Service · Web development

System integration specialist in the Netherlands.

Advisor and implementation partner for organisations with a growing systems landscape. From assessment and architecture to choosing an iPaaS, custom integrations and long-term maintenance. Vendor-neutral, with the code in your own hands, and a team that both advises and builds.

Architecture & strategyiPaaS & custom integrationMaster dataCompliance overlay

A systems integration specialist is more than an integration builder.

Many organisations have let their stack grow along the way: a CRM for sales, an ERP for finance, three SaaS tools for marketing, a custom tool for operations, and on the fringes some shadow IT from a department that wanted to solve things itself. At some point it stops working as the sum of separate parts.

At that point, the question is no longer how to connect two systems. The question becomes: what landscape do you want in two years' time, which systems will be the source of which type of data, how information flows between those systems, and which layer sits in between to orchestrate and govern it all? That is the work of a systems integration specialist: strategy and implementation, not one or the other.

We do this work for mid-market organisations, scale-ups with a fast-growing stack, post-merger programmes where two IT landscapes need to come together, conglomerates with multiple business units running their own ERP, industry bodies, government and the public sector (Common Ground), financial institutions with a multi-vendor stack, and healthcare organisations with the familiar EHR, patient portal and payroll chain.

Our positioning is a deliberate choice. We have no reseller relationships with iPaaS vendors, so the choice of toolchain follows your situation rather than a sales agenda. The code we write lives in your own repository and remains your property: no lock-in, and no contractually dependent licences on the work itself. Our team combines builders and consultants, so advice and delivery sit with the same people. We work from Amsterdam with a fixed team, and we deliver pragmatic work: a working integration landscape with accompanying documentation, not a report that ends up in a drawer. Our approach to smart API integrations describes the hands-on side of this work in more detail.

Three ways we take on integration projects.

Depending on the stage your landscape is in, we choose a different starting point. An audit is something different from implementation, and managed operation is again something different from an embedded engineer.

Discovery engagement · fixed sprint budget

Integration audit and roadmap

We map the full systems landscape: sources, data flows, integrations, owners per field, and where the pain lies. From that, we derive an architecture choice (point-to-point, hub-and-spoke, event-driven) and a multi-year roadmap with priorities. Not a two-hundred-page report, but a working document your team can take forward.

InventoryArchitectureToolchain choiceRoadmap
Implementation engagement · iterative sprints

Building the integration landscape

The hands-on work: integrations, data pipelines, event streams, master data management and monitoring. We use iPaaS where it fits (Workato, Make, Boomi, MuleSoft, Frends, Zapier for lighter flows) and build custom where the specifics require it. For data volumes, we use ETL via dbt, Airflow or Fivetran, and for event-driven architectures, Kafka or Confluent. The choice depends on your stack, not on our preference.

iPaaSETLEvent streamingMDM
Ongoing management or embedded engineer

Managed integrations or embedded integration engineer

Two models for the long term. Managed integrations means we keep managing, monitoring, developing and maintaining compliance for the integration landscape. An embedded integration engineer is one of our people who becomes part of your team: they think along on architecture, build alongside you and pass knowledge on to your own staff. Both models can scale up or down.

MonitoringFurther developmentKnowledge transferCompliance

What you take away.

A working integration landscape, under your control, with a team that knows it in detail. Vendor-independent, code in your own repository, and an audit trail that is in place.

Over the past few years we have integrated landscapes in manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, agri-food, recruitment and the public sector. The patterns differ, but the work itself is fundamentally the same.

  • Architecture documentA workable overview of your landscape: systems, integrations, master data per field, owners, and the integration style chosen for each project.
  • Working integrations in productionThe actual implementation for each project: iPaaS flows, custom services or event streams. Including retry logic, dead-letter queues and alerting.
  • Master data governanceFor each core domain (customer, product, order, employee), a chosen source of truth, a synchronisation strategy and the agreements that go with it.
  • Compliance overlayGDPR flow per dataset, DORA for financial services, NIS2 for essential services, NEN 7510 for healthcare, BIO for the public sector, and the evidence required for audits.
  • Observability stackMonitoring of <i>all</i> integrations in one place, with an audit trail showing what was synchronised, when, by whom and with what result.
  • Knowledge transfer to your teamDocumentation, runbooks and sessions with your IT and data colleagues, so your team can carry on without being dependent on us.

