Casey Peddicord
Senior Director of Channel Sales (HubSpot)
SmartBug Media
Justin Verrier
Technical Solutions Engineer
SmartBug Media
Build Scalable, Reliable HubSpot Integrations that Reduce Friction, Align Systems, and Support Enterprise Growth.
• 27 min
Enterprise-Grade Integrations: How to Make HubSpot Play Nice with Everything
SmartBug on Tap
Play
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 Casey Peddicord sits down with Justine Verrier, Technical Solutions Engineer at SmartBug Media, to demystify what it takes to build enterprise-grade integrations that actually scale.
From NetSuite and Salesforce to custom-built systems, Justine shares insights from a decade in the HubSpot ecosystem, walking through what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid the most common integration pitfalls. They cover key concepts like data governance, source of truth, one-way vs. two-way syncs, and how AI is starting to enhance QA and planning phases. If you're facing integration complexity, this one’s for you.
📚 What You’ll Learn
- What makes an integration “enterprise-grade”?
- Governance and system of record planning
- Common reasons integrations fail (and how to prevent it)
- One-way vs. two-way syncs: when and why
- Middleware vs. custom builds: what enterprise teams should consider
- Real-world integration success (and failure) stories
- Where AI fits into the integration landscape
- Practical steps RevOps and Marketing Ops leaders can take today
🔑 Key Highlights & Timestamps
[01:55] What Makes an Integration “Enterprise-Grade”?[03:09] The Overlooked Risk: Data Governance and Access
[05:18] Why Defining Business Goals Is Step #1
[06:21] Real-Life Success Story: Multi-System ERP + CRM Integration
[08:34] Why Phase Two (and Three) Integrations Get Abandoned
[12:17] Choosing a Source of Truth: Why It’s Critical
[12:59] One-Way vs. Two-Way Syncs Explained
[14:25] Middleware vs. Custom Integration: What’s Right for Enterprise?
[17:24] How AI Supports Integration QA and Strategy
[20:54] Practical Advice for RevOps & Marketing Ops Leaders
[22:52] “Is HubSpot Hard to Integrate?” — Busting the Myth
[24:02] Why SmartBug Can Tackle Any Integration
🔗 Want to Connect?
👉 Contact SmartBug: www.smartbugmedia.com/contact-us
👉 Contact Casey: peddicord@smartbugmedia.com
👉 Contact Justine: jverrier@smartbugmedia.com
Relevant Resources
Casey Peddicord (00:00)
Hey everybody, welcome to Smart Bug on Tap. I'm your host, KC Petticord. And today we are unpacking a topic that can make or break your HubSpot implementation. Integrations, right? Specifically how to make HubSpot play nice with the rest of your tech stack when you're operating at an enterprise scale. So whether you're sinking from Salesforce, you're connecting the NetSuite, or you're trying just to get clean, reliable data across your go-to-market systems, integrations are the connective tissue
that are really holding all that together. And when they don't work, man, you totally feel it, right?
Luckily I'm joined by someone who lives and breathes this stuff on a day to day basis. Justine Verrier SmartBooks technical solutions engineer. Justine, welcome. Can you give the listeners a quick intro and tell us a little bit more about your background?
Justine (00:47)
Casey super excited to be here. I've spent the last 10 years in the HubSpot ecosystem, focusing on helping customer connecting their system in a way that actually supports scales. On a daily basis, I work on some really complex integration projects, everything from CRM migration to building out bidirectional things between HubSpot and ERP, such as NetSuite. Basically, I eliminate manual work, reduce data friction, and improve how teams work together.
Casey Peddicord (01:13)
That's awesome. And that's exactly why I wanted to have you on the show today, because I feel like integrations can feel like this sort of mysterious black box, like especially at the enterprise level. but they are definitely key to making your HubSpot instance work the way that you want it to, or the way that teams really need it
today we are going to demystify that box a little bit. We'll talk about what makes an integration enterprise grade, quote unquote, where things go wrong and how to build a setup that truly scales. So let's dive in. Justine, when enterprise buyers say that they need an enterprise grade integration, what does that really mean? Like what makes an integration enterprise grade?
