Systems Integration & Automation
Systems integration and automation: connected work, not more tools
Systems integration and automation connects the tools you already run so data moves once, in one direction, with one owner — then automates the repeated steps that are safe to automate. It starts with a map of systems and data flows, and it ends with documentation of what runs, who owns it, and how to switch it off. Scoped and quoted before the build.
What the scope covers
A map of systems and data flows
What each tool holds, which one is authoritative for each field, and where information is re-keyed today. Re-keying is the clearest signal of missing integration, and it shows up in a spreadsheet somebody maintains quietly.
One direction, one owner per field
Where two systems both write the same field, records diverge and nobody can say which is correct. The scope fixes the direction of each sync and names the system of record for each field.
Workflow automation
Triggers, conditions, and the actions that follow — routing a new enquiry, creating a task, notifying an owner, updating a status. Automation replaces a step that already has a rule; it does not decide policy.
Custom development, where it is warranted
Built where no existing tool fits the work, and scoped separately because it carries a different build and maintenance cost. The default is configuration of what you own.
Failure, ownership, and shutdown
Alerts where a connection breaks, a documented owner, and a safe way to disable each automation. An integration nobody can switch off is a liability, not an asset.
The guide on integration before automation covers how to tell an integration gap from an automation gap before anything is built.
What is worth automating
01 · Volume
It happens often
Manual work worth automating is repeated work. A step run twice a month rarely repays the build; a step run daily may do.
02 · Rules
The rule is clear
Automation needs a rule that can be written down: what triggers it, what it does, and what happens in the exceptions. Where the rule is still being decided, the decision comes first.
03 · Cost of error
Mistakes are visible and recoverable
An automated step that fails silently is worse than a manual step that fails loudly. Each automation needs a way to notice it broke and a way to correct the records it touched.
04 · Ownership
Someone owns it afterwards
Every integration and automation has a named owner inside the business, plus documentation of what it does and where to look when it stops.
How the work runs
01 · Map
Map the systems and flows
What each tool holds, which one is the source of truth for each field, and where data is currently copied by hand or by spreadsheet.
02 · Decide
Decide what moves, and one way
For each field, one direction and one owner. Two systems writing the same field is the most common cause of irreconcilable records.
03 · Sequence
Sequence the build
Integrations first where the data has to exist, automations after. Each step is released with something checkable behind it.
04 · Build
Build and connect
Connections and automations built in the tools you already pay for where those are sufficient, and custom development only where they are not.
05 · Fail visibly
Make failure visible
Error handling, alerts, and a place to look when something stops. Silent failure is the failure mode that costs the most.
06 · Handoff
Document and hand over
What runs, what triggers it, who owns it, and how to switch it off safely.
When this scope fits
A fit when
- The same data is typed into more than one system.
- A tool was bought to remove manual work and the manual work continues beside it.
- Repeated steps follow a rule that is already agreed.
- Someone inside the business can own the running automations afterwards.
Not the right scope when
- The process itself is undecided — that is the operational consulting scope.
- The data being moved is unreliable at source; fixing capture comes first.
- You want an automation with no owner and no monitoring.
- The real need is a full platform replacement rather than connection.
Related operations scopes
Scope integration and automation
Tell us what gets typed twice
The clearest signal of missing integration is data entered into two systems. Describe where that happens and we will say what connecting it would involve, and whether it is worth automating at all.
Systems integration and automation: common questions
Do we need new software for this?
Often not. A large share of integration work is connecting tools the business already owns, or replacing a manual copy between two of them. Custom development is scoped only where an existing tool genuinely cannot do the work, and that is stated as a separate decision rather than assumed.
How do you decide what to automate?
Four tests: the step repeats often, the rule behind it can be written down, a mistake would be visible and recoverable, and someone inside the business will own it afterwards. Steps that fail any of the four are left manual on purpose, with the reason recorded.
What about AI tools?
AI is used where a specific, reviewable task benefits from it — drafting, classification, summarising a known input — with a person accountable for the output and a way to check it. It is not applied as a general layer over a process nobody has defined, and no accuracy figures are promised here.
Which systems do you work with?
The ones you already run, confirmed before a scope is written. CRM platforms, spreadsheets, accounting and delivery tools, and the APIs or export paths each one offers. Where a tool has no usable integration path, that constraint is stated in the scope rather than discovered mid-build.
What does integration and automation work cost?
A scoped quote, given in writing before the build starts, based on how many systems and flows are involved and how much custom development is genuinely required. No per-integration or hourly rate is published.
Who maintains it after handoff?
Your team can, because the handoff includes what runs, what triggers it, who owns it, and how to disable it safely. Where ongoing upkeep is wanted, it is a separate monthly scope with an agreed cadence.
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