APIs & Integrations

truongN
Member

Custom Integration of Third Party Data Enrichment of leads

Hi, 

 

We're thinking about building out a custom integration with DataFox's REST API. Has anyone had success building something like this out for any other third party data providers? 

 

How many ballpark engineering hours did it take? 

Any gotchas you can pass along? 

 

Thanks, 

Truong

3 Replies 3
Mike_Eastwood
Key Advisor | Gold Partner
Key Advisor | Gold Partner

Custom Integration of Third Party Data Enrichment of leads

Hi @truongN , thank you @IsaacTakushi 

 

I had a quick look at the DataFox's Application Programming Interface (API) and it looks well documented.

 

Here's a high level diagram of a HubSpot Integration:

 

Basic API Flow.png

 

The normal integration requires an external Integration System to do the following jobs:

  • pull and/or push data to/from the API e.g. DataFox
  • validate and/or convert the data for HubSpot e.g. date formats, calculations, etc.
  • retry pushing/pulling if there's a failure e.g. internet connection issue
  • logs the transaction so we can see any data issues and fix them
  • reporting (if required) so you can see what's happening

 

Our typical process goes through the following stages:

 

1. Interrogation – we give you a form to complete which feels like an interrogation. The goal of the form is to learn your business goals, technical requirements and what systems you are keen to integrate with (in your case DataFox).

 

2. Research – not all Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are created equally. We research the API and when possible run tests to see if the data is the same as the documentation (you'd be surprised what we've seen).

 

3. Documentation – we document the process in English (and Geek-speak) so you can review the process and agree it's actually what you want. From there we can also work out the budget for the project and any ongoing costs e.g. hosting, support and maintenance.

 

4. Development – we develop in a test environment and use a test HubSpot Portal to send and retrieve data and test to see if everything's working as planned.

 

5. Deployment – we deploy the code to the live server and connect it to the live HubSpot Portal. More tests and more checking.

 

6. Support & maintenance – we manage any systems that are required in the integration, monitor the logs and help you if you need any support.

 

7. Enhancements – often we find there are opportunities to improve the system and/or add new features. Often these are outside of the original scope from step 3.

 

Stage 1 – 3 are a fixed price project that allows us to create a project plan with pricing and timeframes for the next stages.

 

The gotchas are endless... which is why we run the test project to learn as much as we can early on. Lots of the data issues can be resolved during the research stage.

 

Happy to chat if you'd like to learn more.

Mike

markkofman
Top Contributor

Custom Integration of Third Party Data Enrichment of leads

@truongN  we do a lot of data syncing between HubSpot and other business apps as part of https://wizard.import2.com/apps/hubspot/.

 

Feel free to reach out to us through our website chat and we will try to assist as much as we can. 

 

But what I can say right away, is bringing data into HubSpot would not be a problem 🙂 tested out on thousands of HubSpot instances. 

IsaacTakushi
HubSpot Employee
HubSpot Employee

Custom Integration of Third Party Data Enrichment of leads

Welcome, @truongN.

 

I haven't personally worked with developers who have built HubSpot integrations with third-party data providers like DataFox, but perhaps @tjoyce@Mike_Eastwood, or @markkofman could lend some insight? I appreciate your time and expertise, fellas.

 

If you have any specific questions regarding the HubSpot object APIs you would use in this integration (e.g. Contacts and Companies), please let me know!

 

In the meantime, I've connected with your account manager, Jessica, and we'll be discussing some of the general questions you emailed tomorrow.

Isaac Takushi

Associate Certification Manager