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This post focuses on the problem, but it's also a huge opportunity to build a product that can integrate from a bunch of different SaaS and provide a BI layer.

by mifeng 9y ago

This post focuses on the problem, but it's also a huge opportunity to build a product that can integrate from a bunch of different SaaS and provide a BI layer. I'm sure lots of folks are trying to do this, but I haven't seen it done well yet. It probably needs to be an enterprise product w/PS, because of the infinite number of SaaS combinations.

jaxn 9y ago
The thing is, without a truly standard stack, the best integration of the stack comes from gluing it together ourselves. We use a mix of APIs from the SaaS services we use and Zavier to capture the data points we need and make the services work well together. The availability of access filters into our descision, but it seems like at some point it may make sense to roll our own replacement for some. Intercom has been great and our customers love it. But it is getting increasingly difficult to keep deeply integrated with the rest of our stack.
- mifeng 9y ago
  This works for more technical or earlier stage startups but it's much harder as you scale.
- thricha 9y ago
  hey Jaxn - I'm the PM for the Intercom Messenger. Would love to learn more and see how we can make it easier for you. You can email me tom@ intercom.io if you'd like!
anacleto 9y ago
Author of the post here. >This post focuses on the problem, but it's also a huge opportunity to build a product that can integrate from a bunch of different SaaS and provide a BI layer. True. This is the exact problem that we are trying to solve at plainflow.com.
madenine 9y ago
There are plenty of products that do this. I do some work with Power BI, and a pretty common set up is a bunch of SaaS connections (Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Zendesk, Stripe being the most common in my engagements), plus a database or two, plus some static files (excel mostly). Depending on the department, throw in some social media accounts (some directly supported. Connect it all together in a tabular model, and you've got yourself a nice little BI layer.

by mifeng 9y ago

jaxn 9y ago

The thing is, without a truly standard stack, the best integration of the stack comes from gluing it together ourselves. We use a mix of APIs from the SaaS services we use and Zavier to capture the data points we need and make the services work well together. The availability of access filters into our descision, but it seems like at some point it may make sense to roll our own replacement for some. Intercom has been great and our customers love it. But it is getting increasingly difficult to keep deeply integrated with the rest of our stack.

mifeng 9y ago
This works for more technical or earlier stage startups but it's much harder as you scale.
thricha 9y ago
hey Jaxn - I'm the PM for the Intercom Messenger. Would love to learn more and see how we can make it easier for you. You can email me tom@ intercom.io if you'd like!

anacleto 9y ago

Author of the post here. >This post focuses on the problem, but it's also a huge opportunity to build a product that can integrate from a bunch of different SaaS and provide a BI layer. True. This is the exact problem that we are trying to solve at plainflow.com.

madenine 9y ago

There are plenty of products that do this. I do some work with Power BI, and a pretty common set up is a bunch of SaaS connections (Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Zendesk, Stripe being the most common in my engagements), plus a database or two, plus some static files (excel mostly). Depending on the department, throw in some social media accounts (some directly supported. Connect it all together in a tabular model, and you've got yourself a nice little BI layer.