Three Easy Options to Extend Acumatica Integration Functionality
There’s an ongoing debate in the ERP space about which is better, all-in-one or best-of-breed. We’re not going to step too far into that debate here, except to say that in our experience, there is no all-in-one ERP application. Instead, every business we work with relies on multiple additional applications to round out the functionality they need to be successful. So, whichever ERP your business selects, it’s smart to understand its integration capabilities so that when you do add third-party applications, you can ensure they’ll communicate with each other.
Acumatica Cloud ERP is one application that does integration right. While this innovative cloud-based ERP is typically placed in the best-of-breed category, it offers extensive core functionality that leaves few companies looking for more. However, when your company needs specific industry capabilities (think Field Services) or more broad-based business functionality (like HRMS), it’s great to be aware of the world of additional capabilities available to you through three avenues: native integrations, marketplace add-ons and open APIs.
1. Native, out-of-the-box integrations
Acumatica offers 80 native integrations (you read that correctly — 80) to leading hardware, software, and services, from sales tax and project management to shipping and barcode scanners, enabling your organization to centralize data and connect workflows on one intuitive platform. Because these are built into the software, no coding is required. These are the definition of plug-and-play integrations.
Among the native integrations are connections to Acumatica Construction, Distribution, Manufacturing, and Retail Commerce that deliver industry-specific functionality.
2. Marketplace of add-ons
Vendor marketplaces are prolific, providing a vetted selection of auxiliary applications that complement a core solution. Acumatica’s Marketplace is no exception. It currently contains 271 add-on solutions for Acumatica, and more are being added all the time.
You can shop the marketplace by functionality, industry, or Acumatica certification level. Most applications include a downloadable brochure, screenshots, summaries, and even testimonials to help with your decisions.
3. Open architecture supports custom connections
Many of our clients are using required legacy or third-party applications that continue to provide a vital role in their businesses. However, without off-the-shelf integration capabilities, some of these companies were performing duplicate data entry, clunky imports and exports, and other manual efforts to share data between the legacy application and their accounting software.
The Acumatica platform provides an ideal framework for centralizing your organization’s technology. Using open architecture and contract-based APIs, Acumatica provides true best-of-breed integration components without the overhead associated with typical custom development. This technology is lightyears away from the custom development you may have seen in years past. APIs – especially those written using REST protocols provide for seamless integrations that don’t stifle your ability to keep Acumatica upgraded to the current version.
At The Answer Company, we create these customized connectors routinely for our customers. In fact, The Answer Company’s Director of Software Development, Kulvir Kaila, was recognized as Acumatica’s Most Valuable Programmer the last two years running. Kulvir and his team spend much of their time creating custom integrations for Acumatica — and doing a fabulous job of it!