When you need a systems integration specialist.

A few patterns in which we support organisations. If you recognise one of these situations, we would be happy to talk further.

Stack fragmentation

Five or more SaaS tools in use side by side

You have reached the mid-market stage where several tools overlap, the same customer data sits in multiple places, and nobody can say which system is the leading one any more. Sales, marketing and operations work with different versions of the truth.

Post-merger

Combining two IT landscapes

After an acquisition or merger, two complete stacks sit side by side. The question is not only which systems will stay, but also how data will flow between them until the migration policy is finalised — which usually takes longer than expected.

Group structure

Business units with their own ERP and CRM

A group in which each operating company has its own systems, yet group-level reporting, consolidation and shared services are still needed. The integration layer becomes the place where the group comes together.

Scale-up

Stack growing faster than the IT team

A fast-growing organisation in which every department adds tools that don't talk to each other. For the IT team, building integrations on an ongoing basis is no longer work that can be squeezed in; a strategy and a dedicated implementation team need to be put alongside it.

Sector and public sector

Cooperative or government with multiple members

Industry bodies with affiliated members, cooperatives with diverse affiliates, or government bodies wanting to open up data within the Common Ground principle without central storage. The integration layer is then the real product.

Regulated sectors

Financial services, healthcare or energy

Financial institutions with a multi-vendor stack and DORA requirements. Healthcare organisations that must integrate EHR, patient portal and payroll in a NEN 7510-compliant way. Energy and grid operators with BIO and NIS2 requirements. Compliance is then a design variable, not an afterthought.

How a project typically runs.

1

Introduction

An initial conversation in which we understand your landscape, your growth stage and what prompted the project. This is not a sales pitch — we are checking whether there is a match in working style and in the substance of the challenge.

2

Integration audit

A discovery phase spanning several sprints, in which we map out your systems landscape: which systems you run, which data flows, which integrations, which shadow IT, and where the pain points are. We interview key people from IT, the business and compliance. At the end we deliver a working document with an architecture recommendation.

3

Roadmap and toolchain choice

Based on the audit, we choose an approach for each integration: iPaaS for what is light and standard, custom development for the specific work, ETL for data volume, and event streaming for real-time needs. This results in a multi-year roadmap with priorities and dependencies. Our knowledge base explores the trade-off between direct API integration and an integration platform in more depth.

4

Implementation in sprints

We build iteratively, one integration at a time. Every sprint delivers something that works, with monitoring, retry logic and an audit trail from the start. Your team works alongside us: we stand beside you, not in place of you. Alongside the build, we also work on master data governance and a compliance overlay.

5

Managed or embedded engineer

After go-live, you choose: managed integrations, where we continue to look after the landscape, or an embedded integration engineer who works within your team. Both models scale up or down as your landscape matures and your own team is able to take on more.

6

Ongoing development

An integration landscape is never finished. Systems get added and retired, business logic changes, and compliance requirements tighten. We keep the overview, flag when an integration needs revisiting, and monitor the health of the whole landscape. For your own team, that means a fixed point of contact who knows the landscape, so you don't have to hold the full picture in your head yourself.

Frequently asked questions.

Questions clients ask before starting a project.

