Product integrations aren’t just feature requests anymore — they’re core infrastructure.
But building them is rarely straightforward. From forming business partnerships with API providers to deciphering complex documentation, the process can span weeks to months and can drain already overextended engineering teams. To make matters worse, maintaining the integrations is even more resource-intensive.
Traditional approaches, such as point-to-point custom code or embedded iPaaS solutions, present their challenges. These methods don’t scale well, create support overhead, and ultimately slow down time-to-market. What teams need is a more innovative and scalable approach.
The problem with traditional integration methods
Developers tasked with supporting dozens of customer-requested integrations face severe bottlenecks:
- Building each integration can take 250+ hours.
- Each new system adds maintenance costs, potential breakages, and versioning risks.
- Embedded iPaaS solutions force you to build one integration at a time, require technical expertise to use, and bypass your existing software development lifecycle, which can introduce security risks.
These challenges don’t just affect timelines; they put long-term product velocity at risk.
The unified API advantage
A unified API model presents a new approach. Instead of building dozens of unique connections, engineering teams can connect once to a unified layer that standardizes access across categories like HRIS, ATS, CRM, file storage, and more. This provides a faster, cleaner, and more scalable way to integrate.
The benefits:
- Build once, connect to many: One codebase instead of dozens.
- Fewer bugs, faster launches: Less code means fewer points of failure.
- Easier onboarding: Developers work within a familiar pattern, reducing the learning curve.
Unified APIs reduce the total engineering lift while allowing teams to scale integrations without rebuilding or redesigning their setup for every new tool.
Meet Merge — the leading unified API solution
Merge offers a unified API with built-in observability, comprehensive data coverage, and hands-on support throughout the integration lifecycle.
“Using Merge, you can build once to access hundreds of integrations across software categories. We consistently see this approach help companies take their integrations to market several months faster and save their engineering teams hundreds of hours,” said Shensi Ding, the CEO and co-founder of Merge.
Merge’s integration observability tools also help customer-facing teams identify issues, such as expired API keys, and guide clients through resolution steps, ensuring post-launch stability.
Merge can not only detect and diagnose integration issues but also provide steps for remediating them.
In addition, Merge’s post-sales team helps customers navigate go-to-market decisions and technical challenges beyond the build. This often means going on-site and training customers’ go-to-market employees in person.
Ramp case study
Ramp, a high-growth fintech company, used Merge to integrate with dozens of HR systems. This allowed Ramp to launch integrations several times faster and save their engineering team countless hours. Moreover, Ramp has been able to accelerate their time-to-value, onboard customers faster, and reduce long-term support overhead.
Other results from Merge clients
- TravelPerk saw a 79% increase in customer spending among accounts that used its Merge-powered HRIS integrations compared to those that didn’t.
- Kertos launched over 100 ticketing and HRIS integrations 50 times faster, saving approximately 1,000 engineering hours annually on integration maintenance.
- Rilla secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in new annual recurring revenue within months of implementing Merge’s CRM integrations, enabling them to revisit and win previously lost deals.
See all of Merge’s case studies.
Scaling smarter starts here
SaaS products are becoming increasingly reliant on third-party integrations, particularly as they incorporate AI features that require high-quality customer data.
Merge’s Unified API provides a clear solution. It simplifies the process, improves reliability, and enables engineering teams to launch faster without compromising quality. Compared to embedded iPaaS vendors, in-house builds, or even other unified API solutions, Merge offers the most scalable and sustainable way to integrate.
Wondering how Merge can support your product’s integration strategy? Schedule a demo with one of their integration experts to find out.
