Companies now depend on a larger number of applications than ever before to conduct their operations. A recent survey showed that the mean number of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications utilized by businesses globally has gone up from 8 in 2015 to 110 in 2021, representing an enormous growth of nearly 1,300% in six years. This does not even include any stationary on-premises applications that businesses employ.
Applications will remain an integral part of business activities going forward. Software application integration is a process that allows businesses to maximize their IT investments, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. With the right application integration solution, businesses can enhance their operational performance, improve customer service, and gain new insights into their data.
What is application integration?
Gartner defines application integration as the process of connecting different applications so that data can be shared and accessed from a single source. This means that information is not stored in one application but rather moves between applications. It allows companies to save money by reducing the number of systems they need to implement and maintain. It also makes it easier to share information between departments and find data more easily.
Application integration solutions can be implemented to connect both on-premise and cloud-based systems. The most common applications used for integration are business intelligence (BI), customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and other financial systems. Data is transferred between systems via APIs (application programming interfaces) or EDI (electronic data interchange). This enables organizations to enrich their data by combining it from different sources and makes it easier to manage information, automate tasks, and streamline processes. By integrating applications, businesses can increase their efficiency, reduce manual data entry, and save time and money.
Approaches to application integration
As the number of applications available on the market rises, there is a pressing requirement to interconnect them. Therefore, various integration methods have been developed, some of which have been utilized for a long time, while others are relatively new.
Point-to-point integration
The most basic form of system integration is point-to-point integration. If two programs need to share data, coders can make a unique integration to let the applications connect to each other. Unfortunately, this kind of integration poses many issues, mostly with scalability. Companies tend to modify or add new applications and systems frequently, and their requirements from those applications also alter. Writing a connection for every fresh program or use case is not feasible in the long run. When you transition your applications to a cloud environment, software-as-a-service firms typically issue updates two or three times each year. This necessitates your IT division to continuously conduct regression tests and rectify any issues caused by the changes.
Enterprise application integration (EAI) and enterprise service bus (ESB)
Instead of individual point-to-point integrations, EAI adopts a hub-and-spoke approach. The integration application works as the hub, while the other applications are connected to it through spokes. EAI provides the ability for organizations to automate their business processes with near real-time communication between applications.
Presently, Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) is the most widely used answer for EAI, which is used for directing messages among producer and consumer applications. This methodology is suitable for joining together internal applications in larger companies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t enable connecting those applications to cloud and edge devices with ease.
Integration platform as a service iPaaS
An iPaaS is an integration platform that runs on the cloud and its purpose is to join together data, applications, and processes. This platform streamlines the integration process and allows users to easily link applications and data that are distributed across multiple places.
As the number of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) programs has surged, there has been an increased demand for simpler and more self-service approaches to link and oversee all the information from them. iPaaS provides a useful tool for a variety of circumstances in which it is necessary to transfer, transport, or reproduce data between applications inside a business. It offers a speedy, simple, and adaptable way to link your programs and data, and doesn’t require any programming knowledge.
Application integration tools
When managing company operations, various kinds of data are needed for different business processes. Application integration helps make these processes run smoothly.
- Business process management: This can be used to automate manual processes and manage workflows in an organization. It can be used to integrate several different business applications.
- Business intelligence: This can be used to analyze data from various sources, including ERPs and CRMs, to provide business insights. It can be used by several departments within a company.
- Business event management: This can be used to trigger actions in one or more systems when a specific event occurs. For example, an order is placed or a customer receives a product.
- Business rules: This can be used to manage changes and business exceptions across a company by applying logic to data. This can be done by the creation of a rule.
- Bulk data transformation: This can be used to transfer data from one system to another. It can be used to transform data and create customized reports.
Benefits of application integration
When applications are integrated, it reduces the chance of having multiple, conflicting copies of the same data. Without this integration, the applications lack the ability to communicate and instead, create data silos that impede scalability, visibility, and the ability to trace where the data comes from and how it has been adjusted. All in all, this creates an unstable data ecosystem.
Besides getting rid of data barriers, a well-executed application integration solution can provide numerous other advantages to a business:
- Increased revenue: By integrating sales and marketing applications, organizations can optimize lead generation, sales, and conversion rates. This can help them attract more customers, increase sales, and generate more revenue.
- Improved customer service: By connecting different customer service systems, organizations can provide a better customer experience. This can be done by helping customer service representatives share customer data, automate workflow, and provide faster responses.
- Increased productivity: By connecting workforce applications, organizations can enhance collaboration and automate repetitive tasks. This can help them increase employee productivity and improve overall operational performance.
- Enhanced insight: By connecting business intelligence and other analytical applications, organizations can gain new insights into their data. This can help businesses improve decision-making and stay ahead of the competition.
- Enhanced adoption of emerging technologies: Numerous Software as a Service (SaaS) programs that have the capability to link applications are leading the way in supporting new technologies and enabling companies to gain greater benefit from their information.
How to choose an application integration solution
With lots of products in the market offering app integration tools, it can be challenging to opt for the right one for your business. As you review the different options, here are some important points to take into account:
- Ease of use: When it comes to user interfaces, it is easy to end up with an overly complicated design, making even the simplest tasks hard to complete. Therefore, it is important to pick an option that is user-friendly and can help boost your productivity.
- User needs: Try to find a solution that is available to the largest number of people, without having to forgo power or advanced features. The more people who can access it, the quicker and simpler it will be to construct even the most complicated integrations.
- Scalability: If you are only intending to use it for simple purposes at the moment, look for something that can expand with you. Choose a platform that unites application integration with other data management functions. This way, you can start with something small and then upgrade easily without needing to spend more money or learn a new system with limited prospects.
- Flexibility: Managed software is usually the first to incorporate the most current technological breakthroughs, so it can assist you in utilizing new advancements quicker than your rivals. Deciding on a cloud-based option will guarantee the best compatibility with both existing hardware and web-based programs so that you won't be restricted by the kinds of applications your organization relies on.
Get started with application integration
Businesses no longer have to purchase and maintain expensive onsite application servers to run essential applications and software. With ION247’s managed cloud services, your company can move away from costly upgrades and embrace an integrated set of platforms that operate in the cloud.