Most businesses run on several good systems that don't share information. The website collects inquiries, the CRM tracks customers, the accounting software handles invoices, and the store takes orders — and someone's job has quietly become exporting from one and importing into another.
Integration connects those systems so each piece of information is entered once and appears everywhere it's needed. Because we build websites as well as business software, that includes the connection most businesses leave until last: between the public website and the systems behind it.
An API (application programming interface) is a defined way for one piece of software to request information from, or send information to, another. An API integration uses those interfaces to connect systems so data passes between them automatically. For example, an integration might create a customer record in your accounting software whenever a deal is won in your CRM, or update an online store's stock whenever inventory changes.
Custom API development is the other direction: building an API for your own system so other software — partners, apps, or your own tools — can work with its data in a controlled way.
Integrations rarely fail on the first day. They fail months later, quietly — a password expires, a provider changes its API, a record contains unexpected data — and nobody notices until something is missing. Reliability comes from how the integration is built:
Uses each provider's supported method, with credentials stored securely rather than in code
The integration can only read or change what it needs to
Requests paced to stay within each provider's limits, so bursts don't get blocked
Temporary failures are retried automatically instead of dropping data
Every exchange recorded, so problems can be traced
Someone is notified when something needs attention
Repeated messages don't create duplicate records
Anyone can understand what the integration does and maintain it
An integration built without these works in a demonstration. One built with them works a year later.
Connections to accounting, payment, shipping, ecommerce, mapping and marketing platforms, built around each provider's official API.
Website inquiries passed into a CRM; orders and inventory shared between an online store and the system that manages them.
A documented API so partners, apps or other tools can work with your system's data in a controlled way.
Systems notified as soon as something changes, instead of waiting for nightly batch jobs.
Fields matched correctly between systems that describe the same things differently, with validation so bad data doesn't spread.
Retries, logging and alerts; documentation for handover. Source code and IP transferred on delivery.
If the goal is to remove a whole manual process, see business process automation.
Main factors:
There's often still a route — scheduled file exports, a shared database, or an email feed. If there's no reliable option, we'll say so before work starts.
Providers occasionally change or retire parts of their APIs. Documented integrations with proper alerts make those changes quick to spot and fix.
Integrations use each provider's official authentication, only the permissions they need, and securely stored credentials.
Usually. We review how it works, find why it fails, and decide with you whether to repair or rebuild it.
Tell us which systems need to talk to each other and what gets copied between them today. We'll check what each system's API supports before you commit.