Justine (01:55)
Yes, good question. Like I usually categorize those type of requests into different buckets. So the first one is if fast paced fast growth companies that can see the big waves coming ahead and they want to anticipate their need and go ahead and connect their ERP, then their CRM, their sales tool and just have this tech stack ready for when time come where things are going to get rocky. Like they are expecting fast growth and they want to be ready. We also have on the other end companies where their tech stack
grew so large, like they have so many pieces floating around and they now need a unified source of truth. They need to have a seamless process, but we need to connect without minimal disruptions. So this is a different planning. We need to speak through operations and we just need to make sure that as this integration moves forward, that we are aware that this business is operating on large volumes.
Casey Peddicord (02:46)
Yes, that is so true. And I think about, when you're rolling out those integrations and you're thinking about that long-term, like what should companies or how should companies be thinking about
I think about things like governance, like flexibility, system of record alignment, before they just start putting those tools together. More importantly, I think the governance piece, like how is that going to work? But any, any insight there or anything you'd share?
Justine (03:09)
From a governance standpoint, I think platform to platform, those businesses we have this really talked through. But when it comes to what about the data, when the data starts moving and floating, this is where,
governance and authorities sort of get lost. So we need to across access and company record, like who should have access to which type of data as we're moving information from one platform to the other and sort of flow. And that is something that is often skipped because we're moving with a technical aspect or we're moving with the operation process aspect and we never really pause the planning to say, well, do like
Are we OK with the permission set that are set up across every platforms as new data is going to flood in?
Casey Peddicord (03:53)
Yeah.
Yeah, a hundred percent. think, working with clients on a day-to-day basis at, at, you know, all, all different segments, not just enterprise, but it seems like, you know, we hear folks say, yes, I have this system and I want to integrate it. Let's say NetSuite as an example. I want to integrate NetSuite with HubSpot. And it's, it's almost like,
If we could give one piece of advice and something that I feel like I share and I know I've heard you share this before I've learned some of this from you actually is Hey, let's break that down. Like what when you say integrate, what exactly do you want to integrate? Like there's so much in a net suite and there's so much in a HubSpot and sometimes we don't slow down enough to go, okay, you know what? It's actually the contact data and it's the opportunity data and it's the company data. And yes, I have
maybe attachments that I want to move back and forth, or I have transactions, or maybe goals, certain, whatever that is. And if you're able to break that down, almost call it from an object perspective, if we can break down those objects. And then I think about some of the other things that you share a little bit, Justine, are like frequency, like how often do we want to send the information back and forth? Which one is going to be that system of record? I don't know that folks usually think through.
Hey, if we're connecting NetSuite and HubSpot like if there's one piece that says something and another piece says something, another system, like which one takes over? Which one is that source of truth? Any other insights there? Anything else you would add that's like a big, hey, if I was going to walk through this today, what would I do? Or what are some of the first things I would do?
Justine (05:18)
I think another thing that is often overseen is what is the ultimate business goal we're trying to achieve by integrating those systems. So we're just jumping ahead, asking for integration and just adding this like wonderful idea that everything is going to be shown on every single platform. But at the end of the day, what is the business goal that we have behind that integration? And I think it's almost revert engineering the entire process. At the end of the day, what type of operation
will this integration support? If it's from an accounting perspective, then let's make sure that the invoicing process and the coding process is strong and the accounting team is seeing exactly what they need to get their job done. So we remove some dig gear, the process gets seamless, and working integration project from a business standpoint is also so valuable. And as technical folks, we rarely take time to pause and think this through.
Casey Peddicord (06:10)
Yeah, 1000%. When Justine, can you walk us through a time when you had an enterprise level integration with HubSpot go really, really well? What are some of the things that made that successful?
