Problems (Plus Solutions).
The best strategy is to engage B2B managed services from a true MSP (managed service provider). This type of company is built around robust service delivery. They have the operational infrastructure that’s required to keep midmarket companies up and running in terms of B2B integration. Bonus points if they use an unlimited support model, as we do here at Corsica Technologies. When you couple this competency with a powerful platform like Corsica Integration Cloud, you get everything you need to succeed with B2B integration.
5. Do you have integration experts on staff?
If you don’t have an MSP handling B2B integration services, you’ll need experts on staff maintaining your integration. Yet this gets incredibly expensive—and it’s difficult to keep these professionals on the payroll. There’s high demand for their skills, and they churn frequently.
The answer for most midmarket companies is to choose an MSP with deep experience in B2B integration. This way, you get the expert services you need to support your complexity and keep things running smoothly. It’s a great strategy for establishing and maintaining relationships with your trading partners.
Moving forward: Finding your bulletproof B2B integration strategy
Here at Corsica Technologies, we are a top-tier MSP whose entire business is built on service delivery. We have the operational infrastructure and the professional experts on staff to manage our clients’ integrations proactively—no matter how complex.
But we’re not just an integration provider. As a true MSP, we also handle managed services for IT, cybersecurity, vCIO (virtual CIO) consulting, and digital transformation. We are your one-stop shop for strategic technology assistance. Get in touch with us today to unlock your B2B integration strategy and forge strong relationships with your trading partners.
Ready to nail down your B2B integration strategy?
Reach out to schedule a consultation with our B2B integration specialists.
