Connected tools / GUIDE + WORKSHEET
One-way or two-way sync? Start with ownership
Choose integration direction by field ownership, with a conflict-resolution table and a source-of-truth worksheet.
THE STARTING POINT
Choose the direction of each field based on who is allowed to change it. One-way sync is easier to reason about when a clear owner exists. Two-way sync needs explicit rules for conflicting edits, deletions, timing, and records that cannot be matched confidently.
Assign ownership at the field level
A CRM can own relationship information while a billing system owns invoice status. Calling one entire tool the source of truth can hide those differences. List the actual fields being exchanged and the business role allowed to change them. Decide whether destination users can edit synchronized fields or should send a change request to the owning system.
Design the conflict before the connection
Ask what happens when two people change the same value before the next sync. The latest timestamp may not represent the correct business decision, especially when clocks, imports, and delayed events differ. Establish whether one source wins, a human reviews the conflict, or updates are blocked until resolved. Preserve enough history to explain the result.
Include deletions and partial failures
Test record removal, archived customers, renamed options, and relationships that arrive out of order. Decide whether a deletion should propagate or merely deactivate a link. Track the last successful synchronization separately from the last attempted run. Start with the smallest useful set of fields and expand only when the ownership rules remain understandable.
WORKED EXAMPLE / ILLUSTRATIVE
A fictional CRM and billing connection
Different directions can coexist in one integration. Billing status is read-only in the CRM, while the relationship owner is managed there and copied where needed. Conflicts are resolved by business ownership rather than a universal last-write rule.
| Field | Owner | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship owner | CRM | CRM to operations |
| Invoice status | Billing | Billing to CRM |
| Legal billing name | Finance review | Approved change to both |
MAKE IT USEFUL
Sync ownership matrix
Complete for each important field or relationship.
Your notes stay in this page and are not sent to Smithers. Download or copy them before leaving; refreshing clears them.
Before you put it to work
- Define ownership per field.
- Test simultaneous edits.
- Specify deletion behavior.
- Make unresolved conflicts visible.
Two-way sync is not automatically more complete. It introduces additional states that the team must understand and support.
IF THIS LOOKS FAMILIAR
Your tools. Your particular mess.
The worksheet is yours to use. If the difficult part is making it work with the systems you already have, that's the kind of thing we help with.