To scope a Hubspot integration project, HubSpot partners should know what they want to do. They should also know what HubSpot and the other tool can help you accomplish. So, how can you know all this before starting an integration project? Well, that’s what this blog is here for. By the end of this blog, you will know how to scope an integration project and how to acquire all the information that you need.

A Typical Scenario for an Integration Project Requirement

HubSpot Partners Improving Their Existing Integration Setup

HubSpot partners looking to improve their existing business process by introducing new tools into the picture typically go for integration solutions. Here's an example for Computan's Integration vault; Our client already had Active integrated with HubSpot. Now as their business demands changed, they wanted to introduce new integration mapping with Active. So, they approached us for improved integration between their HubSpot and Active.

New HubSpot users wish to Use the Same Tech Stack

A company that is already using a few sets of tools and wanted to do the same even after opting for HubSpot as its CMS and CRM loves to integrate its old tools with HubSpot. For example, a company that was previously using WordPress as its CMS and Mailchimp as its email marketing tool now wants to shift to HubSpot for its CMS benefits but wants to keep using Mailchimp because they love everything about it, and the team knows all about it. They don't see good enough reasons to use HubSpot as their email marketing.

Native Integration and Connectors Not Giving Satisfying Results

The native integration solutions by HubSpot and integration through connectors somewhat resolve most of the integration requirements, but some business processes are tightly knitted that HubSpot partners don't find the right solution through the native integration and through the connectors. For those, there's always a third option available, i.e., custom integration, where the HubSpot partners integrate their favorite tools with their HubSpot platform the way they want. The integration would be uni-directional or bi-directional.
Whenever an integration requirement is received, we run it through the native integration and connector’s option to see which is viable. If we don’t see a successful outcome from any of these, then we go to the custom route option.

How Should HubSpot Partners Scope Their Integration Requirements?

Computan has developed a 5-step template for HubSpot partners to scope out their integration requirements easily.

Step 1- List out the Apps to Integrate

Simply list down the apps you want to integrate with your HubSpot. It could lie under any of these categories

  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Productivity
  • Connected sales and marketing
  • Top-rated Apps by G2 Leaders
  • Data Sync Apps
  • Customizable CRM
  • Automation Apps
  • Finance
  • Customer service
  • Marketing Campaign Apps
  • Workflow Integration

Step 2 – Hosting

Some HubSpot users might have their own EC2 instance on AWS, while some HubSpot partners prefer HubSpot serverless functions in their middleware app. You can consult with the integration expert about the best hosting solutions for your integration requirements.

Middleware App: Let's say you want to integrate Xero with HubSpot. Dataflow will be from Xero to HubSpot. So, in that case, data will first go from Xero to the middleware app, translating it into the fields understandable by HubSpot. Then data travels from middleware to the HubSpot platform for perfect data mapping.

In any integration, matching fields for perfect data mapping is the most important step for which the developers develop a middleware application.

Step 3 – Code Versions

HubSpot partners might want to push the code to GitHub, Bitbucket, or any other tool they want. If HubSpot partners don't know how many code versions they want, they can consult the integration expert on this subject.

Code Versioning: Versioning your integration project is important because it makes it easier for users and integration experts to track the various versions a company releases. Users expect a methodical approach to understanding when and what updates are released because they rely on integration developers to keep them up to date.

Versioning allows software development teams to track any changes they make to the project code. The modifications may include new features, functions, or bug fixes. Similarly, minor modifications can also be tracked.

Step 4 - End Goals of Integration

How the HubSpot partners want the data to be treated between HubSpot and the other tool is the simplest way to say about the goal of the integration.

For example, the event-related data from Active such as Event name, event organizers' names, booking confirmation, attendees' names, choice of sports, payments, any event organ, attendees, new registrations, and events, go into HubSpot as deals and contact properties.

In the case of Zoom HubSpot integration, Contacts in Zoom become contacts in HubSpot. Average Zoom webinar attendance duration, last registered Zoom webinar, the total number of Zoom webinar registrations, and the total number of Zoom webinars attended these all become contact properties in HubSpot.

Webinar date, webinar, join time, webinar leave time, webinar view time, recordings, and transcripts these all become part of the HubSpot timeline.

Step 5 - Data Flow

Will it be a uni-directional data flow or a bi-directional data flow? In a uni-directional data flow integration, data travels from one tool to HubSpot only. In a bi-directional data flow, data travels flow from one tool to HubSpot and then back to the original tool after HubSpot treatment.

Sync rules such as sync type and sync interval associated with data flow tell us how and when the information travels in the system.

Step 6 - Anything Else Worth Mentioning

We have kept this section for anything that you think is not covered well in the above 5 points. Anything worth mentioning in the Integration scope, please do in this section.

What are the costs associated with the Integration Project?

There are standard development charges for the integration project. It is either on an hourly basis or a project basis.

If the API of the tool you want to integrate is not available for free, then you have to pay for the API. If you want third-party hosting, that is also added to the final cost.

What Plans Do HubSpot Partners Need for Integration?

This is project-sensitive because we have to look at the data flow and mapping to see if HubSpot allows it in your price plan. This goes without saying for the other tool if the other tool allows specific data sharing in the chosen price plan.

How can they ensure the project goes successful?

Integration experts need various permissions on several levels of the integration project.
  • API calls permission from HubSpot and the other tool in question
  • Access to the areas from where they need to fetch the data
  • Do not change the names of the data fields that integration developers need to map.