You’ve just gone live on a new HCM platform. Your benefits carrier expects an 834 file nightly. Your IT team wants real-time provisioning. Which integration approach do you build first and why?
That tension is real and more common than you might think.
Integration strategy should align with your organization’s goals, tolerance for risk and delay, and your vendor’s system capabilities.
As organizations push for real-time data, seamless workflows, and better employee experiences, the debate between APIs and flat-file integrations is a hot topic. Each integration approach has its purpose, but which is right for your business?
The Established Standard: Flat File Integrations
Flat files, typically in formats such as CSV, TXT, or XML, transferred via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), have been the standard in HCM integrations for decades. They are simple, reliable, and widely supported by legacy systems, particularly among benefits vendors that continue to rely on scheduled batch processing.
Pros Easy to implement and schedule (e.g., nightly SFTP batch jobs)
Example: A weekly payroll GL file is scheduled to run every Friday at 6 PM via SFTP. Once configured, it runs automatically without manual intervention. Human-readable and traceable
Example: A CSV export of employee demographics can be opened