Justine (06:21)
I think having a strong mapping chart, whether it's from Lucid or whether it's from Miro, just having a clear picture of where are we going, what is the way that the data needs to flow, just having a common understanding and having the right people vet that information is just so valuable because once you get the seal of approval from all the correct stakeholders, you can then just confidently move forward with your integration project. So I can think of a medical device company.
that had all those departments and all those clear state, those clear head of departments. And once we start connecting their ERP and their shipping management system, and then their CRM, like this is where 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, really straightforward in case of.
conflict of an alignment. We had a clear stakeholder internally that could vet us and give us approval. And at the end of the day, like after a few months, decline ended up with a system where their ERP was ringing the correct data point in this CRM. So their new customer would receive their like nice marketing automation in this entirely customer management quality that you want. And the ERP and delivery system were just floating. So
The orders were talking to the dispatch system and warehouse efficiently. So this was a piece on its own that day one, it just seemed like a monster, like a beast with all those different ramifications. it only went well. This is a really successful implementation process.
Casey Peddicord (07:59)
Yeah, I always tell folks I feel like the more time that you spend upfront mapping and planning that out and charting it out the right way, it pays dividends for you on the backside of
Justine (08:07)
it just makes the QA process so much easier because you know what you're queuing for. You know the quality of insurance that you need to run to ensure the clients are getting the process they're looking deep diving and diving and building and having those discussions too early can lead to just poorer quality insurance at the end as well.
Casey Peddicord (08:26)
Yeah,
on the flip side of that, just see, have you ever seen an integration completely just blow up and why, why did it happen?
Justine (08:34)
So yes, like I do have one in mind and this one actually has a common ground with other several projects that ended up going south. But for an integration project to blow out of proportion, I think when we decide on a common ground with a client to start with an MVP, like start with like the most basic integration that we need to support process and a qual walk-run approach.
we're always going to leave something on the table, right? Like we're to make concession. We're going to like agree altogether that some process won't be integrated from day one. And this is a phase two and a phase three, but as phase one is being released, the clients gain some of the data that is being integrated and that supports some process. And we just put phase two on the back burner and then we put phase three in a year.
And next thing you know, because the project hasn't rolled out as expected, they are missing key pieces from their integration because the end game was never to only have phase one. It was to have phase two and then phase three. So I want to say like if we're planning an enterprise level integration and we plan on rolling out in phases, even if we're seeing small wins from phase one, we need to keep running.
We need to keep running for phase two because at the planning phase and the discovery phase, were reasons why we decided to roll out in phases. yeah, project are blowing out of proportion when we think that it MVP is enough.
Casey Peddicord (09:51)
Yeah.
Yeah, I think about two, it's, it's one of those, you know, there are tools in a toolbox to be able to use for diff, for, for integrations, right? It's not a cut and dry, here's how we do it the same way every single time. There's, you know, it's kind like you use a screwdriver for a certain tool, use a wrench for a certain tool, you use a, you know, other tools for other certain things. And there are, it's almost like integrations are like that. There's almost like a stair-step approach around different ways that you could attack that. And I think one of the things that I, I've seen personally,
from like an integration, let's say not go as well as we would want it to. It usually has to do with not being able to get to that data in some form or fashion on the other side of the house. So HubSpot can be being completely open API. You could pretty much send anything in and out of you want. We're very familiar with it, but there are some times where we run across those systems, not your typical ones. I would say like the net suites, the Salesforces of the world were so in tune with those and do those so often that, you know, it makes it really easy to work with that data, but sometimes folks will have their own systems or custom systems.
And just being able to get to that data or to transform or to change that data down the road, that's usually, I think for me, has been the sticking point where some maybe don't go as well. Do agree? Disagree?
