Enterprise-Grade Integrations: How to Make HubSpot Play Nice with Everything

What Makes an Integration “Enterprise-Grade”?Integrating HubSpot with your broader tech stack can either unlock operational gold or become a chaotic mess. In this episode of SmartBug On Tap, host and Senior Director of Channel Sales Casey Peddicord sits down with Justine Verrier, Technical Solutions Engineer at SmartBug, to clarify what it takes to build enterprise-grade integrations that actually scale.

From popular tools like NetSuite and Salesforce to custom-built integrations, Justine shares insights from a decade in the HubSpot ecosystem, walking through what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid the most common pitfalls. If you're facing integration complexity, this one is for you.

Table of Contents

• What Makes an Integration “Enterprise-Grade”?
• The Importance of Data Governance and Access Management
• Why It’s Essential to Define Your Goals
  
• Why Integrations Lose Steam After the First Phase 
• Why It’s Critical to Define a Source of Truth
• Middleware vs. Custom Integration: What’s Right for Enterprise?
• How AI Supports Integration QA and Strategy
• Practical Advice for RevOps and Marketing Ops Leaders
• Is HubSpot Hard to Integrate?
• Why SmartBug Can Tackle Any Integration
  
  

Casey starts the episode by asking Justine to define “enterprise-grade” integration for the viewers. Verrier explains that these types of solutions typically apply in two different business scenarios:

• Your company is experiencing or anticipating fast-paced growth, so you need to connect all your major tools (e.g., ERP, CRM) to prepare your tech stack for the road ahead.
• Your tech stack is expansive or too complex, so you need a unified source of truth and a way to simplify your technology tools with minimal day-to-day disruption.

Both of these are clear indicators that a company is working with large volumes of data and users, therefore necessitating an “enterprise-grade integration.”

The Importance of Data Governance and Access Management

With so much data floating around in an enterprise organization, sufficient data governance practices and access management are essential. Justine elaborates by stating that there should be clear definitions in place for who has access to what data—particularly when you’re moving information from one platform to another—as this will determine governance standards going forward. 

Identify what data you want to integrate and establish a system of record, answering the question, “Are we OK with the permission sets that exist across every platform as new data floods in?”

Why It’s Essential to Define Your Goals

Clearly defining your integration goals is one of the first steps in the planning phase, and it’s crucial to have a well-thought-out plan before jumping in headfirst. Justine continues by saying that one of the most important steps in the integration planning process is understanding the specific purpose behind a software integration. By clearly defining the operation that this integration will ultimately support, you can reverse engineer the entire process to work seamlessly for your teams. 

Justine also stresses the importance of a strong mapping chart that provides a clear picture of where you’re headed and how the data needs to flow, ensuring teams share a common understanding. The right people need to be in place to vet that information so the seal of approval is granted swiftly from all the necessary stakeholders. This measure enables you to confidently move forward with the integration project.

Real-Life Success Story: Multi-System ERP and CRM Integration

Justine uses a medical device company she worked with as an example of an all-around successful implementation process through proper planning:

“[The client] had all those clear heads of departments [in place], and once we started connecting their ERP, their shipping management system, and then their CRM, we got so much value because we had that common understanding of where we were heading. And this was a process that went on over several months, but the approval process ran really smoothly, [and was] really straightforward. In the case of conflict of alignment, we had a clear stakeholder internally that could vet us and give us approval. And at the end of the day […] the client ended up with a system where their ERP was bringing the correct data points into the CRM […] The orders were talking to the dispatch system and warehouse efficiently. So this was a piece that [from] day one just seemed like a monster, like a beast with all those different ramifications, but it only went well.”

Why Integrations Lose Steam After the First Phase 

So what about integrations that don’t go well? Why don’t they succeed? More specifically, why do so many companies tend to start strong and teeter off in phase two or three? Justine’s experience indicates that the small wins in phase one of the integration often veer clients off their original path. But the planning and discovery process is just the beginning, and rolling out in phases only succeeds if you stick to the original plan—and adapt aspects of it only when necessary.

