“Cheap ends up being expensive,” and when it comes to bad middleware, the results can be highly damaging for companies.
Latin American retailers are breaking digital sales records, but the race toward omnichannel always stumbles over the same obstacle: integration.
The Salesforce Connectivity Report 2025 —based on a survey of 1,050 IT leaders—reveals that 95% of companies face data integration problems, only 29% of their applications are truly connected, and 81% claim that silos hinder digital transformation.
In this context, many teams turn to “plug-and-play connectors” with a one-time fee that promise to sync an ERP with an online store “in just a few clicks.”
Reality, however, reveals reviews like the 2.1/5 TrustScore for Emipro’s Odoo-Magento connector, where users themselves report “constant bugs” and almost non-existent support.
The list price of a plugin can be tempting; it may look like a bargain compared to a full iPaaS platform. But those amounts only cover the license, not the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
Each time the ERP or store is updated, the connector requires manual patches or custom development — and any downtime leaves the business without sales and without visibility of errors. Worse still, these static middleware:
What seemed like a one-time payment becomes a continuous drain of IT hours, lost orders, and security penalties. In the following sections, we’ll break down some of the invisible expenses that drive up the TCO of this middleware and show how Weavee eliminates them at the root.
Discover now how Weavee drives your business.
When evaluating middleware or “plug-and-play” connectors, most technology leaders prioritize the upfront price. However, that visible cost does not reflect the total cost of ownership (TCO), which ends up being considerably higher due to hidden expenses.
Here are real, documented costs associated with using middleware connectors:
Although “plug-and-play” connectors promise immediate integration, in practice they often require frequent adaptations. For example, the most used module for connecting Odoo ERP and Magento 2 —offered by Emipro Technologies— has multiple users who end up hiring external developers for specific functions. This is explicitly documented on platforms like Freelancer, where companies post requests for additional custom development to cover functionalities the original connector does not provide.
The Emipro Technologies Odoo-Magento 2 connector holds an average rating of 2.1/5 stars on Trustpilot, where multiple customers literally mention that the connector causes recurring failures after each update, requiring constant manual intervention. These reviews highlight the frequent need for adjustments and manual patches, generating additional and ongoing costs for users.
Emipro Technologies, the creator of the most popular Odoo-Magento connector, is repeatedly criticized on Trustpilot for the low quality of its technical support. Real users report that support requests go unanswered for weeks or are never resolved at all. This lack of support means hidden costs like prolonged operational downtime, lost sales, and damaged customer experience.
Recurrent technical failures in middleware connectors can lead to prolonged operational interruptions. For example, real users of Emipro’s Odoo-Magento connector clearly state on Trustpilot that constant technical problems resulted in “weeks of wasted time” trying to resolve critical issues.
“Extension didn't work as advertised, support was incompetent, kept on dodging the request for a refund… The time wasted on the issue was vast, occurring over 3-4 weeks…”
— See review on Trustpilot
Every business expansion (for example, adding a new sales channel or additional platform) means adding more connectors. On Odoo’s official marketplace, the Emipro connector listing clearly shows that each major ERP update requires purchasing a new version of the connector. This creates a limited, manual scalability model that adds new licenses with each version change.
The public specifications for Emipro’s Odoo-Magento connector in its official marketplace do not list internationally recognized security certifications (such as ISO 27001 or SOC), nor explicit references to advanced security protocols or regulatory compliance. This creates uncertainty about the real level of protection and compliance offered by the connector’s provider.
Plug-and-play connectors lack real-time monitoring and centralized management. For example, in the public technical sheet of Emipro’s Odoo-Magento connector on Odoo’s official marketplace, there is no mention of monitoring features, dashboards, automatic alerts, or integrated reporting — all of which are essential for quick decision-making and avoiding lost business opportunities caused by operational issues.
A verified example of the real impact of these hidden costs is found in public Trustpilot reviews of Emipro Technologies’ connector. For example, the real review from user Wen Ye explicitly states:
“Many bugs, woo Odoo connector not working properly. Wasting time and money. They will not help with your connector once paid.”
— Wen Ye, Trustpilot
This negative experience —one of many in the reviews section— represents a typical case of the real problems users face: after purchasing inexpensive connectors, they end up dealing with extra costs, prolonged operational downtime, and the inability to resolve critical incidents promptly.
In contrast, the Weavee omnichannel integration platform is specifically designed to eliminate these problems through real-time monitoring, automatic scalability without needing extra connectors, full compliance with international security standards (ISO, SOC), and dedicated 24/7 support with guaranteed SLA.
Throughout this article, we’ve shown —with real, verifiable data and user testimonials— that plug-and-play connectors have a series of hidden costs that directly impact the profitability, efficiency, and security of retail companies.
Each of these problems has been reported by real users and reflects structural limitations of the static middleware model: lack of support, poor scalability, no monitoring, and constant technical dependency.
Weavee, as an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), was designed to solve each of these problems at the root. Here’s how:
Weavee offers pre-configured, audited connectors ready to use, covering the main ERP (SAP, Odoo, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics), e-commerce (VTEX, Adobe Commerce, WooCommerce), CRM (Zoho, HubSpot, Salesforce), POS, WMS, and more — without the need for custom development or manual adjustments.
Unlike plug-and-play middleware that requires human intervention after each update, Weavee is a serverless platform on Microsoft Azure with centralized maintenance and automatic scaling.
Weavee offers 24/7 technical support with contract-guaranteed response times (SLA) and an automatic incident escalation system.
Thanks to its cloud infrastructure, Weavee guarantees operational continuity, with geographic redundancy, real-time monitoring, and automatic alerts.
Weavee allows integration of new systems, channels, or countries without purchasing new connectors or rewriting flows.
\Weavee operates under the highest security standards in the market. Its infrastructure runs on Microsoft Azure, and the platform holds the following certifications and protocols.
These guarantees are absent in typical middleware connectors, whose security depends entirely on the individual provider — and whose technical sheets (like Emipro’s connector) list no certifications at all.
Weavee includes a central monitoring interface to view all integration flows in real time: orders, customers, inventory, payments, returns, etc.
This not only eliminates silos but also ensures a Single Source of Truth for real-time business decision-making.
The integration decision should not be made solely based on the license price. As we’ve shown with real examples and verified sources, middleware connectors hide costs in maintenance, security, support, and scalability that end up being far higher than their entry price.
Weavee eliminates these invisible costs, providing a robust, scalable, and secure platform designed to drive your company’s growth.