Justine (11:08)
And I think this is the point where you need to have quality developers to jump in and help, right? Because as you mentioned, open has a open API and we can fetch pretty much any data. But if the source or the destination is a on-ground CRM system that's been built over a decade, you need to have the people with the right creative mindset, but also the technical skills to just go.
about finding the correct way to get that data and preserve the quality of the data to bring inside HubSpot in the correct format for reporting or for operation. this is where like there is a part that will remain always. Let's figure this out. Like if we work with systems that are not necessarily as out of the box or that are super customized, like we need to have that flexibility of just jumping in and
opening up the road and finding the right solution for the client.
Casey Peddicord (12:04)
Yeah, think, you know, moving more to like a strategic integration and we've talked a lot about planning, you know, like how important is it to define a single source of truth before building out the integration?
Justine (12:17)
It's a source of truth, but it's also in conflict resolution. So as you mentioned, like if there's a data discrepancy between both system 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 operation. just, 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.
Casey Peddicord (12:41)
Yeah, Justine, this is a question that I get all the time. When should a company use a one way sync versus a two way sync? You'll sometimes hear the term like unilateral or bilateral or one way or two way integration. Like, can you talk a little bit more about the difference or when you like use cases around one way versus two way?
Justine (12:59)
I think it all comes down to, once again, like the business operation process that we're trying to accomplish. Or for instance, if a deal stage change in HubSpot needs to trigger a coding or invoicing process that happens outside of HubSpot one way is totally fine. On the other end, if that quote sign on external platform needs to trigger an operation inside HubSpot, such as a welcome email, then a flow of tasks to be created to the correct person, then
It needs to be two ways. So there's that mapping, there's that planning, but it all comes down to what is the operational flow we're trying to support. Another example is order status. So if we have that shipping management platform that is passing order status from that source inside of HubSpot, it needs to trigger a welcome email to the customer that your package is on this way. By the way, here's your tracking code. Here's a link you can click.
So this is all data that's going to be passed one way. Like HubSpot has no need to pass data from HubSpot to that shipping platform.
Casey Peddicord (14:04)
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. Justine, I come across folks who have maybe worked with in some form or fashion, or have at least been exposed to middleware or sometimes like the iPass solutions like Zapier, Make, Workado. When and if should enterprise teams consider using those tools versus building out something custom?
Justine (14:25)
And I'm going to oversimplify this, right? So 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 Those prepackaged options, such as Celigo or Zapier.
like it's essentially the same path. They just decided to release that tool on a larger scales at a larger scale. So essentially like if you are not dealing with sensitive data, if you're looking for, I want to say like minimal count of sync, like those solutions can be like a really good crawling phase to get really specific data point in a pre-tude approach where there are systems out there that are available and that have
vetted process to pass information from platform one, inside of HubSpot and vice versa.
you are a larger company looking to integrate certain system or automate in between platforms, it can definitely be a first.
point with integration, a first way to just dabble into it and see like, what is the value we're actually getting from having data floating from one platform to the other with minimal disruption, low cost. And we see this a lot with companies that are much larger and that are working on more, I want to say like platforms that have been released like a decade ago. Like they really risk adverse.
So that can be just like a first step.
Casey Peddicord (15:53)
think it was like two different tracks or two different avenues sometimes too. From an integration perspective, typically like Zapier Make or Workado. You know, some of those are like subscription based models where you're going to continue to pay for that for ever and ever and ever, as long as you use it. And a lot of times what we set up from a SmartBug perspective for, again, not only enterprise grade integrations, but just about any integration.
is more of like a one-time cost. Sometimes there is a hosting fee or some other things there, the most part, it's like, Hey, we're building custom. It is a one-time project and you don't have that ongoing cost.
Justine (16:24)
with a Zapier of this world, also don't have full visibility on the calls that might fail. So the API calls that might not get triggered for multiple reasons, as well as you're not necessarily aware of the updates this middleware might have. And if there are massive updates being rolled out, you might need to rebuild some of the connectors where
By building something custom and the hosting of the integration is also something we are offering. Like we take full responsibility of all the calls that will fail. Like we have a backup system that triggers internally. So someone can look at it really quickly and make sure that it's not affecting our customers process. And as well, any type of updates they might have from one platform to the other, we are ready and we usually have a rollout plan to make sure there's no disruption.
