ERP Integration: How to Make Your Systems Work Together
Your ERP system is running. The books balance, orders are processed and inventory is tracked. But meanwhile, a warehouse employee is manually entering the same shipment into two systems. Sales is calling planning because delivery times in the CRM do not match reality in the ERP. And your financial reporting? It only adds up after someone has merged three Excel files.
Sound familiar? Then this is not a software problem. This is an integration problem.
In our experience across more than 250 ERP projects, poor integration between systems is one of the biggest sources of errors, duplicate work and frustration on the shop floor. The good news: it is also one of the areas where concrete gains can be achieved relatively quickly. In this article, you will learn which integrations deliver the most value per sector, which approach fits your situation and how to tackle this concretely in Q2.
Why ERP integration should be on your agenda right now
The system landscape of the average organisation has grown substantially in recent years. Where five years ago an ERP system and an accounting package sufficed, most businesses now work with a combination of ERP, CRM, WMS, e-commerce, BI tooling and various sector-specific applications.
That growth brings a practical problem: how do you ensure that all those systems tell the same truth?
According to research by Panorama Consulting (2024), 38% of organisations cite integration with existing systems as the biggest technical challenge in ERP projects. That is hardly surprising. Integration is often only taken seriously late in the project, while it is precisely the foundation on which reliable processes run.
Add to this: if your organisation started an ERP project in Q1, you are now in the middle of the phase where the integration architecture takes shape. Whatever is not connected before the summer break stays on hold until Q4. Those are months in which your team does manually what a connection could automate.
The integrations that deliver the most value per sector
Not every integration is equally urgent. The value depends on your sector, your processes and where the most manual work sits. Frankly, most organisations underestimate how much manual effort disappears with the right connection. Below are the integrations we see most frequently, by market.
Production and manufacturing
In manufacturing companies, the connection between ERP and MES (Manufacturing Execution System) is often the most impactful integration. The MES drives the shop floor; the ERP plans and records. Without a connection, delays arise in production planning and work orders do not flow through automatically.
Other valuable connections: ERP and PLM (product development, bills of materials), ERP and WMS (warehouse management). In companies with 100+ employees, we see that the absence of these connections causes an average of 15-20% additional administrative work.
Wholesale and distribution
For distributors, the connection between ERP and e-commerce is most urgent. Customers expect real-time stock information and order status. Without that connection, your customer service answers dozens of questions daily that the system could handle itself.
Additionally: ERP and TMS (transport management system) for automatic freight calculation and track-and-trace, and ERP and WMS for pick-pack-ship processes. For one of our clients in technical wholesale, the ERP-webshop connection alone saved 24 hours per week in manual order entry.
Professional services and maintenance
Service organisations run on people and hours. The connection between ERP and time registration or project management software is the most valuable here. When booked hours automatically flow through to invoicing and project reporting, an entire source of errors disappears.
Also relevant: ERP and CRM (customer insight, quotes, contract management) and ERP and field service tools for engineers and technicians in the field.
Point-to-point, middleware or iPaaS: which approach fits you?
You know which connections deliver value. The next question is: how do you build them? There are three common approaches, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
Point-to-point connections link two systems directly to each other. This works well when you have two or three systems that rarely change. The advantage: simple and quick to implement. The disadvantage: with five or more connections, maintenance becomes a nightmare. Every update to a system can break multiple connections.
Middleware places an intermediate layer that orchestrates all communication between systems. This is the classic enterprise approach, suited for complex environments with many systems and high transaction volumes.
iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) is the cloud variant of middleware. Platforms such as Boomi, MuleSoft or Azure Integration Services offer out-of-the-box connectors for commonly used systems. The advantage: faster implementation, lower entry costs and less dependency on custom development. In our article on iPaaS in ERP implementations you can read more about this.
Our rule of thumb: do you have fewer than five connections and stable systems? Then point-to-point will do. Is your landscape growing or do you regularly switch tooling? Then an iPaaS platform pays for itself within two years.
ERP integration via an iPaaS platform centralises all data flows between systems in one place. This reduces the maintenance burden and makes it easier to connect new applications without disrupting existing connections.
