RESOURCES

With host Cait Porte, Chief Marketing Officer at Digibee

In this episode of “Integration. Redesigned,” our host, Digibee CMO Cait Porte, is joined by Customer Success Manager Paula Arencibia for a discussion highlighting the rapid speed of Digibee iPaaS integrations and differentiated delivery model. Paula dives into our comprehensive, three-phase integration program that empowers and enables our customers. She explains how Digibee provides access to functional analysts, solution architects, customer success managers, and developers so we can enable faster integrations and successful implementations—for projects of any scope.

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Full transcript

CAIT PORTE:

Welcome back, everyone. I'm Cait Porte. We're joined today by Paula Arencibia from our Customer Success team, and I'm so excited to have her. We were just talking about her diplomas that you see in the background if you're watching the recording of this, but I'm really excited to talk to you today.

The topic is speed, and is the world really ready for the speed that we can deliver here at Digibee? And I think that's a very interesting piece of advice that we certainly want to give to the group. But Paula, sitting with our customers, knowing what you know, your advice is going to be extremely valuable today. So welcome.

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

Thanks. Thanks.

CAIT PORTE:

I love that we have such a diverse group of people to talk to here.

So Paula, I think there are a few things that we need to look at before we jump in and answer the question: is the world ready? So why don't you walk me through how fast we're talking about here? Right? Maybe talk a little bit about some examples that we've had here at Digibee around speed and integration speed and deployment speed because everyone cares about how fast you can get the job done, right? We're all trying to find ways to get the job done faster. So what do you think?

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

Absolutely. So the average turnaround time for an integration project with Digibee is about 90 days. But I've seen integrations delivered in as little as three weeks. Once we have what we need in place, it's very quick to get our integrations up and running. And so I think compared to your actual traditional integration project, which typically takes six to nine months, this is a huge achievement for Digibee.

CAIT PORTE:

I mean, the 90-day mark is huge. I just hired a bunch of people—we’ve hired a bunch of people here at Digibee in the last six months—I think over 100 at this point. And it’s at that 90-day mark that you get a little bit dangerous. So the fact that we’re able to bring customers to the platform, integrating full integrations in that 90-day window is really a feat that I don’t think we’re seeing in a lot of other places in the market.

When you think about the delivery model that we have—and internally we certainly think we have a differentiated delivery model, and it’s one of the things we talked about—but when you think about that as a differentiator, how are you implementing that? So can we explain what approach we take with customers so that they can have that timeline for success that we just talked about?

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

Yeah. So, I think two things that I'm really proud to talk about are how fast we deliver and how we deliver. Right. As you're saying, we have our own methodology for delivering our projects. So, I think what really impacts the speed of time here, as I said, is the technology that we use, which I'm sure a lot of people are talking about how low code we are, drag and drop, and how fast it is to onboard your developers. Those things are amazing, but also the methodology. Right?

So how do we typically work after onboarding a client? All of our clients go through roughly three stages with Digibee. So the first stage is what we call the first impact. And this is where the client is just starting their relationship with Digibee. We get together and we want to show them the impact that Digibee can have on their company. So we'll design, pick a project to onboard.

We'll get everything we need ready and in place. We'll build it for you. We'll show you how we built it and why we built it that way. So you're not in the dark about how we built things and why we built them that way. And then we'll put it live, right?

And then once we get it live, the definition of a live project for Digibee is a little bit different than your normal company. Right? So for us, going live is not just about moving your pipelines into production, but it's also about having the customer comfortable with the platform and the basics of the platform on how we operate, looking at some logs, knowing how to maintain those pipelines that go into production for their first project, and also defining the next steps. Right? So those three components, getting your pipelines into production, knowing how to operate the basics of the platform and having our next steps defined, that's the first phase of what we call getting your project live. That's what we call your first impact.

Now, the second phase would be together, right? So this is where you've already seen the capabilities of Digibee. You've seen how Digibee can impact your business. And this is how we start working together on a second or third project. In this phase, what we want to do is show you all the features that Digibee has to offer to empower your team to start using the platform on their own. Right? So we talk about Digibee Academy, we talk about our workshops, we talk about development sessions with our teams, and we really get hands-on with our team that delivers the project. Showing you how the magic happens, right? Showing you how we work and how we can really empower ourselves and have a little bit more in-depth knowledge of Digibee.

And then our third and final phase would be a phase that we call “you’ve made it.” Right? So this would be a phase where you’ve already had your first impact, you’ve already built with us. And this is the phase where you feel comfortable enough to start building yourself. So you have a team or a person or, you know, a group that knows how to operate Digibee. They could even go through our development bootcamp, where they learn the best practices of architecture and our platform, and they feel really confident enough to start tackling projects on their own.

And it’s important to say that your delivery team, the team that takes care of you at Digibee, will be there every step of the way. Right? Just because you’re in the last mile and you’re developing on your own doesn’t mean you don’t have access to our architects, you don’t have access to your customer success manager and your functional analysts. We’re there to help you in every way, every step of the way. But it’s very important for us to measure our success by how our customers are adopting the platform and really learning the capabilities of what we have to offer.

