Integration should be the next step – not the first

In the previous article “Why do so many IT savings start with a large IT cost?”, I asked why a saving so often has to be preceded by a large initial investment.

 

An integration project is a clear example. Before the customer can even start using and evaluating a new service, the integration must be prioritized, funded, developed, and tested.

 

Only then can you find out if the service creates the value that motivated the integration in the first place.

 

But does integration really have to come first?

 

A recurring question

When we built Sinos, we were repeatedly told that integration with a larger insurance company both involves a significant cost and can be difficult to prioritize among all the other initiatives underway.

 

A question therefore appeared in almost every dialogue:

 

Is it possible to use Sinos as a completely standalone service?

 

The answer was yes.

 

We had already built Sinos Customer Center as a secure environment where each customer works separately and can create users with different roles and permissions. An insurance company could therefore use Sinos without first integrating the service with their own case management system.

 

Our original idea was that this would primarily be used during a pilot or short implementation period. The customer could try the service outright and then build their own integration to get the reports delivered to their internal systems.

 

We simply assumed that integration would always be the obvious next step.

 

From temporary solution to long-term model

We soon realized that standalone use doesn’t have to be limited to a pilot.

For some customers, there is no immediate need for a proprietary integration. It may become relevant later, as usage increases or when the customer identifies a need that the standalone solution cannot meet.

For others, there may be a need for automatic delivery, but not for a large and customer-specific integration project.

 

We also saw that many insurance companies already have established flows where documents are received in a secure file space and from there forwarded to internal systems.

 

That insight led to Sinos Integration Hub.

 

A standardized way in

Integration Hub uses Sino’s API to retrieve finished artifacts and deliver them to the customer’s secure file space.

 

When a new customer is connected, Sinos needs to configure the delivery, but the customer does not need to develop and manage their own integration with our API.

 

That gives us two ways to use Sinos:

 

Sinos Managed

 

The customer uses Sinos Customer Center and receives the results through Integration Hub. No own integration needs to be developed and the service can normally be put into use within a few days.

 

Client Handled

 

The customer builds their own integration with Sinos API. This enables a fully automated and customized flow directly into their own case management system.

 

The difference is primarily who handles the integration – and when the investment needs to be made.

 

Start with the need

With Sinos Managed, the customer can start using the service without first starting their own integration project. It is possible to handle real cases, measure the outcome and see how the service works in their own business.

If a clear need for your own integration later arises, it can be built then – when the benefit has already been proven and the customer knows what requirements the integration actually needs to meet.

 

Integration thus becomes a conscious investment to meet an identified need, not an admission ticket to try the service at all.

 

Sometimes deep integration is exactly the right path.

 

But it doesn’t have to be the first step.

 

 

 

Author: Peter Ehrling, Sinos Solutions, 2026-09-26