Our technology integrations

Technology rarely operates in isolation and different systems or platforms are often integrated to create a rewarding user experience. Integrations can often come in many ways but one of the most popular method is through something called an API (Application Programming Interface).

In essence, an API defines interactions between multiple software intermediaries and facilitates different programs talking/sharing information. However, this week's blog article is not around programming methods or terminology, rather it is focused on the numerous technology integrations our team has managed to secure and continues to develop with regard to our technology platforms.

Unlike a lot of companies in the technology sector, we have developed our own technology platforms and this is something we are immensely proud of. We had the option of white labelling or renting our software from a third party and applying our own branding. This would have been the cheaper option but as an organisation we decided to embark on a more costly and time-consuming path of creating our own technology platforms.

Now, you may be wondering why we came to such a conclusion? The simple reason was and still is, to do with control. When you rent software from a third party, no matter the company or their resources, you are still just renting. This means you have no actual control, influence or direction when it comes to modifying the software.

In an ever-changing technological landscape, we passionately believe that owning the intellectual property and underlying source code of our technology platforms will ensure longevity to our partners and the types of solutions they can deliver to local businesses.

However, the best technology in the world does not operate in isolation and it is important to develop a consistent and deep ecosystem that further enhances the core technology. For example, take operating systems such as Windows that allow different third party solutions to integrate with their software and you can start to understand how building an ecosystem is crucial for success.

We believe that for technology to succeed on the world stage, it needs to be part of a well-rounded ecosystem that benefits all stakeholders, namely partners, clients and end users.

As individuals, we are now so familiar with using technology to complete daily tasks that we actually enjoy a seamless experience. This could be something as simple as making a purchase online and using Apple/Google Pay to complete the transaction rather than entering our debit card information into a website.

The role of technology should be to make our lives as consumers or business owners easier and more joined up. Therefore, this week we wanted to highlight some of the various technology integrations we already have within our platforms and how we plan to further develop our ecosystem in the future.

Familiar friends
Here at iOB Business we are proud of the work our technology team has done in developing long-standing links with some of the biggest technology companies in the world. For example, our Social Posting platform seamlessly integrates with the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to allow our partners and clients to simultaneously post content to all the major social networks in a few simple clicks.

If we shift focus to payment processing, our Food Ordering platform allows food/drink based businesses to collect customer payments via debit/credit cards through 2 of the world's largest payment gateways, namely Stripe and PayPal.

Furthermore, our Reputation Management platform allows our partners to work with any type of client and help them capture customer reviews on any review site in the world. For example, we have integrated the ability to link a businesses Google My Business page right the way through to collecting reviews on TripAdvisor and Trustpilot, amongst many others.

Our vision is to ensure that our technology platforms have the integrations that local businesses need and that end clients expect. This is further validation for the strategic decision we mentioned earlier around developing our own technology platforms.

Unique integrations
Aside from some of the integrations we mentioned above, our technology platforms also benefit from unique integrations that separate our technology from the competition. One notable example is around cryptocurrencies, which is an emerging trend that is gathering lots of mainstream attention.

As a result, we are one of the first technology companies that has actually integrated BitPay as a payment gateway in our Food Ordering platform. This means that end users can actually pay for items using Bitcoin as an example and signifies our commitment to future proofing our technology.

International dimension
We understand that technology transcends geographical boundaries, much like our partners Digital Agencies, therefore we have also looked at how to enter new markets. For example, before entering the South African market our team worked hard to integrate one of Africa’s largest payment gateways, PayFast into our technology platforms.

This is in addition to existing payment gateways that we mentioned above. As we enter new markets and locations, our team is very keen to capture feedback from our partners and their clients to further integrate new features and solutions that add an international aspect to our platforms.

Official partnerships
Having a great ecosystem is great but it is important that everything works as it should because our technology platforms are relied upon by our partners, their clients and end users, all over the world.

Therefore, we have signed official partnerships with the likes of DigitalOcean, one of the world's largest cloud infrastructure providers, to boost the strength of our technology platforms. Furthermore, we are part of the Star Micronics VIP Club, the largest global print solutions' provider, to integrate their hardware into our technology platforms.

By partnering with a variety of world-class companies, we can deliver outstanding solutions to our partners on a continual basis.

Future plans
The development of our technology ecosystem is a continual process and it is something we are keen to increase in the future. We have many more integrations in the pipeline that will be developed alongside new and innovative technology solutions that our team is busy creating.

We are always on the look out for new partnerships and integrations that will increase the inherent value of our technology platforms but also crucially, enable our partners to deliver cutting edge solutions to their clients in a frictionless way.

Summary
As we have seen throughout this blog, our technology platforms are not designed to work in isolation. We live and operate in a connected world and therefore our technology platforms have integrations with a host of companies that we are sure you are familiar with through the use of APIs or official partnerships.

To find out more about our technology solutions and how you can launch a well-rounded Digital Agency to help local businesses with their digital footprint, please contact a member of our team.

Until next time, take care.