“The single most significant factor in successful integration is understanding the client’s business and processes. The clearer it is to the integrator what information the client needs and how they plan to use it, the better the result.”
Software integration involves connecting separate applications and systems to create a cohesive whole. Thanks to integration, a company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can extract address information from a customer relationship management (CRM) application, or the firm’s product design software can obtain parts availability from an inventory management system. In essence, integration facilitates dialogue between different programs.
Enhancing Efficiency and Quality with Integration
Without integration across systems, the only way to transfer data between them is by manually typing or copy-pasting, which is slow, error-prone, monotonous, and frustrates the user. It’s evident that organizations benefit more from paying their experts for specialized work than for simple routine tasks.
Why Aren’t Systems Pre-made to Incorporate Different Aspects?
Organizations typically house numerous applications of various ages and purposes. When starting a business, it’s not practical to procure massive programs that encompass all business activities. Instead, it’s wiser to initially buy only the necessary tools for the job and acquire new ones as the need arises. Predicting business development directions for years ahead is impossible, making it challenging to foresee which software types will be needed. Moreover, new, beneficial applications continually emerge for different business domains, ones previously unimaginable. Integrating the old with the new is always necessary.
Why Don’t Programs Communicate Directly?
Programs might have different operating systems, modes of data transmission, and storage formats. They may contain identical data using different terminology and be physically located in different places. In simple terms, programs resemble people worldwide: varied in ages, locations, languages spoken, and communication methods. To exchange data understandably, a translator can be needed, similarly, programs may require integration.
Programs resemble people worldwide: varied in ages, locations, languages spoken, and communication methods.
How is Integration Implemented?
When System A requires data from System B, it must request the data in a manner comprehensible to System B, temporarily take hold of the received data, transform it into a format understandable to System A, and deliver it to System A. Upon completion, System A is asked for confirmation to ensure the seamless transfer of data.
With few systems, integration can be done directly between systems via point-to-point integration. However, as the number of systems increases, the number of bilateral connections rises exponentially, potentially resulting in a complex spaghetti integration.
A more easily scalable integration approach uses a centralized integration platform (ESB or iPaaS). Here, each system communicates directly with a common entity that manages data transmission and format conversions. This model facilitates adding new systems, as the integrator needs to build only a single connection between the new system and the integration platform, unlike connecting the new system to every existing system. Data transfer can also be implemented using software robotics.
The Importance of Collaboration in Integration
We have a long history of integrating various systems for businesses and public services and have found that the technical implementation of integration proceeds faster when the systems to be connected are familiar. However, the single most significant factor in successful integration is understanding the client’s business and processes. The clearer it is to the integrator what information the client needs and how they plan to use it, the better the result.
You can read more about smart ways to implement integration in our free integration guide. Also, explore our past client projects and the technologies we use in the integration section.
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