Category: Application Integration

Are you left with disconnected systems, data silos, inconsistencies and duplicates? Are these gaps slowing you down and silently killing your business? 

Managing multiple applications while juggling core business tasks isn’t easy, but that’s where most organizations are stuck. 

So, how do you firefight these broken workflows, processes and systems?

By choosing an enterprise application integration platform that helps you connect all your applications, enables seamless communications, and achieves real-time data flow. (Apart from many other things.)

Ready to eliminate inefficiencies and focus on growth? Dig into this blog to see how a well-selected EAI can transform your business.

Let’s get started.

Why Do You Need an Enterprise Application Integration?

Software applications have become a part of modern businesses. To manage multiple tasks, you rely on various software applications, but the disconnection between these applications makes you juggle, taking most of your valuable time. 

That’s where application integration comes in. Application integration solutions provide users with a unified platform to connect multiple applications, allowing users to communicate and share data seamlessly. 

Why Enterprises are Inclining Towards Application Integration Solutions?

Did you know? The enterprise application integration market was valued at $55 billion in 2024 and it is expected to reach $89.09 billion by 2031.

The reason for this significant increase?

• Ongoing technological developments
• Widespread adoption of advanced products and solutions across various sectors
• Continous innovations
• Advances in Artificial Intelligence
• Enhanced product efficiency and functionality (and many more.) 

The application integration services market is on the brink of a transformative phase of growth. This impending change underlines the increasing importance for enterprises to select the right integration platform, one that can streamline operations and drive efficiency. 

To help you make the right choice, we have selected 7 key factors for you to consider before selecting an enterprise application service. Let’s begin.

7 Things to Consider Before Selecting an Enterprise Application Integration

From processed automation to enhanced customer service, application integration services help streamline your tasks, reduce errors and increase business productivity. 

Understanding the importance of effective application integration best practices is crucial to ensure seamless access to information for decision-making. 

Thus, to enable better connections between various platforms, databases, and applications, we have listed the following seven aspects you may consider before selecting the right application integration for your business. 

1. Scalability and Flexibility

The need to integrate more applications and manage large volumes of data increases with your growing business. Thus, choose an application integration solution that is scalable and flexible to your system architecture.

It should be able to handle:

• The additional new software,
• Increased data traffic,
• Complex workflows,
• Support different types of integrations, and 
• Accommodate new applications and data sources

Moreover, your chosen software should evolve with technological advances rather than be limited to a rigid structure. It should also offer cloud-based or hybrid deployment options to leverage the advancements of both on-premise and cloud environments.

2. Strong Compatibility

Will the integration solution support your current applications? Will it require custom development?

Before selecting an integration system, ensure it is compatible with your current infrastructure, as the need for custom development, troubleshooting, or system rework could lead to the following:

• Data Silos
• Communication Breakdowns
• Higher Operational Costs, and more.

Ensure that it works with your existing ERP, CRM, HRM, and other business systems. It should not disrupt your current business process or require a complete overhaul of your existing system.

Modern integration solutions provide APIs, connectors, and adapters to smoothly integrate different systems. 

However, if the systems do not integrate for real-time data sharing, it may delay your processes. This could also lead to costly custom integrations, manual workloads, operational inefficiencies, custom coding and long-term maintenance challenges.

3. Security and Reliability

For any business, beyond scalability and compatibility comes data security. A robust EAI software prioritizes the security and reliability of your data and integrations(especially when integrating multiple systems that share sensitive information).

Thus, ask yourself the following questions before selecting an EAI service platform.

• Does the platform provide end-to-end encryption?
• Does it protect your data from unauthorized access, beaches and losses?
• How does it ensure data integrity and confidentiality?
• Does it comply with relevant regulations and standards?
• Will the platform provide backup and recovery solutions?
• Does the platform support industry-specific compliance requirements?

Whether it’s customer data, financial transactions, or employee records, the EAI you choose should offer high availability, performance, and fault tolerance. Your EAI’s primary role is to facilitate secure data transfer across systems. 

4. Low-Code or No-Code Capabilities

Do you want to drive innovations and efficiency without technical barriers? Are you tired of dealing with bugs and errors? Or maybe you want to empower non-technical users to participate in the integration process 

No-code or low-code integration capabilities help you effortlessly create and manage integrations without needing extensive coding skills or technical knowledge.