Casey Peddicord (17:10)
Justine, that is so good. So much value in what you're saying there.
Let's dive in with what I feel like everybody is talking about today. AI, artificial intelligence.
Justine, how does AI play into integrations or does it play into integrations at all today?
Justine (17:24)
That's a really good question. I feel we're discovering new usage for AI almost every day. The first place where we really saw a lot of value for AI was on the production side was to help us with the QA process. So to be able to just making sure in fact that the process or the kind of objects or the kind of records that we would be looking for with integration like was actually present in both systems.
It's the first place where we're really self-value, but I know we work on several accounts together where we're able to leverage AI in the integration process
Casey Peddicord (17:53)
Yeah, I've seen it in a couple of different use cases today where one is, you know, beforehand, but before, you know, AI started playing a big pieces and we still sort of use this today as a framework is really around like the field mappings. You know, if you're thinking about integrating, let's take Salesforce and HubSpot and you've got contacts and leads and opportunities and deals and you have all those properties or fields and be able to match those up. You know, it was sort of a manual process before. I know there's, there's a little bit of automation that maybe HubSpot's built in there, but
I have seen use cases where you can basically take that schema and run it through AI. And instead of manually matching those 300 or so fields, AI could at least draft a proposed schema for you. it the gospel? it, and I'll be on no, but it gives you a really good starting point. I think the other use case that comes to mind is around medical integrations. So at SmartBug, we do a lot of healthcare or healthcare type accounts integrating to and from HubSpot and
you know, with those organizations, especially the enterprise level, they are trying to offset their risk from a HIPAA or PHI compliance standpoint. And when you used to have really specialized folks with really specialized backgrounds to say, Hey, yes, when integrating those, here are certain things in different ways that you can architect it to offset your risk. Today, you can run that through like an AI deep research model, like having deep research, chat, GPT tied into HubSpot. And it will give you.
a really nice output of yes, based off of what the scheme is today, you are offloading your risk to 0 percent or 5 percent or 10 percent or something like that. some really cool use cases today. I think it's going to continue to evolve pretty rapidly. So it'll be fun to watch over the next few months and few years.
Justine (19:31)
Definitely. you know, like AI might be scary for some companies as well, like especially when we're talking about sensitive data or just like larger scale companies that have different operation and different folks where they might not be all comfortable with that level of technology yet. But I've seen some like really creative CEO from large companies using AI as almost like a map, like technically map my brain as I speak through what I'm looking for. So I think it just gives a lot of accessibility.
to integration to people that are non-technical. So non-technical folks are just able to talk through and AI can frame what you're trying to convey from a technical perspective. And it just makes a conversation with the clients so valuable because it just level up the field with the developers and the people that don't necessarily have the same mindset.
Casey Peddicord (20:19)
Yeah, I think too, I continue to see use cases where some sort of AI model is built into that integration and it starts, at least flags issues, maybe more quickly or in a different way than having to manually go through those. But yeah, great advice there, Justine, and so much value we could spend all day talking about the AI piece. I starting to wrap up, but I have a couple of questions here. Around...
like marketing ops, rev ops leaders that are listening in. Justine, what are a few practical steps that those folks can take, let's say today, this week, this month to evaluate and or improve their integration?
Justine (20:54)
So I think we're just going to circle back to my initial advice, is what is it within the business that we're trying to accomplish integrating system? Whose workload do we want to elevate? And let's just start from there. We see so often potential customers coming to us wanting to integrate everything both ways. And it needs to be done before the end of the quarter, when really when you start unpacking and listening to customer story.
Like their need are A, B, C only. So if there's anyone from a RevOps perspective that is currently living some pain points or sending the gear when it comes to system not being integrated or some manual labor that need to be done, let's just start with like, what are we trying to accomplish? And it all comes down to that planning phase. I know we sound like a broken record, but enterprise level integration requires correct planning.
