[Nick Oscar]

A product page may say that two systems integrate without showing which data moves, which direction it travels, or who maintains the connection. What should the buyer verify?

[Nick Oscar]

Accepted editorial answer

Define the required transaction before asking whether an integration exists. Identify the systems, data fields, direction, frequency, authentication, permissions, error handling, rate limits, monitoring, ownership, and expected results.

Request the current technical documentation and demonstrate the high-risk flow in a controlled environment. Use representative data, record every manual step and any unavailable features, and confirm whether the connection is native, supplied by a third party, or custom work that still needs to be built.

CISA’s procurement questions asks buyers to examine interoperability, customization, support, data handling, and resilience. The same evidence-first approach applies to APIs: the word “integration” is not a test result.

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