Merge's article explores the concept of customer-facing integrations, which are connections between a product and its customers' applications, primarily using APIs for efficient data synchronization. The piece outlines the importance of these integrations for businesses aiming to close deals, retain clients, and expand markets, highlighting examples like automating user provisioning, streamlining compliance tasks, and surfacing target candidates. It discusses three primary methods for building these integrations: native integrations, which are built by in-house engineers but can be time-consuming; embedded integration platforms as a service (iPaaS), which offer pre-built connectors but require technical expertise; and unified API platforms, which provide scalable integration solutions with enterprise-grade security and observability features. Merge is positioned as a leading unified API solution, facilitating the creation of numerous secure and reliable integrations and offering maintenance support and integration management capabilities.