By Ruth Richter • April 21, 2017
When you’re ready to integrate Sage 100 to your e-commerce platform shopping cart or third-party system, you are ready for the joys of automation! With an IN-SYNCH Sage 100 integration, your system will work seamlessly. ROI Consulting has performed hundreds of Sage 100 integrations and we can spot challenges quickly. The following are three areas we always review.
Experience matters. Integrate Sage 100 to your e-commerce system with IN-SYNCH from ROI Consulting. Contact us to learn more.
- Different Data Formatting
Sage 100 programming language is unique to Sage 100. Therefore, the way the data needs to integrate will be different from the online shopping cart or e-commerce platform or other third-party system, guaranteed. Just as with an expert translator, your data integration specialist at ROI Consulting will expertly connect the two systems so that they can seamlessly exchange data on a real-time and bidirectional basis.
To continue the analogy of a language translator, your data integration specialist must not only translate the actual words and idioms between the various languages, she must also translate the cultural differences. If our analogy went a little too far, what we are actually referring to are the database filing structures, which are always different between Sage 100 and other systems; one system may have a hierarchical structure, another may have a relational structure. Seamless integration often requires homogenizing the data from both systems so that they can emulate each other’s database structure and communicate quickly.
To add to the complexity, different software versions may change or update their database structure periodically. This means that, depending on the shopping cart version you choose, your Sage100 integration process may be different. (Keep in mind, IN-SYNCH has the power to sync up Sage 100 with many cart versions and types.)
- Data Incompatibilities
To return again to our translator analogy, imagine that your translator isn’t facilitating a spoken conversation but a written conversation instead. Then imagine that one or both of the writers are terrible at grammar and spelling. Your trusty translator’s first task is to make sure that communication is clear and free of any misunderstandings at all between the two parties – and to accomplish this, they must clean up the grammar and spelling in each communication before passing it along.
A typical Sage 100 integration process involves working with historical and data formatting to make it harmonious with a new e-commerce platform. Otherwise, certain data can be rejected which could hold up the synchronization process and order flow.
The last thing you want in your e-commerce system is a bunch of headache-inducing error messages or order processing slow downs, so ROI Consulting takes the time to test your solution thoroughly to ensure that both systems can understand each other clearly.
- Resistance from Staff
As a business owner, data integration between Sage 100 and an e-commerce system is often a clear choice. Though sometimes this choice takes time and a bit of a trial-and-error process as the company learns that data entry is slow and fraught with errors. Once our customers know they want to integrate Sage, they’re ready to move.
Without the proper preparation by the management team, employees may fear that their jobs will be taken away, due to the speed of seamless data integration, or they fear that they’ll lose important metrics or notes that are important to only some departments. This unwillingness to change can lead to timeline problems, and it’s best to avoid roadblocks to the process.
We recommend that management involve key staff in the process, involve them in the demonstration meeting and the project kickoff call so they can prepare accordingly. Make preparations for utilization of resources if certain duties or roles will be replaced by the integration and approach affected staff in a positive manner. Being proactive and going over how the new integration will benefit the company is key to avoiding resistance by the staff.
Overcome Your Data Integration Challenges – The Easy Way
Avoiding or overcoming data-integration challenges is a snap with the most effective and efficient Sage 100 integration software, IN-SYNCH. In fact, as we said at the beginning of this article, most of these integration challenges happen behind the scenes, but your company is unlikely to go through any common problems with proper preparation. With a proactive approach, you are sure to experience a hassle free project on deadline, and a clean, easy-to-use data integration between your Sage 100 and your third-party solution.
Learn more about how the IN-SYNCH data-integration process works when you contact ROI Consulting online. If you’d like, you can call us instead at 402-934-2223, ext. 1.