• Enhance Agility
• Reduce Dependency
• Accelerate Deployment
• Save Time and Resources, and
• Avoid Errors

Explore enterprise application integration services with intuitive interfaces and streamlined integration processes. These services enable you to design, build, and deploy integrations using features like drag-and-drop, pre-built templates and visual workflows.

If you are unsure which platform works best for your business, consider application integration consulting services. 

5. Monitoring and Management

How easy is it to monitor, manage, and troubleshoot interactions? It isn’t. An application integration solution should connect apps or systems. But it should also equip you with the tools and insights to monitor and manage your integrations.

These tools should provide you with invaluable insights, from tracking and measuring integration status to alerting you of any issues or errors.

• Intuitive dashboards
• Analytical tools
• Reports and
• Visualizations

The platform you select should be able to understand, optimize and enhance your integration processes and outcomes.

Moreover, it should be easy for technical and non-technical users. A too-complex integration might require expertise, leading to downtime, extended long-term maintenance or external consulting.

6. Cost and ROI

What would you choose? An EAI solution that requires lower initial costs but higher long-term investments or a solution with a higher initial prize but long-term value? Most of you would opt for solution B, Right?

Before deciding on an EAI, it’s crucial to weigh cost-effectiveness and ROI. Find a solution that delivers maximum value to your business, such as

• Reduced operational costs,
• Improved productivity
• Lower ongoing expenses
• Higher efficiency
• Higher return on investment
• Comprehensive features and
• Automated updates

Additionally, factor in both the upfront and ongoing costs, such as software licenses, maintenance, and support. The EAI solution you choose should align with your business goals. 

7. User-friendly

No business would want an EAI solution that requires endless training, slower adoption and reduced productivity. It would only lead to disruptions and hinder overall efficiency.

Thus, choose an EAI solution that is easy to adopt and efficient for your organization. One that lets your team quickly learn and use it with minimized downtime and maximum productivity.

An intuitive interface that requires minimal training benefits your business in several ways, including 

• Faster adoption
• Less downtime and disruptions
• Immediate integration improvements 
• Few support issues
• Significant boost in productivity

A user-friendly integration platform can greatly improve the smoothness and efficiency of connecting software systems and data sources. 

However, not all EAI platforms are designed to be user-friendly and easy to configure or maintain. You can seek application integration consulting services to streamline the process. 

Moreover, to assist you in making a quick and better decision, we have compiled a list of the top five platforms in 2024.

Top 5 Enterprise Application Integration Platforms 2024 

The market for EAI platforms is highly competitive. There are numerous platforms offering a wide variety of integration solutions and services with top-notch features, like data transformation, protocol mediation, API management, and more. 

Taking into account their functionality, ease of use, flexibility, scalability and other features, it is difficult to find the one that fits your needs. Thus, here are top 5 platforms of 2024, to help choose the best. 

1. APPSeCONNECT

It is an iPaaS (Integration Platform-as-a-Service) platform that focuses on connecting different SaaS, on-premise, cloud applications and system endpoints. 

Using this modern and intelligent automation platform, you can connect ERP, Ecommerce, CRM and other platforms into a unified system. Moreover,it focuses strongly on data security and reliability to ensure sensitive data remains secure. 

Pricing: Offer different plans, like starter, growth and enterprise. 

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

2. Azure Integration Services

Azure integration services include five tools that act as a bridge between on-premise services and cloud applications. These services focus on

• Securing APIs,
• Making them accessible,
• Streamlining workflows,
• Connecting departments through communication, and
• Automating and managing team tasks.

You can use these integration solution tools separately or in different combinations to accomplish various organizational goals. 

Azure integration services simplify the work for developers and teams by handling complex tasks and streamlining them with essential components.

Pricing: You can evalue the pricing using their Azure pricing calculator and a TCO calculator.

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

3. Boomi

Boomi specializes in Integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaas), API management and data solutions. It helps organizations automate their business processes through application, database and API integrations. 

• It speeds up processes with built-in intelligence
• Supports role-based access 
• Is user-friendly, and 
• Scalable and secure
• Automates workflows and processes

 The platform streamlines data integration with pre-built connectors that simplify data exchange across cloud, on premises and edge environments.  

Pricing: Flexible pricing for all businesses

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

4. IBM App Connect Enterprise

IBM helps businesses connect applications and systems to unlock critical data quickly and securely. With IBM, you can quickly connect SaaS applications and build workflows using pre-built connectors and customizable templates.