What exactly does a systems integration specialist do?
A system integration specialist is not just someone who builds individual integrations. The work covers mapping your system landscape, choosing an integration strategy (direct API, iPaaS, ESB, event-driven or hybrid), architecture choices (point-to-point, hub-and-spoke), toolchain selection between iPaaS vendors and custom builds, the actual implementation, master data management, a compliance overlay (GDPR, DORA, NIS2, NEN 7510), observability and knowledge transfer to your own team. It is strategy plus execution, not one or the other.
How is this different from an iPaaS vendor itself?
An iPaaS vendor (Workato, MuleSoft, Boomi, Frends, Make) provides a platform. We are vendor-independent and choose the right tool for each situation: sometimes one of those platforms, sometimes ETL via dbt or Airflow, sometimes event streaming via Kafka, sometimes custom code. An iPaaS vendor has a commercial interest in more flows running on its platform; we have a commercial interest in a landscape that works for you. In addition, there are fundamental things iPaaS tools cannot do, and for those custom development has to sit alongside.
What does vendor independence mean in practice?
We have no reseller deals with iPaaS providers, no kickbacks and no partner status steering us towards a particular platform. That means if your situation calls for Frends because you run on Microsoft, or Workato because you are heavily SaaS-oriented, or custom development because the business logic is too specific, we make that choice in your interest. We document the reasoning so you can see for yourself why we recommend a particular direction.
When do you choose iPaaS and when custom development?
iPaaS is strong for relatively standard SaaS-to-SaaS integrations, for business users who want to maintain their own flows, and for lighter data streams. Custom development becomes attractive when the business logic is complex, when performance or latency matters, when you have a large data volume, when iPaaS licence costs eventually exceed the cost of building, or when you want an integration deeply woven into an existing system. Almost every landscape we work with contains a mix, and that is usually the right mix.
Roughly what does an integration project cost?
Costs depend on the number of systems, the number of integrations, the complexity of the business logic, the compliance regime and the choice of toolchain. An audit phase is typically a clearly bounded piece of work with a fixed scope. For implementation, we work with sprint budgets so you stay in control of what we take on in each period. In an initial conversation we give a ballpark figure based on what you describe, without having to commit to the exact euro before we know your landscape.
How does an engagement start in practice?
Almost always with an audit. Not because it sells well, but because otherwise we cannot know which approach fits. In the audit we interview key people from IT, the business and compliance, map out the landscape and propose an architecture recommendation. Only then do we decide together which integrations to tackle first and in what order. Our integration pages give an idea of the kind of integrations we typically build.
How do you handle GDPR and DORA in the integration layer?
The integration layer is precisely where personal data and financial data flow through your landscape, so it is where GDPR and DORA take practical shape. We document, per data flow, which data moves, what the lawful basis is, how long it is retained and who can see it. For DORA-regulated organisations we record operational resilience: monitoring, incident response, third-party risk and exit strategies. We work alongside your FG, security officer or CISO; we do not replace those roles.
How does this compare with the Big Four consultancies?
Accenture, Capgemini and similar firms mainly work with enterprise organisations and deliver large-scale programmes. We focus on mid-market, scale-up and specialist organisations: smaller teams, shorter lines of communication, and a stronger build component alongside advisory work. For an organisation with ten integrations, a Big Four engagement is often overkill; for a programme worth tens of millions, we are not the right partner. The work we take on sits between those extremes. We see ourselves as an IT modernisation partner that actually builds.
How does your approach differ from a staffing agency or a freelancer?
A staffing agency supplies individual engineers, who often rotate off after a few months. A freelancer is one person with no team around them. We provide a team that stays involved with an engagement for the long term: the same architect who conducts the audit remains involved in the implementation and in ongoing management. That gives continuity of knowledge and of accountability. For your team it means you do not have to re-explain every couple of months why an earlier design decision was made.
Which iPaaS platforms and tools do you know?
For iPaaS we work with Workato, MuleSoft, Boomi, Frends (a Dutch player), Make and Zapier. For ETL and data orchestration we use dbt, Airflow and Fivetran. For event streaming, Kafka and Confluent. For master data management, Reltio or custom MDM depending on scale. For observability, Datadog, New Relic or your cloud provider's own monitoring stack. We have no fixed preference, but we do have firm opinions per situation, which we share openly in the audit phase.

Talk to us about your systems landscape.

A free, no-obligation introductory call of half an hour. You tell us about your stack, your stage of growth and what prompted the conversation. We ask questions, sketch a possible approach and give direction you can actually use, even if we do not end up working together.

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