{"id":4081,"date":"2018-12-13T15:00:52","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T14:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/?p=4081"},"modified":"2025-04-11T13:50:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T11:50:27","slug":"timesheet-integration-xero-office365","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/timesheet-integration-xero-office365","title":{"rendered":"Timesheet integration with Xero and Office 365: A case study by Taptu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Embracing the API economy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ah, the joys of cloud computing! No hardware, less waste, reduced costs, remote access, automatic updates, and the list goes on. But the growing selection of solutions might have you feeling like you can<\/em> have too much of a good thing. Today, small and medium businesses are juggling an average of 14.3 applications, or 5.5 apps per employee<\/a>. Unless effectively integrated, each of these applications is an information silo, limiting a business’ ability to get a clear picture of its data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integrations<\/strong> can provide valuable real time data, reduce human error, improve customer service, boost productivity, and give a big picture view that helps businesses to identify pain points, bottlenecks, and resource sucks. Application programming interfaces (APIs) are key building blocks of this interconnectedness, allowing for the flow of information across organizational boundaries. The growing cloud economy only further impels the so-called “API imperative”<\/a>. The problem? Building integrations<\/a> requires time, resources, and a certain amount of IT expertise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the key elements of a custom API integration?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It can be tough to commit, but investing in quality integrations will pay off for most businesses. If you don’t already have an in-house IT team, and it’s not a skill set you need full time, an IT consultancy may be the best choice. Beebole customer Taptu<\/a>, an IT advisor and API integration specialist based in Australia, has extensive experience building integrations for a variety of businesses. They shared some integration insights with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should you choose to create an integration in-house, Taptu CEO Luca Gnezda offers this advice. “Ideally, you want to try and isolate data down to a single source of truth and held within a single software platform, pushing to one or more customer systems.<\/em> That makes for the easiest and most robust integration,<\/em>” he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Taptu’s experience, the key elements that make an API integration strong<\/strong> are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n