It has a no-code interface with a drag-and-drop system for easy integration creation. IBM also supports complex integrations with various programming languages and management tools. 

Pricing: Offers a 30-day free trial

G2 Rating: 4.3/5

5. Workato

Workato is one of the most advanced integration platforms. It offers custom integrations with over 1,000+ SaaS apps, databases, ERPs and more. Businesses can optimize their operations both in the cloud and on-premises. 

Its cloud native designs, low-code/ no-code environment, and simple drag-and-drop interface makes it easier to construct APIs and integrations. 

Workato also offers a large library of connectors, automation recipes and workbot for scaling governance, error management and build and customize workflows. 

Pricing: Offers a free trial

 

G2 Rating: 4.7/5

Remove data silos, improve customer experience and simplify business processes with enterprise application integration platforms. 

Conclusion

Enterprise Application Integration is crucial for seamless data exchange in today’s business world. Selecting the right solution requires a thorough understanding of your organization’s current and future needs. 

A well-chosen EAI will support your long-term growth and adaptability in an ever-evolving digital world. For more technology-driven solutions, contact our experts at Augmented Systems.

Cloud computing for businesses is as irreplaceable in today’s scenario as an efficient workforce. By using it properly, you can save costs, monitor tasks, and manage operations effortlessly. It doesn’t matter what the size of your organization is. If you can leverage this application integration solution wisely you will outpace your competitors and keep your business ahead of the time.

In this comparison, we will explore two prominent application integration software platforms: Azure and Amazon Integration Services. We will dig deeper into their respective components and functions. Then, analyze the differences so that you can make an informed decision about which one is the right fit for your needs.

What is Azure Integration Services?

Azure integration services include five tools that act as a bridge between on-premise services and cloud applications. They focus on securing APIs, making them accessible, streamlining workflows, connecting departments through communication, and automating and managing team tasks.

These application integration solution tools can be used separately or in different combinations to accomplish various organizational goals. You can achieve efficiency and consistency by having these five Azure integration services at your disposal.

Types of Integration Services Provided By Azure

Logic Apps

Logic Apps, an integral part of Azure Integration Services, is a cloud-based platform as a service that seamlessly automates workflows. Most B2B organizations rely on its capability to integrate applications and connect systems across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. 

Logic Apps is sought after for developing highly scalable integration services. For example, whenever a team member uploads a new file in Logic Apps, it will schedule and send an email notification, thus automating workflows.

Azure Service Bus

Service Bus is best used for messaging services. It offers three communication modes: queues, topics, and relays. While queues and topics handle one-way communication, relays take care of bi-directional communication. And it also integrates with other Azure services like Logic Apps, Stream, and Analytics.

B2C organizations rely on this Azure integration service to store and process a huge scale of messages. It allows receivers to process the messages at their own pace.

So essentially, it works as a connecting bridge between on-premises systems and cloud-based apps.

Azure Event Grid

Azure Event Grid works as a publish-service system that makes information accessible across varied Azure services and applications. Event Grid seamlessly plays the role of a reliable and capable route handler when it comes to managing built-in and custom events. It also builds event-driven serverless applications in the Azure cloud. 

Azure Functions

Azure Functions is a serverless computing platform that allows developers to optimize infrastructure and write less code. Based on event triggering, the code deploys and executes without the need for a server infrastructure. Moreover, developers can use a myriad of programming languages such as C#, Java, TypeScript, and Python.

Azure integration services address various challenges when building apps, connecting devices, working with data, managing cloud setups, ensuring security, and more on Microsoft’s Azure platform.

Azure API Management

As the name suggests, this Azure integration service manages all the APIs in one place. Additionally, it handles the tasks of securing and publishing APIs to the team as well as internal and external customers.

API management consists of three primary components:

• Azure Portal: Creates SQL databases, virtual machines, and app databases.
• Developer Portal: this is where developers can access the APIs.
• API Gateway: Securely manages and controls who can access APIs.

Many enterprises heavily rely on Azure Integration Services, as it effortlessly manages critical operations, ranging from data integration and enterprise messaging to system integration. It simplifies the work for developers and teams by handling complex tasks and streamlining them with essential components.

What is AWS Integration Services?

Application integration on Amazon Web Service is a set of services that helps different parts of application integration software work together more efficiently. This is especially useful in systems that are spread out across different locations. 

