Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
Categories: software
Let’s say that you’ve decided you want to integrate your project management tools with some other platform or software within your organisation – there are lots of reasons why you would want to do this that I have covered in other articles.
So how do you get started? Here’s a quick guide to planning out what you need to do.
Understand your needs
Start by assessing the needs of your project team. Identify which functions are lacking or could be enhanced (e.g., reporting, communication, time tracking, etc.). This will help prioritise which integrations to set up if you’ve got several options.
My suggestion would be to start with something small and easy. That will help you prove the concept of integration, get some useful data and get a ‘win’ that might make it easier to get funding for any larger piece of technical work to do other things.
Choose the right applications
There are probably lots of options for integration. Finance tools for pulling in actuals? Capacity management software for resource planning? Timesheets? Focus on finding applications that complement your project management tool and enhance its capabilities – things where you would actually get use out of the data, the workflow or the interface.
Before you actually make the decision, check that it’s a reliable, supported tool that aligns to the business processes and that it’s going to be worth the effort! Another consideration is your project management tool itself. It seems to me that organisations change tools every few years so you don’t want to invest in enhancing something that is not going to be around much longer. Make sure you’ve got confidence in the longevity of the products you are using.
Review the integration options and approaches
Most project management platforms offer integration options through open APIs or pre-built connectors. You might have an integration hub as part of the tech stack that you would need to use to pass data from one product to another.
Think about how best to integrate the tools, and lean on enterprise architects and data analysts to work out the best route, and what needs to be done. My recommendation would be to go for solutions that are the simplest, with the fewest data points to reduce the technical complexity.
Test the integration
Before you hit the button, make sure it’s all as tested as it can be. You really need the data integrity to be 100% or people will lose confidence in the data. Then they’ll go back to the original sources and you won’t have saved any time or improved processes at all.
Test with a small group, controlled data and look for issues related to data syncing, user permissions, and overall functionality.
Monitor and refine
As with any software project or process change, you’ll want to keep an eye on it and make sure that it is working as expected. Monitor feedback from users and tweak as necessary to make any improvements.
You might find bugs that were missed during testing or there might be new requirements that help make it more user-friendly or workable.
Once you’ve got one integration set up and working, think about what was the next priority on your list. How can you get that one kicked off? With citizen development and low code development, plus the power of AI, it might be easier than you expect to get something off the ground! Good luck, and let us know in the comments which your most successful integrations have been!
Posted on: September 21, 2025 11:00 PM |
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