The MSP Tech Stack Integration Problem Nobody Talks About

The average MSP runs somewhere between 8 and 15 different tools. PSA, RMM, documentation, backup management, security console, email security, DNS filtering, accounting, quoting, and probably a few more. Each one was evaluated individually, purchased based on its own merits, and deployed with its own onboarding process.

What almost nobody evaluates during the buying process is how well these tools actually integrate with each other. And by "integrate," I don't mean "there's a checkbox on the vendor's feature page that says ConnectWise integration." I mean real, functional, bidirectional data flow that eliminates manual work and keeps information consistent across systems.

The gap between "this tool integrates with ConnectWise" and "this tool is meaningfully integrated with our ConnectWise instance" is where most MSPs are silently bleeding operational efficiency.

What "integrated" actually means

A real integration means data flows automatically between systems without human intervention, in the right direction, at the right frequency, with error handling that alerts someone when it fails.

Your RMM should create tickets in your PSA when monitoring thresholds are breached. Those tickets should land on the right board, with the right priority, assigned to the right team, with the alert details in the ticket notes. When the tech resolves the alert in the RMM, the ticket should update automatically. When a new device is deployed through the RMM, the corresponding configuration item should appear in the PSA.

Your accounting platform should receive invoice data from the PSA automatically. Payments recorded in accounting should sync back to the PSA so you can see payment status without switching tools. Product costs should flow from accounting to the PSA so profitability calculations use accurate numbers.

Your documentation platform should be accessible from the ticket — click a link in the PSA, land directly on that client's documentation. Configuration items in the PSA should reference documentation articles. When a new client is onboarded and documentation is created, the PSA should reflect it.

That's what "integrated" means. Most MSPs have a fraction of this working.

The hidden cost of manual bridging

For every integration that doesn't work — or doesn't exist — someone on your team is manually bridging the gap. They're copying alert details from the RMM into a PSA ticket. They're exporting invoices from the PSA and importing them into QuickBooks. They're looking up client documentation in a separate browser tab because there's no link from the ticket.

Each individual manual step takes seconds or minutes. Multiplied by dozens of tickets per day, hundreds of invoices per month, and thousands of documentation lookups per year, those seconds become hours become weeks of cumulative wasted time.

Worse than the time cost is the error rate. Manual data transfer between systems introduces transcription errors, missed items, and inconsistencies. The invoice that got exported but not imported. The alert that was acknowledged in the RMM but never created a ticket. The configuration item that was decommissioned in the PSA but still shows as active in the documentation platform.

The integration audit I run

When I'm evaluating an MSP's integration health, I check each connected system against three criteria:

Is data flowing? Check the sync logs. Look for errors, warnings, or items stuck in queue. A surprising number of MSPs have integrations that silently stopped working weeks or months ago.

Is data accurate? Pull a sample of records from both sides of the integration and compare. Does the ticket in the PSA match the alert in the RMM? Does the invoice in accounting match the invoice in the PSA? Discrepancies indicate a mapping problem or sync timing issue.

Is the integration complete? Does it cover all the data types you need, or just a subset? An RMM integration that creates tickets from alerts but doesn't sync configurations is half-integrated. An accounting sync that sends invoices but doesn't receive payments is half-integrated.

Most MSPs I audit have at least one integration that's broken, two that are incomplete, and one that they thought was running but actually wasn't.

Building the integration you actually need

For integrations that don't exist natively — or where the native integration is inadequate — there are a few options.

Middleware platforms like Rewst, Power Automate, or Zapier can bridge systems that don't have direct integrations. Rewst is particularly strong in the MSP space because it understands the workflow patterns and has pre-built templates for common MSP tool combinations.

Custom API integration is the option when you need precise control over data flow and the native or middleware options don't cover your use case. Both ConnectWise and HaloPSA have REST APIs that support most operations. Building a custom integration takes development time, but the result is exactly what you need rather than a compromise.

Vendor escalation is surprisingly effective and underused. If a vendor's integration with your PSA is broken or incomplete, tell them. File a support ticket. Post in their community forum. If enough MSPs ask for the same thing, it gets prioritized. I've seen vendor integrations improve significantly after coordinated feedback from the MSP community.

Prioritizing integration work

Not all integrations are equal. Prioritize based on two factors: how frequently the manual bridge occurs (daily tasks before monthly tasks) and how significant the error risk is (billing data before documentation links).

In my experience, the priority order for most MSPs is:

1. PSA ↔ Accounting (billing accuracy and cash flow)
2. PSA ↔ RMM (alert response time and ticket creation)
3. PSA ↔ M365/vendor portals (billing reconciliation)
4. PSA ↔ Documentation (technician efficiency)
5. Everything else

Get the top three working properly and you'll have eliminated the majority of your manual bridging overhead.

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Want an integration audit? Book a call and I'll map out what's connected, what's broken, and what's missing.