ERP Integration

What Is ERP Integration?

ERP integration connects your Enterprise Resource Planning system (like NetSuite, SAP, or Microsoft Dynamics) with other business applications. This enables automated data flow between systems, eliminating manual exports, imports, and the errors that come with them.

Common ERP integration scenarios:

• Syncing customer data between ERP and CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot)
• Connecting e-commerce orders (Shopify, Amazon) to ERP fulfillment
• Pushing ERP financial data to reporting tools and dashboards
• Integrating ERP with spreadsheets for budgeting and analysis
• Connecting payroll and HR systems to ERP

Why Is ERP Integration So Difficult?

ERPs are notoriously challenging to integrate for several reasons:

Proprietary architectures: Each ERP vendor uses different data structures, APIs, and integration methods.

Customizations: Most ERP implementations are heavily customized, making standard connectors unreliable.

Complex data models: ERPs store data in normalized, relational structures that don’t map cleanly to other systems.

Security restrictions: IT teams often limit ERP access to protect critical financial data.

Version fragmentation: Companies run different ERP versions with different capabilities.

ERP Integration Methods

Point-to-point integrations: Direct connections between ERP and each target system. Simple for one or two integrations, but creates spaghetti architecture at scale.

iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service): Cloud middleware like Workato, MuleSoft, or Boomi that provides pre-built connectors. Good for technical teams, but requires ongoing maintenance.

Data centralization platforms: Purpose-built solutions that extract ERP data into a unified layer, then distribute to downstream systems. Handles the complexity so business teams don’t have to.

Native connectors: Some applications offer built-in ERP integrations, but these are often limited in scope.

Common ERP Integration Challenges

Data freshness: How often does data sync? Real-time, hourly, daily? Batch jobs that run overnight mean stale data for morning decisions.

Error handling: What happens when a sync fails? Who gets notified? How is it resolved?

Field mapping: ERPs use codes and IDs that must be translated into human-readable formats.

Historical data: Initial loads of historical data can be complex and time-consuming.

Ongoing maintenance: APIs change, systems update, and integrations break without proper monitoring.

ERP Integration Best Practices

1. Start with clear use cases: Don’t try to integrate everything. Focus on specific business problems.
2. Document your customizations: Know exactly how your ERP has been modified before attempting integration.
3. Plan for data cleansing: ERP data often needs transformation before it’s useful elsewhere.
4. Build monitoring and alerting: Know immediately when integrations fail.
5. Consider a data layer: Rather than point-to-point integrations, centralize ERP data for flexible distribution.