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Building an integration between two services is great, but keeping it running smoothly is another story. If you've ever managed one, you know that surprises are part of the deal. I've learned a lot from building and keeping integrations running at Lunch Pail Labs. Our work supports thousands of users, and I want to share some tips that can make your life easier too.
1. Choose partners with strong support and community
If you're integrating with an open developer platform, an active community, and strong documentation are must-haves. They should heavily influence your choice to build an integration with that platform.
For private partnerships, a designated contact is crucial. Ensure you have support resources to handle any issues—because changes in the platform or API are inevitable.
2. Use support requests to enhance demos and docs
When you receive a support request, consider it an opportunity. Turn these real-world challenges into templates or examples for your demo and documentation.
This not only helps future users navigate common or niche use cases but also speeds up their time to value. In the context of integrations, an in-platform demo or prebuilt workflow can be particularly effective in accelerating user success.
3. Monitor the health of major integration flows with automated tests
Code tests are a good start, but they can't catch everything. Automated testing tools that simulate user behavior, like Preflight if you’re building on the web, provide an extra layer of security by revealing issues you might otherwise miss.
And that’s a wrap! How do you go about maintaining integrations once they’re built? Drop me a tweet at @ojabowlola or send a quick note to hey@lunchpaillabs.com. Always keen to learn and connect!
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