File Storage Integrations: Common Challenges and Solutions with Integration.app

File storage systems like Google Drive or MS Sharepoint are one of the most commonly integrated products into SaaS apps. The category is generally dominated by Google and Microsoft, with some specific apps designed for this purpose like Dropbox or Box.com.

During our research with dozens of engineers in top SaaS companies, we’ve found that many struggle integrating with them due to the complexity of their APIs. In this article, we’ll explore more about issues with each of them and how to navigate the integrations in a much more efficient way using Integration.app.

Common Issues on File Storage Integrations

• App Verification Delays: The app verification process, especially for Google Drive, is time-intensive and can cause significant delays in deployment.
• Account Type Differences: Managing differences between business and personal accounts, particularly for Microsoft 365 or OneDrive, adds complexity.
• Handling Large Files: Implementing support for large file sizes, such as multi-page PDFs, audio, and video files, requires long development cycles.
• Real-Time Updates: Managing real-time updates versus periodic syncing, particularly for Google Drive and Dropbox, and implementing webhooks or polling, is challenging across all providers.
• Recursive Structures: Handling nested file and folder structures and providing an intuitive file picker UI is complex.
• Efficient File Change Detection: Detecting file changes efficiently is difficult due to API limitations, especially with Dropbox.
• Unstructured Data Retrieval: Retrieving unstructured data from file storage systems like SharePoint and Google Drive requires careful handling.
• Complete File Listing: Getting a complete list of all files and folders, as some APIs only return top-level items, is a common issue.
• Token Rotation: Handling token rotation during file download adds an extra layer of complexity.

Google Drive

Description

Google Drive is a cloud storage service developed by Google, offering 15GB of free storage and seamless integration with other Google services like Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Its powerful search capabilities and collaboration features make it a popular choice for both personal and professional use.

Challenges

1. API Rate Limits: Google Drive imposes strict API usage limits, which can hinder performance if your application makes frequent requests.
2. Authentication: Implementing OAuth 2.0 for secure authentication can be complex, requiring careful handling of token management and permissions.
3. File Format Support: Ensuring compatibility with Google’s native file formats (Docs, Sheets, Slides) can require additional coding efforts.
4. Permission Management: Managing shared permissions and ensuring data security for collaborative files can be challenging.

Dropbox

Description

Dropbox is a widely-used cloud storage service known for its simplicity and ease of use. It offers seamless file synchronization across devices and robust sharing capabilities, making it ideal for both individuals and teams.

Challenges

1. File Versioning: Handling Dropbox’s version history and ensuring your application can access previous file versions can be complex.
2. Large File Handling: Managing uploads and downloads of large files efficiently requires robust error handling and retry mechanisms.
3. Storage Quota Management: Monitoring and managing users’ storage quotas to prevent exceeding limits can add complexity to the integration.
4. Webhooks: Implementing and managing webhooks for real-time updates can be challenging due to rate limits and event handling.

Microsoft SharePoint

Description

Microsoft SharePoint is a powerful platform for document management and collaboration, widely used in enterprise environments. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Office and provides extensive customization options.

Challenges

1. Complex API: SharePoint’s API is extensive and complex, requiring a deep understanding of its architecture and endpoints.
2. Authentication and Authorization: Implementing secure authentication using Azure AD and managing user permissions across SharePoint sites can be intricate.
3. Data Migration: Migrating data to and from SharePoint can be challenging due to its unique data structures and metadata.
4. Performance: Ensuring optimal performance when interacting with large SharePoint libraries requires efficient querying and data retrieval strategies.

OneDrive

Description

OneDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage service, offers seamless integration with Windows and Office applications. It provides both personal and business plans, with advanced sharing and collaboration features.

Challenges

1. Graph API Integration: Integrating with the Microsoft Graph API for OneDrive requires a solid understanding of its structure and capabilities.
2. Permission Scopes: Managing the various permission scopes and ensuring users grant the necessary permissions can be complex.
3. Synchronization: Handling file synchronization across devices and ensuring consistency can be challenging, especially for offline access.
4. Error Handling: Implementing robust error handling and retry mechanisms to manage transient errors and rate limiting effectively.

Box

Description

Box is a cloud content management and file sharing service geared towards enterprise users. It offers advanced security features, compliance capabilities, and extensive collaboration tools.

Challenges

1. Enterprise Security: Ensuring your integration complies with Box’s stringent security and compliance requirements can be complex.
2. Custom Metadata: Handling Box’s custom metadata capabilities and integrating them into your application’s data model can be challenging.
3. Large File Transfers: Efficiently managing uploads and downloads of large files, including chunked uploads, requires careful implementation.
4. Rate Limiting: Navigating Box’s API rate limits and ensuring your application remains responsive under high load conditions can be difficult.

How to Build all of them with Integration.app

Integration.app handles the whole integration building experience from managing OAuth, defining common data structures for files, pre-built scenarios and pre-built UI to implement nested file pickers that let you integrate with all top 5 file storage apps in 30 mins or less.

How Does It Work?

Integration Engine

Integration Engine is an API-first and fully customizable service that runs integrations between your app and external apps. It provides abstractions (such as auth, data flows, field mappings), runtime, and state storage for all the integration-related things. This is generally how Integration.app will help you structure your integration infrastructure in a much simpler way, so you can build File Storage integrations or any category of integrations, much quicker.

You can read more here: Integration Engine Features.

List of Scenarios You Can Plug-In to Your Workspace Straight Away

1. Two-way Real-Time Sync of Files

This scenario lets your application sync files from your app to any external application and vice versa. It will do initial import/export of files from your app. Then it will send events when a new file is created/updated or deleted as close to real-time as possible. File fields will be mapped from the schema supported by your application to the application-specific schema.

Two-way Sync Scenario

2. Create File in Any External Application

This scenario lets your application create a file in any external application. File fields will be mapped from the schema supported by your application to the application-specific schema.

Create File Scenario

3. Continuously Import Files to My App

Facing issues with updating your integrations whenever a file changes in your customers’ Dropbox or G Drive? We handle that for you. This scenario lets your application continuously sync files from external applications to your app API. It will handle the initial import of files as well as keep them in sync after a file is created/updated or deleted in the external application. When receiving file data from an external application it will be transformed into the format supported by your app API, allowing your customers to customize that data mapping based on their specific external application setup.

Import Files Scenario

Interested in More?

Bottom line: File storage integrations are difficult, doing it yourself will take multiple weeks. The alternative? Do it with Integration.app in just 30 mins or less.

If you want to talk to us about integrating with file storage systems - book a demo or sign-up!