Hi everyone, I am a strong believer in a new (OK, not completely new) generation of "hyperintegrated" apps and services that will bring the user experience of business apps to a new level.
Hyperintegrated apps and services integrate themselves in other (third party) apps in at least one of two ways:
It "uses" the data of a third party app directly without any sync- or import-/export- functionality. It directly reads and writes from/into the database/-storage of the third party app (typically through an API). Example: A CRM app that does not store contact information in it's own database rather stores contacts in the (third party) contacts app of the user.
It inserts new user interface elements into the user interface of the app or service it is hyperintegrated in. Example: A social media app that shows additional information on contacts right in the user interface of the (third party) contacts app of the user.
These much more tight and very transparent integrations give it's users a much better user experience compared to cumbersome sync or export/import solutions.
My so far best example for such hyperintegrated apps is Matter365 an app suite for lawyer offices to organize their work. It is hyperintegrated into Office365 the Microsoft personal productivity app suite. It stores all client and case information inside Office365 and does not use any own storage or database for that. It also adds user interface elements to the original Office365 user interface (yes, new elements in Outlook, Word) e.g. a time tracker for the lawyers.
In my humble opinion hyperintegrated apps and services have a vastly better user experience than less integrated competitors. So I think it is fair to say that such apps and services will gain more and more market share and in 3-5 years from now hyperintegration will be the industry standard. Users will not cope with less tightly integrated solutions any more then.