Question: What is the best way to test my integrations?

Answer: When developing integrations between two systems, testing is simply essential.  Thorough testing is needed to verify that the two systems you want to talk to each other can actually talk, and it’s also needed to verify the XML return after a call completes. 

The best way to test the Rest API is to use ExactTarget’s API call wizard in the developer community. As a client, access to this online community is complimentary for integrated customers (so if you haven’t done so before, make sure to sign up!).  Once granted access to the site, you can use the call wizard to help formulate your calls and see the return XML from each call.  You can also test the calls against your ExactTarget account to use your own account-specific data (i.e. attributes, test emails, and test email addresses).  Or, you can test against a shared sandbox with generic data. 

As a member of the developer community, you are also granted access to the sandbox environment.  This is an excellent resource to help with your integration testing.  I would suggest not only testing for successful scenarios, but testing for failure scenarios as well.  By testing for failure scenarios, proper error logging can be programmed so that if there are problems in the future, you’re aware of what the errors means.  This also help you develop a contingency plan on what your integration should do if there are failures.

At the end of the day, I hope each and every one of you test – after all, testing isn’t just for designers!  Testing your integrations to ensure maximum success can have a profound impact on your email marketing program.

Jessica Koch
Integration Consultant