CAIT PORTE:

When I was thinking about this, I tried to say, okay, for the audience, what does this actually mean? And I think the best thing we can compare it to is maybe personal training or fitness.

So, everybody can join the gym. Everybody can get an integration platform. There's a million of them out there. Right? We picked them all for different reasons. But the ones that are most successful, the programs that you run that are most successful when you're trying to improve your fitness regimen, get in shape, whatever it is, get back in shape, maybe just keep going, are when we have accountability partners. And so I think Digibee can act as that personal trainer, right? “Oh, I just came to the gym for the first time and I don't really know what I'm doing here.” And someone walks you through it and says, “Okay, well, we have this offering and we can guide you.”

And I think the way your team operates is very similar to the way a personal trainer would operate. And they understand that you have an end goal in mind, but it might take time to get there. Or maybe you don't know how to get there, and you need someone to hold your hand through it. And I think that's a really important differentiator, because once you get on that program, you might be off to the races. Right? And you might be ready to go, and you've learned enough to be dangerous.

But I think the difference is that Digibee comes with your own personal trainer. Right? You don’t have to pay extra to understand the platform. You don’t have to figure out who’s going to help you. It’s built into the way we deliver. It’s built into the way we work with our customers. And I think that’s a really important differentiator.

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

I think so. I love that analogy, by the way. And I think the personal trainer analogy is perfect because you can go to the gym by yourself. You can do your own workout. But if you have someone there helping you, holding you accountable, showing you the right way to do things, you're going to get better results much faster. And that's exactly what we try to do with our customers.

CAIT PORTE:

When you think about the challenges customers are facing today, what are some of the biggest ones you see? And how does this delivery model help us differentiate ourselves?

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

I think one of the biggest things is having a team that knows what they're doing. And at Digibee, we have a team that is very capable of doing this. We call ourselves Digibabies, and we have people with a lot of experience who really know integrations and know our platform.

So when you start with Digibee, you're not just getting a platform. You're getting a squad. You're getting a customer success manager who's there to understand your business and your goals.

You're getting a functional analyst who helps translate your business requirements into technical requirements and really understands what you're trying to accomplish.

You're getting developers who can actually build the integrations and show your team how to build them.

And you're getting solution architects who can help you think through the bigger picture and make sure the architecture is right for what you're trying to accomplish.

CAIT PORTE:

I think that’s really important. You have the right people there to make sure the technology actually works for the company and not the other way around.

I think speed is really important because when we realize that there’s a problem—whether it’s at work, at school, or at home—we want that problem solved right away. We don’t want to have to wait six or nine months like you mentioned at the beginning. And I think the speed at which you can actually react and the fact that we have this infrastructure set up is really what, if you look at the market, there’s really nothing out there today that can do that. Of course, there’s great technology out there, but when you think about the cost associated with getting the speed that you’re looking for, you know, some people call it throwing money at the problem. Right? Now, if you’re wealthy enough to do that, sure, go ahead, throw your money at the problem. But we really want to think about ways to make it efficient, secure, and fast. Right? And I think that’s where you and your team come in and empower our customers to really get on that journey.

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

Absolutely. And I think the speed is one part of it, but empowering the customer's team is just as important. We don't want to build something for you and then have you dependent on us forever. We want to make sure your team understands how it works and feels comfortable enough to continue building and maintaining it.

CAIT PORTE:

I think that's the key point. It's not just about doing it quickly. It's about doing it quickly in a way that leaves the customer stronger at the end. And that three-step approach really does that. I also love the baby analogy around the first impact, together, and then “you’ve made it.”

So when you think about the ideal client or what a client needs to have in place to make this successful, especially if we're talking about doing something in two or three weeks, what are the boxes that need to be checked?

What can clients do to prepare so they can take advantage of the speed that Digibee offers?

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

I think the clients that are the most successful are the ones that are really engaged. They have people who want to be involved, who want to learn, who want to understand what we're doing, and who are ready to provide what we need.

But when we come to the table and say, “Hey, we need…”—I don’t know, I’ll give you an example—“We need API keys to access your system, or we need to meet and talk to someone who knows how to operate your system,” so we can get some ideas on how to get the data and how to deliver it. So when they can bring those people to the table and give us the resources that we need to deliver this integration quickly, things become a lot more fluid. So for me, if I could pick one word, it’s how engaged the customer is that really impacts the integration delivery time and how eager they are to learn and start embarking on this journey at Digibee.

CAIT PORTE:

I think that's a great point. And I know customers can be anxious, right? They want things fast. My product brain wants everything yesterday, but my customer success heart knows that you need the right people, the right resources, and the right level of engagement to make that happen.

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

Absolutely. And I think the best part is seeing what customers are able to do once they get there. We get to see their ideas and their dreams become real, and in many cases we help them reduce costs or reduce the workload on their teams. That's really rewarding.

CAIT PORTE:

That's amazing. And we love all of that feedback, and I'm sure we'll tell those stories in future episodes. But Paula, thank you so much for joining. I definitely plan to have you back on the podcast again.

PAULA ARENCIBIA:

All right, thank you so much for having me, and I'll see you all soon.

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