Do we need middleware?

Sometimes. Native connectors first, established middleware second, custom code last. We only climb when there's a reason.

What happens when a platform changes its API?

It will, and that's exactly why an unmaintained integration is a liability. Under Champion1 that's covered; on a project basis we document what to watch for.

Can you integrate with custom or legacy software?

Yes, including systems with no documented API where we have to work out the interface ourselves. That's a large share of what we do.

How do we know it's working?

Monitoring and alerting are part of the build. The failure mode that costs real money isn't an integration breaking — it's one breaking quietly.

AliveCommerce / What we do / Applications

System integrations and centralised frontends

An export, an import, and a spreadsheet in between. It has worked for years and it depends entirely on somebody remembering to do it on Tuesday. Every manual handoff is an outage waiting for a holiday.

EngagementDefined project, FBSC

Shaped byHow well the APIs are documented

Built forFailure, not just success

Talk to us about this What drives the cost

Fixed budgetAgreed before work starts. Scope flexes, the number doesn’t.

No vendor pays usNo commissions, referral fees or markup. Ever.

You own everythingCode, documentation, credentials — throughout, not at the end.

Nearly 20 years2,000+ projects for 500+ organizations, from SOHO to Fortune 1000.

What's included.

Scoped and priced up front. Exclusions written as explicitly as inclusions.

System-to-system integration

ERP to e-commerce, CRM to finance, WMS to TMS, and the dozen other pairs that should talk and don't.

Centralised frontends

One working interface over several systems and APIs, so people stop switching applications to complete a single task.

Middleware and iPaaS implementation

Celigo, Workato, Power Automate and similar — configured, documented and owned rather than left running unattended.

EDI and punchout

Customer-driven requirements in distribution, usually the reason a project starts and often scoped too late.

Data migration and reconciliation

One-off moves done properly, with reconciliation evidence rather than a hopeful cutover.

Monitoring and alerting

The part most integrations skip. An integration that fails loudly is fine; one that fails quietly for three weeks is expensive.

How we approach it.

In this order, because doing them out of order is how these go wrong.

Establish what genuinely needs to move

Most integration projects are larger than necessary because nobody questioned whether a field was required on both sides.

Use what the platforms give you

Native connectors, then established middleware, then custom code. Each step up costs more to build and considerably more to maintain.

Design the failure path first

What happens at 2am when the API is down, when a record partially writes, when the same order syncs twice.

Leave it monitored and owned

Documented, alerting, and assigned to someone. An unowned integration is a future outage with a date on it.

What moves the cost

API quality

Clean, documented APIs at one end; undocumented legacy at the other

First phase

3 to 8 weeks

One integration, built and monitored

Most common trigger

A silent failure

Discovered weeks after it started

Not sure this is what you need?

Tell us what's actually happening and we'll say which part of this applies — or that a different approach fits better, or that you don't need us yet. That last answer is more common than you'd expect.

Get a straight answer Or call 416-639-5876, weekdays 8:30–5:30 ET

What we work with.

Chosen on fit. We take no commission or referral fee from any of them.

REST and SOAP APIsGraphQLWebhooksCeligoWorkatoPower AutomateZapierMaken8nEDI X12 and EDIFACTcXML punchoutSFTP and flat file

If this shouldn't be a project.

Some of this work never really ends. When that's true, we'll say so rather than selling you a project that restarts in three years.

Continuous ownership

Champion1

When integrations need watching rather than only building. We monitor them and fix them when platforms change underneath.

See Champion1

Continuous plus build

Champion1 Foundation

When new integrations keep being needed, which is the normal state for a growing business.

See Foundation

Straight answers.

Start the Conversation.

No qualification questionnaire. No nurture sequence. A person reads it and replies within a business day — and tells you plainly if we're not the right fit.

01A person reads itNot a scoring model. It goes to whoever would actually do the work.

02A reply within a business dayUsually a question or two rather than a calendar link.

03A conversation, not a pitchTwenty to ninety minutes. No deck, no slides.

04Then, only if it's warrantedA scope or assessment with a price attached before any work starts.

Prefer to talk first? 416-639-5876 · [email protected]

About system integrations

Three fields. We'll ask the rest on the call.

Related.

Articles are matched by tag; services, capabilities and programs are curated.

Tell us what's breaking.

We'll tell you roughly what this costs, how long it takes, and whether it's worth doing at all — including when the honest answer is that you don't need us.

Start the Conversation

Knowledge and process

Applications and data

Customer and web

Browse by symptom instead

The structure

Continuous ownership

Before you commit

Start with one problem

Priority sectors

Also

Or by situation

Not sure you fit?

Reading

Most read

Proof

Nobody owns the application layer