Why It’s Critical to Define a Source of Truth

Casey goes on to ask about the importance of defining a single source of truth before building out an integration. Justine responds by saying she looks at establishing a single source of truth as proactive conflict resolution:

“If there's a data discrepancy between both systems at the time of the sync, who has the last say? And this answer might differ if you're talking to sales versus if you're talking to operations. So it's not only planning, but it's also planning on who has the last say and which data is considered as the last data point that will live if there is a discrepancy between both platforms.”

One-Way vs. Two-Way Syncs

On the topic of syncing, Casey transitions to a question about use cases for one-way versus two-way data syncs. Verrier says that once again it all comes down to the business process you’re trying to accomplish and what operational flow you’re trying to support.

“If a deal stage change in HubSpot needs to trigger a coding or invoicing process that happens outside of HubSpot, then one-way [sync] is totally fine,” She explains. “On the other end, if that external platform needs to trigger an operation inside HubSpot, such as a welcome email, then a flow of tasks to the correct person, then [data] needs to [flow] two ways.”

Middleware vs. Custom Integration: What’s Right for Enterprise?

Casey then asks Justine when enterprise teams should consider using middleware tools versus building out a custom software integration. She responds by saying (albeit, at the risk of oversimplifying):

“Any type of middleware has a pre-mapped way to sync the data. At SmartBug, we have our own middleware that we build in a way where we know with confidence that the data can be taken from the source and manipulated in the correct way before being pushed inside of HubSpot.”

According to Justine, prepackaged middleware options (e.g., Zapier, Celigo) are excellent for getting your feet wet with high-level integrations and understanding how data will be synced in the context of your business. Casey adds that although these types of platforms initially offer minimum disruption and low cost, they’re typically subscription-based and require a lifetime investment. Justine also notes here that using middleware implies reliance on a third-party host for system updates and outages. 

How AI Supports Integration QA and Strategy

When Casey asks, “How does AI play into integrations?” Justine gives an optimistic answer: “I feel we're discovering new uses for AI almost every day.” Together, Casey and Justine provide a list of example use cases for AI in enterprise-grade integrations:

• Quality Assurance (QA): Ensuring records are present and consistent across both systems
• Field Mappings: Matching properties and fields by drafting a proposed schema as a starting point
• Risk Mitigation: Offsetting the risk of noncompliance via deep research models
  
  

Practical Advice for RevOps and Marketing Ops Leaders

Casey then asks Justine for a few practical steps that folks can take right now to evaluate or improve their HubSpot integration. She explains that leaders should always be showing the value, or the “why,” behind an integration. 

“We see so often potential customers coming to us wanting to integrate everything both ways,” she says. “Just start with ‘what are we trying to accomplish?’” 

Justine reiterates, “An enterprise-level integration requires correct planning.” She recommends taking the time to pause and optimize current processes thoughtfully instead of rushing through each phase of the migration. Taking the time to plan should not imply taking a step backward.

Is HubSpot Hard to Integrate?

Casey points out that the robust capabilities of HubSpot often lead companies to believe that integration with the platform may be unnecessarily complex, but Justine shuts down that misconception:

“HubSpot is a wonderful tool to integrate with. It's an open API, and there are a lot of strong developers that can support the integration needs. The worry should be about [a legacy] system that might create bottlenecks, but the flexibility of HubSpot shouldn't be something to slow down an integration project.”

Casey adds that even if a certain tool hasn’t necessarily been integrated with HubSpot in the past, specialists can work with your team to deliver that project by matching their unique skillsets with your business’s operational needs to develop a custom integration. 

Why SmartBug Can Tackle Any Integration

“Every tech stack for every company is so different and can vary so much,” Justine explains. SmartBug clients rarely use all the same systems as another company. 

Casey adds, “We have really great developers on our side, [and] it doesn't really matter what system it is. As long as we have access to the data, we can typically integrate it in some form or fashion.”

And that’s a wrap for this episode of SmartBug on Tap! So if you're deep in the woods of a migration or just starting to explore what's possible, don't hesitate to reach out to our team for help optimizing your enterprise-grade integration.