A great solution to help with GDPR compliance.
January 31, 2018

A great solution to help with GDPR compliance.

Thomas Olesen | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review

Overall Satisfaction with PieSync

I use PieSync for two purposes in my own business. I have a CRM system which is my central data storage system (important with GDPR looming) but I use other systems for specific purposes. One is my iPhone which I use day to day for communications generally. The other is MailChimp, an email newsletter system with good connectivity with such things as sign up forms on websites or social media.

In the case of the iPhone, any record that I add to my Contacts is automatically added and tagged in my CRM and, the other way round, any record in my CRM that I tag for the purpose, is automatically added to my iPhone Contacts. That means that I have them even if I don't have a data signal at the time, so I can still call or text them if I have a phone signal.

In the case of MailChimp, any Contact that subscribes is added to my CRM; any Contact that unsubscribes is tagged in my CRM; and any Contact that is tagged by me in my CRM is automatically added to my MailChimp newsletter list.

In this way, my CRM keeps a handle on everything going on in my business to do with Contacts whether it was initiated on my iPhone or in MailChimp. That keeps me compliant with the main thrust of the General Data Protection Regulation.
  • It can perform 2-way synchronisation between databases so that changes in one are reflected in the other and vice versa. This differs from systems that rely on triggers which are 1-way actions and therefore are likely to get out of sync over time.
  • It can place tags into databases as it updates them so that an audit trail is created and tracking is enabled.
  • If businesses use data silos (Google Contacts for example) it is possible to pull them all together into a single database with no duplications.
  • The only area for improvement that I can think of is adding more systems to the list of supported applications. This is a one time exercise per application and new applications are being added all the time - but if you have an unsupported application it is annoying!
  • PieSync has saved me a lot of time. It is straightforward to learn and use and therefore the initial set up time is not great, but once set up you can more or less forget that it is there working away in the background.
  • My business is small and was already pretty streamlined with a CRM system etc. PieSync is likely to have a much greater ROI for a business that is less streamlined or is more complex to start with.
Zapier is a great product but it only does a 1-way sync. I was most impressed with the 2-way sync capabilities of PieSync and the way in which I could use that to help with compliance with the data regulations in place and coming soon to Europe such as the GDPR.
Many small businesses use free software which is quite understandable but it can create a data headache because there are not many free systems that allow sophisticated data management in a multi-user environment. That leads to huge inefficiencies in both time and data. A classic example might be the preparation of a mailshot (email or paper) which may need to come from multiple sources and will contain duplicates. It is so much easier if the data is automatically deduplicated in the background and is always as up to date as the last change, wherever that change originated. The cost of product like PieSync is nothing compared with the time wasted trying to perform these functions manually.

HubSpot Operations Hub Feature Ratings

Evaluating PieSync and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
PieSync does things that no other product does and is very reasonably priced. I am always happy to pay for time-saving products.

Using PieSync

I used it with a couple of systems that I was not expecting to be smooth sailing and it just worked without any issues.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Connecting to each system was almost unbelievably easy
  • The ability to select 1-way or 2-way sync
  • The ability to add tags or make selections based on tags contained within the data
  • Nothing is cumbersome provided that the system is supported