We recently launched a whitepaper focused on finance professionals in the nonprofit space called "How to Stay Alive in the Accrual World". It provides an overview of many of the challenges CFOs and finance professionals are facing. Integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) can be a smart solution for many of these top finance and accounting challenges. In our blog today, we'd like to dive into how to demystify integrations. I had the opportunity to interview Zachary Griggs, DataBlend's Director of Client Experiences on how iPaaS can help nonprofits. Zachary has over 10 years working with nonprofits and has served as a Director of Finance, so he has a unique viewpoint that many finance professionals can relate to.
The word integration just seems complicated and costly. It does not have to be either. The first phrase that comes to mind is “time suck.” Recently, Zachary had a webinar about demystifying integrations. As a former Director of Finance he offered this insight.
Watch the snippet
Traditional integrations usually start with IT and take months to integrate, test, and deploy. Finance might not even be part of the process until it is ready to use. At that point it might be so technical that they do not even know how to use it effectively. Or more likely, it is built with IT in mind and not finance and does not fit the department’s needs and it becomes another tool that is ignored. At DataBlend, our iPaaS solution is built by finance people – just like you. It was built as a solution that could be used and implemented (if you choose) by finance people and not IT.
After all those months integrating a tool that was not built with finance teams in mind. Other similar tools that integrate fintech stacks that start at $10,000, which is a costly investment for one integration. DataBlend starts at $5,000 for two integrations.
Even when comparing out of the box integrations, organizations are (likely) spending more on a native integration application. For example, Adaptive Planning’s native integration costs around $14,400.
Download the full whitepaper: How to Stay Alive in the Accrual World
CFOs and finance leaders are challenged with turning the numbers into something meaningful. They need to be able to derive insights and deliver information to the rest of the organization. The integrity, flexibility, and speed of that information enable your management and staff to manage the business more effectively.