Integrations
When your own system gets updated
You do not change programs: it just gets updated. And the integration keeps working, which is exactly what makes it dangerous.
Your IT team or your vendor updates the program over a weekend. On Monday everything works: people log in, orders go out, and the integration keeps sending data. That is why this problem takes weeks to surface, and by then it has polluted the record.
How an integration breaks while still running
| What changed | What you see | What is really happening |
|---|---|---|
| A field was renamed | Everything looks the same | That value arrives empty and nobody looks |
| A field changed format | The data comes in | It comes in wrong: different dates or amounts |
| A mandatory field was added | Some sends start failing | The good case: it shows |
| How a record is identified changed | Duplicates appear | Each send creates a new one instead of updating |
Important
The first two rows are dangerous for the same reason: **an integration does not warn about what it stops receiving**. If a field is renamed there is no error: there is a gap, and files keep being created with that value empty for weeks. When someone notices, you must decide whether to fill two hundred cases by hand. The noisy failure — the send that breaks — is actually the best case, because it is found the same day.
What to do around an update
- 1
Find out when it is happening, even if it «does not affect you»
It is information that rarely reaches whoever owns the integration.
- 2
Ask what changes in the data, not in the interface
What matters to an integration is not in the release notes.
- 3
Check one complete case the next day
A real one, with its data, not a ping.
- 4
And scrutinise that week's files
That is where the gaps will show if there are any.
Watch out
The check worth having in place before it happens: **one that looks at whether the value arrives, not whether the send responds**. The integration answering «received» says nothing about what was inside. A simple review — how many of the latest files have that field empty — catches in a day what otherwise surfaces when a client asks why a number is missing.
If you are the one updating
Worth knowing
The same problem appears when the party at the other end updates without telling you. The difference is that you cannot plan for it — only detect it early, which is what the check above is for.
›Can I test the update somewhere first?
Ask your IT team: if there is a test environment, this is when to use it.
›What if the gap is weeks old?
Backfill what you can in bulk and record from when it was missing.
›Should the integration be frozen during the update?
Pausing it briefly is cheaper than cleaning duplicates later.
A real case
The situation
A company updates its ERP and three weeks later finds files with no order number.
What you do
- Checks one complete case the next day and reviews how many arrive with the field empty
What you get
The gap surfaces in a day instead of across two hundred files needing review.
The situation
The ERP is upgraded over a weekend and on Monday the integration is broken.
What you do
- Asks IT for the upgrade calendar
- Tests the flow in the test environment before the switch
What you get
The upgrade is faced with the integration already verified.
The situation
A field changes and the integration starts failing silently.
What you do
- Sets an alert if activity stops arriving
What you get
The fault is caught in hours.
The situation
It is upgraded and nobody tests anything.
What you do
- Tests a real case straight afterwards
What you get
The problem is found before the users find it.
The situation
The upgrade changes a data format.
What you do
- Validates the format before writing
What you get
The bad value does not propagate.
The situation
Unprocessed notifications pile up during the window.
What you do
- Checks what is pending afterwards
What you get
The window does not leave a hole.
This article answers
- the erp was updated and the integration fails
- version upgrade and changed fields
- the integration runs but data is missing
- warning the vendor before upgrading