RPA: stable interactive workflows
Crawler: explicit pages and custom parsing
Connector: contracted schemas and access
Manual import: low frequency or unclear rights
All: recovery, deduplication, compliance, exit
Start with source rights and behavior
Connectors fit stable interfaces and permission contracts, crawlers fit allowed public pages with maintainable parsing, and RPA fits repeated login-click-download flows. Do not automate when terms, authorization, or intended use are unclear.
Compare maintenance, not prototype speed
RPA breaks on layout and account changes; crawlers break on structure and blocking; connectors change with API versions and permissions. Every path needs ownership for failure recovery, mappings, and change notices. Exact BI0 source support requires confirmation.
Use one quality layer
Store raw and parsed values, source URL, collection time, status, mapping version, and error reason. Keep out-of-stock, absent fields, unauthorized, timeout, and parse failure separate; pause downstream reports after structural changes.
POC one real source
Compare identity matching, completeness, duplicates, recovery, maintenance effort, and terms risk over a continuous run. Include authorization, development, operations, audit, migration, and exit in the decision.
Public references
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