How to explain why enterprise integration is about business enablement, not technology

Integration is a big topic and can be dauntingly complex, even if you live and breathe technology. Building a business case and getting the green light for investing in an enterprise integration strategy invariably requires you to brush up on the latest approaches, clarify the ‘what, why, and how’ – and outline the challenges you can expect along the way. 

So, to make life easier, we’ve answered all the questions most asked (and you’re welcome to use them in your proposal or discussion paper). 

A plain language guide to enterprise integration

What is enterprise integration exactly? Put simply, enterprise integration is the art of connecting everything (not just one or two applications) in your IT landscape together. This allows the disparate technologies, clouds, applications, networks, and devices used throughout your enterprise to exchange information that would normally be locked away or hard to share and analyse.

What’s in it for you? The ‘why is it important’ of enterprise integration is an easy sell. Complete IT system integration delivers the benefits of added productivity and efficiency. But critically, integration also enables access to all the information locked away in individual applications and line-of-business systems - empowering informed and timely decision-making. As always, knowledge is power. Read more about integration in our blog Digital plumbing: Building the foundation for your digital success. Enterprise integration plays a critical role in enabling and driving digital transformation and operational efficiency. Here’s how:

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Information not data 

Moving data between systems can be a complex task, and requires duplication of the business rules used to interpret, manage and govern it. If the data can be accessed in a way that provides information then this creates an easier integration experience. This removes the need for further processing of the data, and any business logic needing to be stored outside of the domain that owns this.

Enable employee productivity and engagement

By connecting applications and synchronising data, a change made in one application is pushed to all related systems - automatically. When you integrate software, you can eliminate tedious, unproductive tasks so your employees can focus on more valuable business activities like spending more time with customers, improved reporting and forecasting, and uncovering new trends and opportunities to grow. 

To err is human

We all make mistakes. However, even a small error can deliver an impact out of all proportion to the initial mistake. Interpreting data manually can be costly and risky  – from a wrongly placed decimal point to under or overcharging customers to underestimating operational expenses. Integration minimises the opportunity for human errors by processing the data automatically.

Automate use cases 

Once you’ve integrated your environment, you can identify opportunities to automate business processes like customer or staff onboarding, application processing, account payable approvals, service management, marketing-driven customer communications, and more. Both staff and customer satisfaction levels improve when supported by a swift, smooth and responsive process.  

More protection of the things that matter 

Information access is a sensitive matter. It’s critical that only those who are authorised can view and use information sensitive to your company, employees, customers and partners. Taking an enterprise approach to maintaining data security with integration enables compliance with data protection and privacy regulations, the ability to pass security audits, and the high degree of governance demanded by key stakeholders.  

Unimpeded growth, agility and innovation

The ability to rapidly change processes and direction and adapt to an ever-changing (and always challenging) market are the hallmarks of a mature and successful organisation. Enterprise integration provides you with the agility to respond to new initiatives, as well as leverage technologies like AI and IoT (internet of things) – especially when your integration strategy has prioritised interoperability.    

What does ‘no integration’ look like?

What does ‘no integration’ look like? 

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Imagine this: One of your customers has opened a new retail outlet.  

The store’s details need to be added to your system for deliveries, invoicing, and sales/support in your pick/pack/logistics solution, financial/invoicing application, and CRM (customer relationship management). But if these applications aren’t integrated, you need to do this manually – three times, and maybe even by three different departments.   

Outcome: Triple the work and cost. Triple the opportunity for error. Triple the time to update applications. 

But wait – what’s interoperability when it’s at home?

Interoperability is the icing on the integration cake. Systems integration by itself means that your solutions can exchange information but not necessarily understand (and therefore use) it without manual intervention. Which tends to defeat the purpose of the exercise, right?  

However, if you prioritise interoperability when developing your integration strategy, your solutions not only talk to one another effortlessly but don’t need an interpreter to translate between them. They speak the same language, so no manual interventions are required – either now or as you add further solutions to your environment.

