Sage 100 e-Commerce Integration: Synchronized Swimming, Synchronized Data

If you have seen our past marketing and branding, I have a penchant for synchronized dolphins. The metaphor “intelligent synchronization” is so perfect for what we do. A similar metaphor is the sport—synchronized swimming—where a group of athletes performs graceful underwater movements: diving, rising, and swimming in unison.

Professional synchronized swimming is beautiful to watch. Athletes, like the college-age women I saw on television recently or Olympic-level athletes, make it look so effortless. I can’t imagine how they know when to move or how they see their cues under water, (how they can hold their breath for so long!) but they do. They move as one unit and they synchronize all of their efforts.

When data synchronization works well, it looks effortless, too. Unlike those dolphins who naturally swim in-sync, athletes must put in hundreds of hours of practice and training each month. Good data integration that synchronizes with your accounting and e-commerce site actually requires some background work, too.

Preparing for Sage 100 e-Commerce Integration

If you’re preparing for a Sage 100 e-commerce integration project, there are several steps you can take to make it all run as smoothly as synchronized swimming. Integrating e-commerce platforms and accounting systems usually involves multiple stakeholders, each with her own area of expertise, needs, and desires. Balancing these against the company’s goals and the project parameters takes a little bit of prep work.

As you prepare for your company’s data integration project, consider the following preparatory questions:

• Which business areas or departments need to be involved in the project? If you are integrating e-commerce data with Sage 100 accounting software, then the web department, accounting and/or finance department should be involved. Your warehouse manager and marketing team may also need to be included to ensure that their considerations are included in the project. Think through which departments you want represented on the project team.
• Who should be the day-to-day contact for the project? Choose one person or a small group of people to work with your software consultant. Too many people can give confusing or contradictory directions, while too few can put a lot of work on one person’s shoulders.
• Which systems need to be integrated? It sounds easy, but some companies realize only a little too late that legacy systems actually do need to be integrated. Bringing these needs up at the start of a project can help you be sure they are taken care of by your consultant.
• What is the objective of this project? Narrow down what you’d like to achieve with your project. What are the goals and objectives of data integration? This helps you determine the most useful and relevant data for your project needs and focuses the project on what’s important.
• When do we need this completed by? Deadlines help everyone concentrate better on the task at hand and help project managers build out the steps needed to turn ideas into completed projects. Although projects like this may not have a hard and fast “expiration date”, knowing there’s an expected date by which the initiative should be completed keeps everyone on their toes. 

Although watching consultants and programmers work probably isn’t as interesting as watching a group of synchronized swimmers, the talent, coordination, practice, and years of hard work are there all the same. And once your project is done, you’ll see the same results: something that was actually quite difficult to do seems effortless.

If you’re ready for Sage 100 e-commerce integration, IN-SYNCH from ROI Consulting can make data integration and synchronization a whole lot easier. Solutions like this are what sets ROI Consulting apart from others. We can help you solve data challenges through expert insights and products to transform your business. Learn more by visiting our website or calling us at 402-934-2223 x1.