Digital solution for project management and integration

What is a digital solution for project management and integration?#

A digital solution for project management and integration is an information system that connects planning tools, workflows and reporting with a company's existing systems, such as ERP, CRM and document systems, through APIs. Instead of separate spreadsheets and email threads, the project manager gets a single view of tasks, deadlines, responsibilities and data coming from different departments. Such a solution is not a standalone tool but a layer that ties existing software into one working system.

In companies with more than a million euros in annual revenue, projects typically span several departments: procurement, production, finance, HR and reporting to management. Each department often uses its own system, so data about the same project gets duplicated or lost in the handoffs. A digital solution for project management removes this by capturing data once and distributing it onward, in a form each system understands, reducing manual entry and the errors that come with retyping information between systems.

The core of such a solution has three layers: an interface for managing projects and tasks, an integration layer that connects existing systems through APIs, and a data layer that ensures everyone involved works from the same, aligned information. Building this architecture starts with deciding which systems must talk to each other, which data is the source of truth for each piece of information, and who is responsible for maintaining it. Without that decision, integration quickly turns into a collection of one-off connections without shared logic.

Why connecting systems matters on larger projects#

A project spanning production, procurement, finance and reporting cannot run on a single tool, because each department needs its own set of functions. The project manager, however, needs an overview of the whole, which requires a system able to bring that data together without extra manual work. Without connections between systems, gaps appear: a delay in procurement doesn't reach production in time, and a change in the production plan doesn't reach financial reporting. Such gaps are often the real cause of delays that management only notices once the damage is done.

Integration between systems is not just a technical question but a decision about how the company will work. It must be decided which data transfers automatically and which stays under manual control, how often systems synchronize, and what happens when a mismatch occurs. These decisions affect how quickly management gets reliable information and how likely it is that an error in one system spreads to others. It is therefore worth making these decisions before development starts, not during it.

For companies operating across multiple locations or countries, there is also the question of aligning time zones and reporting rules that can differ by market. A digital solution for project management must, in such cases, let each unit keep its own view of the data while management still sees a consolidated whole. This requires a clearly designed data structure from the start, since fixing the structure later is far harder than adjusting the user interface.

Which systems and processes need to be connected#

Before integration begins, it's necessary to list the systems the project actually needs and the processes that must be digitized. This list is the basis for estimating the scope of work and determining which APIs are available and which data gets transferred. Without this review, projects tend to expand mid-way, as systems that should have been connected from the start keep surfacing along the way.

For every system on the list, it must be checked whether it has an open API, what limits apply to call frequency, and who inside the company understands its internal logic. For older systems this documentation is often incomplete, so part of the work is reviewing the existing code and architecture before deciding how integration will proceed. The same applies when taking over an existing or unfinished system: reviewing the source code, infrastructure and data is the first step, and only then comes the integration plan.

This review also needs to clarify which processes are already digitized and which still run manually, since that determines where integration pays off first. A process still running on paper forms or separate emails often brings the biggest change once folded into a unified system, while already-digitized processes are usually easier to connect because their data structures are already in order.

• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems
• Document and archive systems (DMS/ECM) for contracts, orders and reports
• Production and warehouse systems tracking inventory and work orders
• Reporting tools and dashboards for management
• Communication channels for task and deadline notifications
• HR systems, where the project affects staff scheduling

How does integration with existing systems work?#

Integration with existing systems works by first reviewing the current state – code, architecture, infrastructure and data – then deciding which data transfers through APIs, and only at the end developing and testing the connections in a separate environment before they go into production. This order isn't arbitrary: starting development before the review often means redoing work later, because the initial estimate didn't account for the existing system's constraints.

Development, test and production environments are kept separate. Real personal data is never used in the test environment, which matters especially when the project involves HR, financial or health data. Every integration change goes through review and testing before release to production, reducing the risk that an error in one connection breaks the systems linked to it.

For projects that take over an existing system instead of building a new one, the first step is always reviewing what already exists: the architecture, where the data is stored, and how the infrastructure is set up. Only based on that review can a decision be made whether to upgrade the integration piece by piece or replace the connection layer entirely. That decision directly affects how much existing functionality stays unchanged during the project.

Who is responsible for the project and how roles are defined#

On a project connecting multiple systems and departments, it must be decided early who is responsible for each part: the project manager, the responsibilities of individual teams, deadlines and how reporting works. Without this division, responsibility during integration and development gets scattered, which slows decisions whenever complications arise. A clear division of roles matters as much as the technical design of the solution itself.

A project can be taken on in full, from analysis through deployment and support, or as a single segment, such as integrating one system or setting up reporting alone. The decision on scope depends on how many internal resources the client has available and how demanding cross-department coordination is. In both cases, the source code and data remain the client's property, while documentation, access and passwords are handed over at closing.

Public-sector projects, or solutions combining hardware and software, show why clear role division matters even more. For the Sevnica municipality project, the software solution, interactive content, touchscreen display and kiosk configuration all had to come together into one system installed on site, with its own documentation and support. A project like that requires coordination between the development team, the on-site installation team and the client, who needs to know who answers for which part after launch.

