Modern enterprises use a plethora of enterprise systems to run their business operations. These systems can range from simple transactional systems to complex decision-making systems. These systems are designed to deliver great value in themselves but, at the same time, enterprises also realize the value of integrating their enterprise systems.
According to an SAP 2022 ESG report, 83% of companies are likely to prioritize enterprise integration over the next two years. However, 9 in every 10 companies are struggling to formulate their enterprise integration strategy.
As more organizations look to improve their efficiency and transform their business, integration of enterprise systems is imperative. However, this integration process is challenging owing to different data structures and business processes. For instance, to integrate business processes in sales and production, organizations have to deal with different applications, protocols, and data formats.
In this blog, we will explore the importance of integrating enterprise systems – and how to get it done. So, let’s get started.
Why Is the Integration of Enterprise Systems Important?
Over the years, enterprise systems have become more complex, mainly due to different cloud environments, scalable data initiatives, and various applications. Most organizations have focused on building an enterprise system that serves a single purpose (for example, customer service) and a single set of application users. This has led to the propagation of proprietary systems and data silos.
Today, organizations are expected to respond quickly to changing business needs. In a dynamic business environment, companies need both business agility and flexibility to adapt to new market conditions and customer requirements. This is driving the need to integrate enterprise systems into a cohesive unit.
An integrated enterprise system can deliver multiple business benefits, including the following ones:
- A seamless and consistent customer experience across multiple touchpoints by optimizing and automating customer-centric business processes
- Real-time sharing of critical information across business functions, which improves and accelerates business decision-making
- Creation of new business models and opportunities through APIs to connect third-party systems
- Enabling real-time access to critical data through higher visibility and transparency
Additionally, enterprise system integration addresses challenges like data duplication and mismatching. When done manually, data entered into one system can differ from data in another system — for example, employee attendance records. Integration can save time, effort, and errors caused by manual data entry into different business systems (for instance, attendance and payroll systems).
How To Integrate Enterprise Systems
How do organizations integrate their various enterprise systems? As it stands, third-party middleware tools can help in connecting two or more applications. Here is what a middleware tool essentially does:
- Automates business processes
- Simplifies the process workflow
- Integrates different enterprise-level applications and systems
With an effective middleware system, organizations can avail of multiple benefits, including:
- Streamlined communication and data exchange between enterprise systems
- Automated business processes and workflows, thus freeing up human resources for high-value tasks
- Cybersecurity in the form of data encryption and access control
Available on both on-premises and the cloud, middleware solutions are easy to work with. As frontend applications keep evolving to satisfy user requirements, middleware tools can sustain communication and data sharing between two (or more) applications.
Apart from middleware technology, organizations can integrate their enterprise systems in the following ways:
- API-Driven Integration
Short for Application Programming Interfaces, APIs enable seamless data transfer between enterprise applications. Using APIs, companies can now facilitate sharing their application data with third-party developers and business partners. APIs are effective at accessing real-time data and multiple data sources.
- Application Integration
Application integration enables individual applications to collaborate with other applications. This makes it easier to integrate processes and workflows – and to share real-time data among applications. Further, application integration helps modernize legacy applications without any rework or modification.
- Integration Testing
As part of enterprise integration, effective integration testing checks for the smooth functioning of multiple enterprise systems as a single unit. At the enterprise level, integration testing goes a step ahead in verifying how enterprise systems interface with each other (as part of a larger IT ecosystem).
Why Opt for Enterprise Integration Services from Recode Solutions
As enterprise systems become more complex and sophisticated, integration services are critical for business growth in 2023 and beyond. The right technology solutions partner can help organizations achieve this goal.
At Recode Solutions, we have helped our customers build an integrated enterprise ecosystem with a host of integration services, including the following:
- Middleware consolidation and legacy modernization
- API development and integration
- Integration and contact testing
- Cloud and open-source integration
Here is a case study of how our integration services enabled a U.S.-based retailer to:
- Reduce their shipping costs by 20%
- Improve their customer acquisition by 15%
With our technical expertise in data engineering, we can help you unlock your internal and external digital services. Want to know more? Get in touch with us!
