Modern businesses don’t operate in a vacuum. Data and processes flow back and forth between different departments, systems, and even businesses. In today’s fast-paced digital world, business processes are continually changing, and so are the software applications that companies rely on for crucial tasks such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management, and financial analysis and reporting.
As a result, application integration is an increasingly important process for organizations seeking to combine and enhance¬†data flow between separate software applications. Application integration combines older enterprise applications with newer cloud applications to ensure access to shared data and to navigate the digital transformation. The goal is to help businesses grow with minimal disruption to productivity and profitability. A well-executed and educated approach to enterprise application integration is crucial to building an integration solution that takes advantage of the power of big data and makes all of the individual applications work together smoothly. Let’s take a look at some things that you need to know about application integration.
Application Integration
From new-age technology like mobile apps to bulky old legacy systems, most businesses depend upon a variety of individual applications that all need to communicate. So, what is application integration? Application integration is a process that permits separately built applications and systems to work together. The result is new capabilities and efficiencies that cut costs, uncover insights and do much more to aid business processes.
Merging and optimizing data and workflows between several software applications, enterprise application integration allows organizations to achieve alliances that modernize infrastructures and bolster agile business operations. Application integration works to bridge the gap between existing systems and evolving cloud-based enterprise applications. Through interconnected processes and data integration, businesses can accomplish a variety of functions across entire infrastructures to operate more effectively and efficiently.
Information Sharing
Data integration facilitates the flow of information between different applications within a company, as well as from outside systems. An integration platform can transform data collection efforts and reduce the redundancies of each application collecting and storing its own data. Integration can create a single access point for data and allow for greater ease of use. The result of this is that employees will spend less time researching information. It also means that the data retrieved is often more complete and up to date. Application integration, ultimately, will lead to more effective collaboration between people and departments.
Eliminating Data Silos
Applications that are created by different vendors usually don’t have the ability to communicate with each other. Integration technology is an additional tool that acts as a glue between various enterprise applications. Whether they’re on-premise applications or cloud-based, they all serve different purposes, but integration technology allows them to work together. As a result, one of the benefits of integration is the elimination of data silos that occur when information systems are unable to connect. A data silo is a collection of information within an organization that is isolated as a result of being inaccessible by other parts of the organization. Data silos slow business operations and often impede the effective sharing of data. Using an enterprise application integration solution gets rid of data silos and facilitates the productive use of data.
Data Visibility
Data visibility is the degree of ease with which an organization can monitor, display, and analyze data from a multitude of sources. Accomplishing sufficient data visibility within an organization can lead to many benefits. Application integration expedites point-to-point integration and leads to increased data visibility that allows businesses to harness data. This ultimately enables the company to observe, measure, and embrace the data throughout the workflow. Through application integration solutions, businesses can employ data to easily address customer expectations and get a wide view of business activities.
Application integration can be useful for a wide range of businesses and industries. Data sources from a variety of platforms can yield numerous bits of relevant information. The travel industry can harness the power of API integration by accessing rich content and like flight, hotel, car, and cruise APIs. When a customer seeks advice on things to do near San Francisco, the system can direct them to deals at the marketplace or the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Bankers can integrate accounts, loan applications services, and other systems with their mobile applications. Banks can then provide services through a new digital channel and attract new customers. In the healthcare system, patient records can be integrated with an electronic health record system so that any professional who treats the patient has access to the history, treatments, and records. The world of application integration technology can revolutionize business processes and change the way that organizations do business.