Data security when connecting systems#

Data security in system integration starts with separating environments: development, test and production are never the same environment, and the test environment never uses real personal data. This rule matters even more when a project links HR, financial or health data across systems, since an error in one connected system can spread to others before anyone notices.

A second layer of security is controlling who has access to each API and which data transfers automatically. In regulated industries or the public sector, this also includes the audit trail: who changed which data, when, and through which system. These requirements can't be bolted on afterward without touching the architecture, so they need to be decided before integration starts, not after.

Within Epix and its specialist partner network, there are profiles for security architecture, access management and incident response, which matters when a project goes beyond a single department and needs a coordinated security policy across all connected systems. On such projects, every integration change is checked before release to production, so that a potential error never lands directly in the live environment.

What is the impact on employees using the new system?#

The impact on employees depends mainly on how much it changes their daily workflow, which is why documentation and onboarding into the new way of working are always part of the project. When a system replaces manual entry across multiple tools with a single entry that then distributes automatically, employees get less repetitive work, but they also need to adjust to a new interface and a new sequence of steps.

The transition is easier when it's split into stages and tested before wider rollout, since employees experience the changes gradually rather than all at once. Acceptance testing against pre-agreed criteria gives the employees who will actually use the system a chance to check that it fits how they work, before the solution goes into production. This reduces the risk of gaps appearing after launch that would require fixing the process afterward.

Documentation handed over at closing isn't only for the technical team; employees also need to know who to contact when something goes wrong and how issues are handled depending on severity. This reduces the uncertainty that otherwise arises when a new system launches without clear instructions on what to do if something doesn't work as expected.

How to choose a contractor for digitizing project management?#

Choosing a contractor comes down to whether they can take on the full scope of the project or just one segment, what kind of team they can assemble for your case, and how they handle support after launch. A provider that can show concrete project roles – from project manager to engineers for a specific area – can match the team to the project's scope and complexity far better than one offering only a generic service without a breakdown of responsibilities.

It's also worth checking how a provider handles ownership: source code and data must remain the client's property regardless of who developed them. The same applies to access and passwords, which should be part of a formal handover, not informally passed along at the end of the project. This matters especially on projects connecting multiple systems, since an unclear data ownership structure later makes it harder to switch providers or continue development with a different team.

Within Epix and its specialist partner network, a team can be assembled that covers the full scope of a project – analysis, architecture and UX/UI, through development, AI and data, to cloud infrastructure, security, QA, deployment, documentation and SLA support – or that takes on just one technical segment, when the client already has their own team for the rest. That flexibility matters, because few projects in a multi-department company need the same level of outside help across every area.

• Whether they can take on the whole project or only a specific segment, such as integrating one system
• What roles they can put on a project team – from solution architect to QA engineer
• Whether they have experience taking over existing or unfinished systems after reviewing code and infrastructure
• How testing before release to production works and whether independent QA is possible
• What level of support is offered after launch and how issue severity levels are classified
• How handover of documentation, access and passwords is arranged at project closing

Maintenance and support after launch#

After a digital project-management solution goes live, the question of support doesn't end – it begins, since connected systems need ongoing monitoring, bug fixes and regular security updates. The scope of support is set per project and can also include further development as the company's needs change after launch. Without an agreed support model, responsibility for post-launch issues often ends up uncertain between client and provider.

Classifying issues this way matters because each report gets handled according to its actual business impact, not the order it arrived in. Response times for each class are agreed in the support contract and vary with how critical the system is, which is why no single response time in hours can be stated upfront – it depends on the specific agreement with the client.

For companies that built their project-management and integration setup with an outside provider, SLA-based support is how the system stays aligned with changes in connected ERP, CRM or document systems that get updated independently of the project itself. Without this oversight, an update to one connected system can break the integration without anyone noticing until an actual disruption occurs.

• Class 1 – outage: the system or a key part is down, handled with the highest priority
• Class 2 – disruption: the system works but a specific function doesn't, handled by agreed priority
• Class 3 – defect: a minor issue with no business impact, scheduled for the next release
• Class 4 – request: a change or upgrade, with scope estimated and timing agreed

What determines the price of a digitization and integration project?#

The cost of a digitization and integration project depends on the scope of functionality, the number of systems that need connecting, and the security and support requirements, which is why no price is quoted without a prior analysis. Instead of a general estimate, a short analysis is proposed that breaks the scope into segments, so each one can be estimated and delivered separately, letting the client compare different possible approaches.

Taking over an existing or unfinished system carries a different cost than building a new one, because the code, architecture and data must be reviewed first before the remaining scope of work can be estimated. That's why the first phase of such a project is often analysis rather than development – it's the only way to see how much of the existing system can be kept and how much needs to be rebuilt.

The volume and condition of the data that needs migrating between systems also affects the scope of work, especially when that data has been collected over years in different formats without a unified structure. Cleaning and aligning such data can be more demanding than the integration itself, which is why this step is always estimated separately before the final project scope is confirmed.

• The scope of functionality and the number of user roles in the system
• How many existing systems need connecting and what their APIs look like
• Whether it's a new system or taking over and upgrading an existing one
• Security, audit-trail and compliance requirements, especially in the public sector and regulated industries
• The scope of testing and whether independent QA is required
• The level of support after launch and the agreed response times