When a Vendor Says Two Systems "Just Can't" Talk to Each Other

Sometimes it's genuinely true — a fully closed proprietary system with no API, no documented protocol and no export function is a real wall. But far more often, 'they can't talk to each other' means a specific vendor doesn't offer that integration themselves, or doesn't want to spend the effort building it, not that it's technically impossible.

Ask specifically whether the system has an API, supports a standard protocol (Modbus, BACnet, MQTT), or offers a data export function — any one of those is usually enough for a dedicated integration project to bridge it to something else. A vendor's own app not supporting cross-platform control is a business decision on their part, not proof the underlying hardware can't be reached another way.

A genuinely closed system with no documented interface at all, and no willingness from the manufacturer to share one, is a real dead end — at that point, the honest answer is that integration isn't feasible without replacing that specific component. The difference between that and a vendor simply not wanting to build the bridge is worth getting a second, integration-focused opinion on before accepting either as final.