Your ERP is the backbone of your business — but it cannot do everything. It needs to talk to your CRM, your e-commerce platform, your BI dashboards, and your custom tools. The problem: ERP integrations are notoriously complex, poorly documented, and expensive when done wrong. SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Pantheon dominate the Croatian and regional market, and each has a very different integration profile.
This article covers the integration options for each system, common patterns, typical costs, and the pitfalls to avoid.
SAP
SAP is the most powerful and the most complex ERP to integrate with.
Integration options:
- RFC/BAPI — The traditional method. Remote Function Calls access SAP’s business logic directly. Powerful but requires deep SAP expertise.
- OData/REST APIs — Modern APIs available through SAP Gateway. Easier to work with, but not all SAP modules expose OData endpoints.
- SAP Integration Suite (CPI) — SAP’s middleware platform for connecting SAP to external systems. Pre-built connectors for common integrations.
- IDocs — Document-based integration for batch processes (purchase orders, invoices). Reliable but not real-time.
Complexity: High. SAP’s data model is dense, and every customer’s SAP instance is configured differently. Plan for significant discovery time.
Typical cost: €10,000–€40,000 for a serious integration (one direction, one data type). Complex bi-directional integrations with multiple entities can exceed €60,000.
Timeline: 4–12 weeks, depending on SAP module and access to SAP consultants.
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 is mid-range in complexity and has the most modern API of the three.
Integration options:
- Dataverse API (REST/OData) — The primary API. Well-documented, standards-based, and covers most entities (contacts, accounts, orders, invoices).
- Power Automate — Low-code automation tool for simple integrations (sync a record, trigger an email). Limited for complex logic.
- Custom connectors — For integrations that Power Automate cannot handle. Build custom middleware using Azure Functions or similar.
- Dual-write — Real-time sync between Dynamics 365 and Dataverse. Useful for specific Microsoft-to-Microsoft scenarios.
Complexity: Medium. The Dataverse API is well-structured, but custom fields, plugins, and workflows in each customer’s instance create unexpected edge cases.
Typical cost: €5,000–€20,000 per integration. Simpler integrations (sync contacts, push invoices) are on the lower end.
Timeline: 3–8 weeks.
Pantheon
Pantheon (by Datalab) is the dominant ERP in Croatia and Slovenia. Its integration profile is very different from SAP or Dynamics.
Integration options:
- REST API — Available for core modules (items, documents, contacts, invoices). Quality and coverage vary by module and version.
- Direct database access — Common in Croatia but NOT recommended. Bypassing the application layer creates data integrity risks and voids support.
- File-based exchange — CSV/XML import/export for batch processes. Low-tech but reliable for scenarios where real-time is not needed.
- Pantheon Connect — Newer integration platform with pre-built connectors. Coverage is growing but not yet comprehensive.
Complexity: Medium, but documentation quality is inconsistent. Some modules have excellent API coverage; others require workarounds.
Typical cost: €3,000–€15,000. Pantheon integrations are generally cheaper than SAP because the system is less complex.
Timeline: 2–6 weeks.
Comparison table
| Factor | SAP | Microsoft Dynamics 365 | Pantheon |
|---|---|---|---|
| API quality | Variable by module | Good (Dataverse) | Variable |
| Documentation | Extensive but complex | Good | Inconsistent |
| Ease of integration | Low | Medium | Medium |
| Cost per integration | €10,000–€40,000 | €5,000–€20,000 | €3,000–€15,000 |
| Timeline | 4–12 weeks | 3–8 weeks | 2–6 weeks |
| Regional prevalence | Enterprise (Croatia/EU) | Mid-market (growing) | SME (Croatia/Slovenia) |
Common integration patterns
Regardless of which ERP you use, the same integration patterns apply:
- Sync inventory — Products, stock levels, and prices flow from ERP to e-commerce and back. Near-real-time preferred.
- Push orders — Orders from e-commerce, CRM, or custom tools are pushed into the ERP for fulfilment and invoicing.
- Pull invoices — Invoices generated in the ERP are pulled into dashboards, customer portals, or accounting tools.
- Sync contacts/customers — Customer records are synchronised between CRM and ERP to maintain a single source of truth.
For the mechanics of API integrations, see API integrations: how they work.
Middleware vs point-to-point
Point-to-point: System A talks directly to System B. Simple for 1–2 integrations. Becomes a maintenance nightmare at 5+.
Middleware: A central hub (like n8n, Make, or a custom broker) sits between all systems. Each system connects to the hub, not to each other. Easier to maintain, monitor, and extend.
Rule of thumb: If you have 3+ systems that need to exchange data, use middleware. Below 3, point-to-point is fine.
Frequently asked questions
Can we integrate Pantheon with SAP? Yes, via middleware. Common in companies that use Pantheon for local operations and SAP for group-level reporting. The middleware translates data formats between the two.
What about error handling? Every integration must handle failures: API timeouts, data format mismatches, duplicate records. A good integration logs every transaction, retries failed ones, and alerts a human when retries are exhausted. Budget for this — it is 20–30% of the integration cost.
Who maintains the integration after go-live? Ideally, the team that built it — on a retainer basis. APIs change, data models evolve, and edge cases appear. Budget €500–€1,500/month for ongoing maintenance of 2–3 integrations.
Related articles
- API integrations: how they work — The mechanics underneath ERP integrations.
- Accounting integrations for Croatian companies — Minimax, Synesis, Luceed and their API gaps.
- CRM and ERP implementation cost — Broader pricing for CRM/ERP projects.
Need to connect your ERP?
Book a free 30-minute call. We will assess your ERP, map the integration requirements, and propose a plan with a realistic cost and timeline.
Reach out at [email protected] or via the form on our homepage.