What ERP integration actually costs
Integration is rarely a separate line item on the proposal, and that is precisely the problem. In practice, we see that integration costs account for 20-35% of the total ERP implementation budget. For organisations with a complex system landscape, this can rise to 40%.
Where does that money go?
- Analysis and mapping (15-20% of integration costs): which data goes where, in what format, how often?
- Development and configuration (30-40%): the actual building or configuring of the connections
- Testing (20-25%): not just “does it work?”, but also error scenarios, volume tests and fallback procedures
- Monitoring and maintenance (ongoing): connections are not “fire and forget”; they require structural oversight
The biggest pitfall: not including integration costs in the initial business case. Those who discover this halfway through the project must reallocate budgets or postpone connections. In our article on ERP implementation costs you will find a more complete picture of all cost components.
Five signs that your integration landscape needs attention
How do you know whether your current connections are sufficient? In our experience, these are the five most common signs that work is needed.
1. Employees enter the same data into multiple systems. This is the most visible symptom. Every duplicate entry is an opportunity for errors and a source of frustration. If your team routinely copies data between systems, a connection is missing.
2. Reports only add up after manual corrections. When your financial reporting or management information depends on manual adjustments, it almost always means that source data from different systems is out of sync.
3. Customer information differs between departments. Sales sees different contact details than finance. Logistics has a different delivery address than the webshop. This points to a lack of master data synchronisation between ERP and CRM.
4. New applications become “islands” alongside the ERP. Every time a department introduces a new tool without an integration plan, complexity grows. After three island applications, manual data transfer has become the standard.
5. Connections break with every system update. If a routine update to your ERP or a connected system causes connections to fail, your integration architecture is too fragile. This is the signal to move from point-to-point to a more robust approach.
Do you recognise three or more of these signs? Then it is wise to have your integration landscape assessed by an independent party. Not to overhaul everything at once, but to prioritise where the biggest gains lie.
Practical action plan for Q2-Q3
Integration does not have to be a mammoth project. With a structured approach, you can achieve the most important improvements before the summer break.
Step 1: Inventory your current connections. Map out which systems communicate with each other, how (automatically, manually, CSV export) and how often. For most organisations, this inventory alone yields surprises.
Step 2: Prioritise by business impact. Not the technically most complex connection first, but the one that saves the most manual hours or prevents the most errors. Ask your key users: “Where do you spend the most time transferring data?”
Step 3: Choose your integration approach. Do you have a manageable landscape? Start with point-to-point. Do you expect growth in the number of applications? Invest in an iPaaS platform that scales with you.
Step 4: Schedule testing before the summer break. An integration that has not been tested is not an integration. Plan at least two weeks for testing, including error scenarios. What happens when a system goes offline? What if data arrives in the wrong format?
Step 5: Set up monitoring. After go-live, every connection needs structural oversight. Set up alerts for failed synchronisations and schedule monthly checks.
Would you like this assessed by someone who views your landscape from the outside? Get in touch for an integration and architecture assessment. We advise based on your situation, not based on a preferred platform.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an ERP integration cost?
The cost of an ERP integration depends on the complexity, the number of systems and the chosen approach. As a rule of thumb: plan for 20-35% of your total ERP implementation budget for integrations. A single point-to-point connection is considerably cheaper than a full iPaaS platform, but the long-term maintenance costs can be higher. Always have a detailed scoping done for your specific situation.
What is the difference between iPaaS and middleware?
iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) is a cloud-based integration platform with out-of-the-box connectors and a subscription model. Middleware is the broader category of software that handles communication between systems, and can run both on-premise and in the cloud. In practice, iPaaS is the more modern, flexible variant that is particularly suited for organisations using multiple cloud applications alongside their ERP.
How long does it take to connect two systems?
A standard connection with available connectors takes on average 2 to 6 weeks, including analysis, configuration and testing. Custom integrations or connections with legacy systems can take 2 to 4 months. The testing phase is often underestimated: always plan at least 30% of the timeline for testing and error handling.
Can I connect my ERP to my webshop?
Yes, virtually every modern ERP system can be connected to common e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento. The connection typically synchronises inventory, orders, customer data and prices. The complexity depends on the number of articles, the update frequency and whether you work with multiple warehouses or sales channels. With the right implementation partner, this is a standardised process.