Native Salesforce Integrations vs. iPaaS for the Mid-Market and Enterprise Business

Salesforce, the CRM powerhouse, boasts a vast marketplace of native integrations. Every revenue technology under the sun starts by building a native integration into Salesforce. After all, Salesforce owns 23% of the CRM market. These pre-built connections seem like a dream come true – a quick and easy way to connect your CRM with other essential business applications. But for mid-market and enterprise organizations with intricate data landscapes, native integrations often turn into a nightmare. And, if not an obvious nightmare on the surface, chances are that there is an underlying nightmare wreaking havoc on your processes and growth expectations. 

Let’s dive deep into the limitations of native Salesforce integrations and unveil how modern Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solutions offer a more robust and scalable approach to data integration.

Native Salesforce Integrations: A Boon for SMBs

In the same way lightweight iPaaS solutions like Zapier or Make work well for small businesses, native integrations are a good fit for small businesses with relatively simple data structures and limited customization requirements. For SMBs just starting their Salesforce journey, native integrations offer a quick and easy way to connect essential applications. However, as these businesses grow and their data needs evolve, native integrations become a hindrance.

The Achilles’ Heel of Native Salesforce Integrations

Native Salesforce integrations seem like a no-brainer. They offer a familiar Salesforce interface and require minimal coding, making them an attractive starting point. However, this simplicity comes at a cost. Here’s where native integrations fall short:

• Limited to the Basics: Native integrations typically connect core Salesforce objects like Leads, Contacts, and Accounts, but they often lack the ability to integrate custom objects that are crucial for your specific business needs. This creates data silos, hindering a comprehensive view of the customer journey.
• Customization Conundrum: Forget about extensive customization with native integrations. If your business processes involve unique data transformations, mapping, or enrichment, you’re stuck with a one-size-fits-all approach. These integrations don’t cater to the specific workflows that make your business tick. Name one mid-market and/or enterprise company that does not have customized business processes. 
• Multiple Instances, Integration Woes: Many organizations manage multiple Salesforce instances for different departments, regions, or subsidiaries. Native integrations don’t support seamless data exchange between these instances. This translates to data inconsistencies and a fragmented customer profile across the organization.
• Data Deluge Overload: As your business grows, so does the amount of complex customer data you collect. Native integrations struggle to handle intricate data structures and large data volumes. This can lead to performance bottlenecks and integration failures, ultimately hindering your growth.
• Security Concerns: Native integrations often require extensive data sharing permissions within Salesforce. This raises security concerns, especially for organizations with strict data governance policies.

These limitations become particularly problematic for mid-market and enterprise businesses with complex data ecosystems. Native integrations simply cannot handle the intricacies of their needs.

Enter iPaaS: The Integration Superhero for Complex Needs

Modern iPaaS solutions offer a powerful alternative to native Salesforce integrations. More specifically, it is important that you hone in on no-code modern iPaaS options. These cloud-based, no-code platforms provide a robust and flexible integration framework that overcomes the limitations mentioned above. Here’s how iPaaS empowers mid-market and enterprise businesses:

• Unleash Integration Flexibility: iPaaS solutions offer pre-built connectors for a vast array of applications, extending far beyond core Salesforce functionality. They also connect to custom objects and third-party systems, providing low-code/no-code tools for building custom integrations. This empowers you to tailor data mappings, transformations, and workflows to your specific requirements.
• Embrace Customization Freedom: iPaaS platforms give you complete control over your integrations. You can define complex data transformations, utilize conditional logic, and enrich data with external sources. This unlocks the full potential of your customer data, allowing you to create a truly unified customer profile across your entire business ecosystem.
• Conquer Multiple Instances with Ease: Advanced iPaaS solutions seamlessly connect multiple Salesforce instances, ensuring data consistency and enabling a unified customer view across your organization. They provide robust data synchronization capabilities, regardless of instance location or configuration.
• Built to Scale: iPaaS platforms are designed to handle large data volumes and complex data structures with ease. They offer robust security features and integrate seamlessly with your existing data governance policies. As your business scales, your integrations remain secure and efficient, future-proofing your data strategy.

Beyond Salesforce Native Integrations: Invest in Your Customer Data Ecosystem

The benefits of iPaaS extend beyond integrating other applications with Salesforce. iPaaS lays the foundation for a robust customer data ecosystem, which allows you to:

• Unify Customer Data: iPaaS facilitates a central repository for all customer data, eliminating silos and ensuring consistency. This empowers data-driven decision making and personalized customer experiences.
• Unlock the Power of Data Analytics: By integrating data from various sources, iPaaS creates a rich data pool for advanced analytics. This allows you to identify customer trends, personalize marketing campaigns, and improve customer lifecycle management.
• Boost Revenue Technology ROI: A well-integrated ecosystem unlocks the full potential of your revenue technology stack. Different applications work together seamlessly, leading to improved efficiency, streamlined workflows, and ultimately, increased revenue.

Final Thoughts

The road to a scalable and secure integration future lies with modern iPaaS solutions. You simply can’t afford to not invest in your customer data practices. By ditching the limitations of native Salesforce integrations and embracing the power of no-code iPaaS, mid-market and enterprise organizations can unlock a world of possibilities. Imagine a seamlessly connected ecosystem where customer data, multiple Salesforce instances, and complex workflows are handled with ease. This is the future of data integration, empowering businesses to harness the true potential of their customer data and drive growth like never before. With iPaaS at the helm, the road to a unified and data-driven future becomes a smooth and secure journey.

The time to invest in data management is now. If you are considering additional revenue technology in your 2024 budget, include a unified and intelligent data management platform at the top of the list. This will enable you to win with the apps you already have and the ones you adopt in the future. Want to see Vertify’s unified data management platform in action? Get started today!