PIPELINEGuide
What do you need for an API? The prerequisites
Before an API even makes sense, a few things need to be in place in your business. What those are — and which supposed prerequisites actually aren't.
For an API, a business needs three things: a concretely named workflow that currently costs time or orders, existing content or data to work with, and a person authorized to decide. Technical knowledge is explicitly not one of them.
01 — Requirements
What you need for an API integration
- A clearly defined trigger. Not “we should do something with AI,” but a process that demonstrably costs time or orders today.
- Existing content or data. API integrations work with what's there. The more complete the starting point, the shorter the setup.
- Access to the systems involved. Whoever manages the credentials needs to be involved from the start — this is, in our experience, the most common cause of delays.
- One decision-making contact person. One, not three.
- Willingness to refine after launch. The first weeks in real operation show what was missing in the concept. That's normal and accounted for.
02 — Participation
What we need from you
- A contact person who can make decisions — not just forward them.
- Access to the affected systems, in time and not on launch day.
- Real examples from daily business — the messier, the more useful for testing.
- Two to four hours for coordination, distributed over the project duration.
- An answer to the question of what success means. Without it, nothing can be assessed afterward.
03 — Fit
When it's worth it
- The process in question occurs at least weekly.
- It follows rules you can write down — even if there are exceptions.
- Today it's manual work that no one enjoys doing.
- There's one person who decides, not three who need to coordinate.
- You can name what would tell you it worked.
04 — Questions
Frequently asked questions
How often is data synchronized?
From immediately to nightly — depending on what's technically necessary. Immediate synchronization isn't always better: for systems with post-processing, a nightly run is often the more stable choice.
What does maintenance cost during operation?
As long as none of the connected systems changes fundamentally, ongoing effort is low — monitoring reports itself when something doesn't fit.
Is an interface more secure than a manual export?
Significantly, because human errors during export and import are eliminated and every exchange is logged. A manual export leaves no trace if something was overlooked.
What if our legacy system has no interface?
Then there are usually workarounds: database access, automated file exchange, in exceptional cases surface automation. All are more fragile than a real interface. We'll honestly tell you how stable such a solution will be before you decide.
What happens during an outage?
The connection remembers what hasn't been transferred yet, tries again, and reports after multiple failed attempts. Data isn't lost, it arrives delayed.
Can multiple systems be connected simultaneously?
Yes, that's actually the more common case — for example, shop, inventory management, and accounting together. Each connection is planned and tested individually, even if everything works together in the end.
Who maintains it later?
You receive code and documentation. We deliberately build with widely used technologies so that switching is possible.
Next step
Let's talk briefly about whether this makes sense for you.
A twenty-minute conversation is usually enough to clarify whether a project makes sense. If not, we'll say so — that's cheaper for both sides than an offer nobody needs.