Connected Isn’t Integrated

Integration has become a buzzword.

Most of the time, “integrated” just means someone got it talking once.

But here’s what rarely gets said out loud: integration without accountability isn’t integration.

It’s a collection of connections that someone hopes will keep working.

And watch-out: if your integration plan is “the vendors will coordinate,” that’s a problem.

Because once the first change order hits, a device gets swapped, or a firmware update rolls through, the mappings drift, the graphics don’t match, alarms stop showing up… and everybody starts pointing fingers. Meanwhile, the owner is stuck in the middle trying to run the building.

Real integration means:

💻One team owns the end-to-end outcome (points, mapping, graphics, alarms, trends — all of it)

🗣️Systems talk to each other and stay aligned over time

📋Changes are managed, documented, and coordinated (documentation isn’t optional)

📳When something breaks, the response isn’t “call the other vendor” — you get one call, and it gets fixed

Owners don’t want more connections.

They want reliable information — and a building they can actually run.

At XL Automation, integration isn’t a feature. It’s a responsibility and a commitment.

David Tanner

Original Post on Linked In