Autotasking and syncing data to HubSpot: is it possible? (IT MSP Guide)

That's why so many IT MSPs have become interested in HubSpot. At the end of the day, HubSpot is Gartner's CRM software on the top right. It's easy to use, yet incredibly powerful. Also, various versions are offered that are effective yet cost competitive solutions, whether it's a $1 million MSP or a $20 million MSP.

However, many MSPs rely on Datto's Autotask software for internal operations. Also, since HubSpot and AutoTask are not natively integrated, many MSPs ask, “Is it possible to integrate HubSpot and AutoTask?” I'm wondering. If so, how can that be achieved, and what considerations are needed?

There's no need to be afraid. With Zapier's help and a little planning, you can create custom integrations connecting HubSpot and Autotask to streamline sales and marketing processes.

Key considerations

Here are some key considerations to keep in mind when building your own custom integrations.

1. Define goals and handoff from HubSpot to auto-task

What do you want to accomplish with HubSpot? Also, in what cases should it be carried over to autotasking?

For many MSPs, the answer is that the quote is created in Autotask, the entire sales and marketing process is done in HubSpot, and the whole time until the quote is created is done in HubSpot.

Once the points for synchronizing Autotask have been decided, it is a good guideline to create a standalone stage in the Deals pipeline, such as “Create a Quote (Build Quote)”.

Use the “Create Quote” deal stage as a trigger for Zapier sync.
All deals pushed to this stage are synced to autotasks.

Zaps in Zapier can be triggered based on deals that have entered this stage, as follows:

2. What data would you like to sync to Autotask?

Do you just want to auto-task and create quotes? Do you also want to sync your company and contact information from HubSpot to Autotask?

Zapier has a number of autotasking actions that are compatible with both autotasking and Zapier. Once you've identified the main areas you want to sync, use HubSpot's “Get (ObjectName)” action to extract the data (for example, “Get Contacts with HubSpot”). The data is now selected from HubSpot and can be passed to Autotask using the “Create (object name)” action (such as “Create Company with Autotask”).

3. Create custom properties on both systems

If you want to keep your data in sync, it's important to create custom properties for each system. Make sure Zap stores HubSpot object IDs in autotasking and autotasking object IDs in HubSpot.

For example, if it's a contact, you'll want to pass the HubSpot Contact ID to Autotask and the Autotask Contact ID to HubSpot.

4. Test, Test

Look, as an IT provider, I don't need to say this. But you're building a custom integration. Neither HubSpot nor Autotask have great documentation on Zapier.

The key to making sure this works is testing the integration extensively. Create sample data in HubSpot and make sure it syncs correctly with the auto task.

What about two-way sync?

Two-way sync is absolutely possible! The challenge is that unlike native integrations, every sync must be planned and manually implemented in Zapier.

Again, the challenge is when do you want to sync data from AutoTask to HubSpot? Zapier is entirely trigger-based, so you need to decide which trigger will fire Zap.

Don't forget #3 above and create custom properties to match the IDs between the two systems. Without this data, records cannot be collated and bi-directional synchronized.