The advantages of using pre-built API connectors are many. Significant cost-savings Pre-built API connectors generate significant cost-savings by eliminating expensive internal development processes and freeing up development resources. There are no costs for developers or opportunity costs for operating with a development capacity shortage. With pre-built connectors, development teams can continue to focus on critical projects, without having to hire new staff. Also, developing API connectors is one thing, but making sure API connectors keep working flawlessly while platforms frequently update their API’s can be a real pain. So the significant cost-savings of pre-built API connectors see to the total cost of ownership. Shorter time-to-market Building an API connector can be a long, slow process from coding, to testing, to implementation. Even after an API connector goes live, development resources are still required to fulfil both planned as well as unforeseen maintenance tasks, such as fixing broken connectors, load balancing issues and versioning updates. This leads to building and maintaining API connectors yourself being a very time and capacity consuming process. Pre-built API connectors completely remove the friction points of the building and maintenance process. There is no need for manual coding for API interfaces. No more worrying about having to schedule development capacity to keep API connectors up to date. Everything is already built and ready to use; plug-and-play. As a result, you’ll have your project up and running in a matter of hours or days. Rapid scalability Developing API connectors from scratch can hurt a company’s scalability. As new data sources enter the equation, the cumbersome development work associated with building API connectors makes rapid expansion a struggle. Pre-built API connectors, however, enable companies to scale rapidly. The plug-and-play principle allows you to leverage the value of your data in just a few clicks. At Datahive we even offer to develop pre-built connectors on demand, in a condensed time frame, so you can scale up data sources without delay. No maintenance required Companies developing API connectors in-house often also have to maintain those connectors inhouse. This means tracking API changes, fixing bugs and freeing up development resources fast whenever there is a need to update an API connector. This round-the-clock maintenance demands significant time and resources, even after the initial building of an API connector is complete. And if the in-house team can’t fix an issue, data quality and even digital marketing performance as a whole can suffer indefinitely. Datahive offers pre-built API connectors and manages all maintenance tasks. All Datahive360 data connectors are automatically updated when an API is modified. If a connector breaks, we’re is responsible for the fix. This leads to less down time, and more time spent on important non-maintenance tasks. Strategic nimbleness Developing API connectors is a high-investment process rather than a one-off project. It requires dedication and a significant amount of time and energy. This inevitably makes companies less numble and less capable of quickly responding to emerging opportunities. Companies that self-build connectors cannot quickly launch campaigns, or add in new data sources at the last minute. A sudden shift in strategy, or an opportunity that’s too good to miss, could become impossible to capitalize on. Conversely, pre-built data connectors are designed for strategic nimbleness. You can can add or remove data sources almost instantly. This gives you and your company the flexibility to respond to emerging marketing opportunities and challenges as they happen. A big new account, a last minute campaign, and countless other emerging initiatives are only opportunities if the tech infrastructure is there when it needs to be.