Casey Peddicord (21:43)
Yeah.
Yeah, it's like start with the basics. If you, think about building a house, if you have a rocky foundation, like you're going to have a leaning house, you know, like let's build that. Let's help you build that foundation really strong. and then from there, Hey, the house is, the house is
Justine (22:00)
from a really technical standpoint, the integration, that pause that we give ourselves during the integration process also allows us to optimize the current process. So if there are things in NetSuite or in Salesforce that are built a certain way that prevents you from correct reporting, that prevents you from getting the correct KPI that would just support leadership in decision to XYZ,
Let's just take this pausing moment to sort of make sure that we're cleaning up the house and we're cleaning up receiving house. And when those systems are connected, we do have visibility on that quality of data that would just allow us to move stronger. So let's just not see this as a step back and this planning phase as a pain, but more as the opportunity to just do things better.
Casey Peddicord (22:44)
Yeah, Justine, if somebody is evaluating HubSpot today and they're worried about the integration complexity, what do you say to them?
Justine (22:52)
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 need. the worry should be about their current system that might create bottlenecks, but the flexibility of HubSpot shouldn't be something to slow down integration project.
Casey Peddicord (23:13)
think about the SmartBug team and how we play into this. I get the question a lot from HubSpot reps, HubSpot managers, HubSpot customer success folks and clients that HubSpot's working with. And they say, Hey, have you done this integration before? And yes, you run across the common ones, but there are all these other systems.
And I use the Peyton Manning analogy for it. It's kind of like asking, Hey, has Peyton Manning ever played on your local high school football field? And I want to say, no, Peyton hasn't came and played on my field, but guess what? Peyton was really, really good at football and Peyton could probably outplay us on any, any field. And I feel like that's how SmartBug is. We have really great developers on our side who 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. Anything else you'd add to that?
Justine (24:02)
For sure, think at this point, once you have the correct skill set in the team to work on those integrations, it all comes down to the attitude and the yes, let's do it energy. Because as you mentioned, we're scoping integration projects several times every day. And if I look into my reporting, I want to say that it rarely happens where we integrate with the same systems. Every tech stack for every company is so different and can vary so much.
that at the end of the day, just need to have the correct folks that you're just going to say, yeah, let's do it. We have the skillset and we like our commitment to you is to just deliver that project seamlessly.
Casey Peddicord (24:35)
Yeah, Justine, that is such valuable information. So good. think about HubSpot, you know, it is a best of breed software in a lot of different cases. But there are other things that make a lot of sense to integrate, right? So that way you're able to get that best of breed and maybe other softwares or other systems and pull that in and out of HubSpot.
So we have a unified reporting, unified customer platform, customer journey reporting, attribution reporting, all those fun things. So
There's been so much value that you've given today. And we could really spend, gosh, I spent all day talking about integrations. It's such a fun thing. And I know people are like fun things, integrations. But I think about in most cases today from a HubSpot perspective, it is a bread and butter.
type application, right? It is one of those things that today people want to be able to connect to their HubSpot instance, send things in and out of HubSpot and be able to have that data in unified place. So Justine, that's a wrap for today's episode of SmartBug on Tap. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. Love hearing your war stories. Love hearing the good and bad there too, basically around the integrations and really what it takes to make HubSpot work in a complex enterprise environment.
Justine (25:35)
Thank you for having me, Casey. It was really a lot of fun. As you say, like I feel we could have speak about this for hours, but more than happy to chat with anyone that is going through or thinking about similar process.
Casey Peddicord (25:45)
Yeah, same here. So if you're listening out there and you're deep in the woods of a migration or just starting to explore what's possible, definitely don't hesitate to reach out to us. Our emails are in the episode description. Reach out if you need help. Or if you just want a second opinion, you want to talk about HubSpot, our door is always open. We're happy to be a sounding board for you. We're here for anything that you need. Thanks again for tuning in. Be sure to subscribe to SmartBug On Tap so that you don't miss future episodes and we'll catch time.
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