Why is integration so critical to modern business operations?

Enterprise integration is more than just a technological solution. It’s now considered a strategic imperative for modern businesses. 

Here’s why. Integration not only enables you to reduce costs, synchronise your data, and facilitate collaboration and communication but also empowers your organisation to achieve operational excellence, meet its business goals and objectives, and stay ahead of your competitors.  

Today, when done well, integration is regarded as a business enabler that adds value to your existing technological ecosystem and (over) delivers on outcomes, service capabilities, and new opportunities that will justify your investment.

What are some common integration use cases? 

Here are just five examples – but rest assured, there are many, many more!

Make your information work harder 

Supercharge your business processes

Revitalise your technology environment

Take advantage of innovation (and drive it!)

Read the full blog: Five practical use cases for integration

Read the blog

OK, let’s talk about risk

We live in a risk-averse world, and with good reason. We’ve all worked too hard over some very tough years to knowingly endanger our businesses. Yet, that’s what can happen when we don’t leverage integration.   

 Some of the (avoidable) risks experienced by organisations that lack integration include: 

Decision-making you’ll regret 

Disconnected systems can make it difficult to get a comprehensive view of your business operations. Without the full picture of your past and present data, it’s all too easy to make the wrong decisions – even with the best intentions.   

Security loopholes 

Disconnected systems can increase the complexity of your security measures. Without a consistent way to control your security over your entire landscape, your business is more vulnerable to cyber threats. 

Worrying workflows  

In-house development can lead to inefficient workflows and processes. For example, if a critical issue arises with your data integration, there could be a risk of data loss or inaccurate data. 

What are some of the typical challenges of enterprise integration?

Interoperability is nearly always the biggest roadblock in any enterprise integration project. Issues can include the quality and format of your interfaces, governance integrity, and complex information mapping and transformation requirements.

Security, as ever, is always a risk in any major technology project. These risks include data exposure, data encryption, data protection and compliance with privacy regulations, and auditing/monitoring.

The diversity, age and nature of existing systems also present challenges, as do the limitations of API integration.

And, of course, the shortage of talented, experienced and trained resources adds to the mix.

Want more insights? Read our blog: Business & supply chain challenges solved by integration.

How do we overcome enterprise integration challenges?

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Data security 

One of the keys to overcoming challenges in terms of integration security is making it easy to implement. A good API gateway will support standardised identity and access management, and ensure consumers can only access the services they are supposed to access. Where more granular access controls are required (such as attribute-based or context-based access controls), these can be implemented at the service level or in the system of record. 

API gateways are also an excellent tool for simplifying encryption in transit, as most provide excellent support for managing TLS certificates. Your consumers can interact with endpoints that are secured by popular third-party certificate authorities, while you have the option to manage traffic between the gateway and your services with certificates signed by your own CA. 

For auditing and monitoring purposes, applying best practice in terms of correlation identifiers can ensure traceability of traffic across your various services and systems of record. 

Diversity, age and nature of existing systems 

Any large enterprise – any enterprise, really – is going to have some applications which don’t support the full spread of modern integration patterns. There are a variety of options to overcome these challenges. One popular approach is to wrap legacy applications in a service layer which exposes data in modern ways. For instance, if a legacy application does not provide RESTful APIs, one can be implemented in the service layer, either translating from an older API specification (such as SOAP) or by interacting with the application’s database. An additional benefit of this approach is that it can simplify the migration process to a modern application. Once the service layer is in place, your tech crew can start mapping the API to a new application, supporting the seamless transition from old to new.

Shortage of talented, experienced and trained resources

Skilled integration resources are always in short supply. This is where parterning with a System Integrator company (like Fusion5) can really help your business. We are able to provide talented staff to increase your staff velocity, execute digital transformation initiatives, and provide training to your in-house staff. Whether you’re looking to maintain a full in-house team, or you’re eager to leverage a partner to augment your integration capability, Fusion5 can help you. 

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