One striking advantage of application integration on AWS is that it allows companies to concentrate on their important business objectives instead of spending too much time on routine or monotonous tasks.

There are five main groups or categories for the components of AWS application integration services:

Amazon API Gateway

API Gateway is a fully managed service that allows you to create, deploy, and manage APIs. API Gateway allows you to create APIs that connect to your applications and access AWS services or other external resources. It creates two different kinds of APIs: Restful APIs and WebSocket APIs. It also works effortlessly with other AWS integration services like lambda EC2 and S3.

Amazon Simple Queue Service

SQS is a comprehensive queuing service. It allows you to send, receive, and store messages across AWS integration services in large volumes. It supports two types of queuing mechanisms FIFO and standard queue.

Amazon Simple Notification Service

SNS takes care of the mass delivery of the app-to-app notifications. It facilitates various endpoints like SMS and Push notifications. With AWS integration services like notification service, you can count on scalable and reliable delivery of real-time notifications across various platforms and devices.

Amazon Simple Workflow Service

Simple workflow service works as a fully-fledged automated tracker that organizes assigned tasks to the team across different application components. While also tracking the progress and improvements. So it effortlessly eliminates the hassle of overseeing and managing the different schedules to manage task implementation.

AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is a serverless computing platform. It works on an event-driven mechanism to run and execute backend code. It supports programming languages like Java, Nodejs, Python, and PowerShell.

AWS Step Functions

This Amazon integration service allows developers to create a series of visual workflows with the help of drag and drop feature. It empowers developers in coordinating and automating processes.

Face Off: Azure Vs Amazon Which One is for You?

Now that you know how each of these platforms’ various components eases your burden. Let’s compare their strengths and differences on different parameters so you can determine which one is made for your organization’s requirements.

Global Reach

While AWS integration services debuted first in 2006. Yet Azure has an edge over its presence in 60+ regions worldwide and 140 countries vs AWS’s 30 region presence worldwide. When you operate internationally with a widely spread employee you need to choose application integration software that is vastly available.

Cloud Storage

In AWS, the storage tier setting is object-oriented. This means that individual objects, such as files or data, can be configured to use different storage classes like S3 (Standard) or S3-IA (Infrequent Access) based on their access patterns or requirements.

In Azure, storage settings are done for the whole storage account. In AWS, the storage tier setting is object-oriented. Individual objects, such as files or data, can be configured to use different storage classes like S3 (Standard) or S3-IA (Infrequent Access) based on their access patterns or requirements.

AWS allows more granule control whereas Azure offers simpler management with less flexibility.

Security and Privacy

Since Azure has an edge in threat detection, it comprehensively covers aspects like firewalls, virtual machines, and databases. It seamlessly integrates with Power BI to create reports. Meanwhile, AWS has powerful encryption and key management.

Range of Services

On one hand, Azure provides an extensive range of services with incredible hybrid cloud capabilities. It also integrates well if you use Microsoft technologies in your organization.

On the other hand, AWS has advanced offerings like machine learning and the Internet of Things.

Ease of Use

While Azure is known for offering a user-friendly interface and easy integration. If an organization already works with a lot of Microsoft products, AWS can be considered more complex. AWS is known for having extensive documentation despite offering a wide range of services.

Pricing Model

Azure and AWS offer different payment approaches, both based on pay-as-you-use. Azure suits those using Microsoft products, while AWS offers savings plans for long-term cost-effectiveness. To find the more affordable option, examine service prices and usage before deciding.

Wrapping Up

Now that we have analyzed the components of application development and integration platforms thoroughly, you might be able to identify the strengths that can bring out the best for your organization. Even though both platforms offer excellent cloud solutions and provide ease of conducting operations, you also need to look within and measure your existing technology compatibility, scalability, and budget requirements to make a sound decision.

At Augmented Systems, we assist organizations of varying sizes and scales in navigating the data migration process swiftly within different cloud computing environments. Given our successful track record in managing cloud-to-cloud migrations over the years, we can provide the expertise needed to facilitate your migration seamlessly.

Software has become a key part of modern businesses, and we need many of them to perform different business functions.

However, managing all of them can give you headaches daily. You don’t want to spend half of your day juggling, don’t you?

That’s where application integration comes in.

How do you ensure your business’ application integration is done to its full potential? Well, you read this blog post. 

Let us uncover the best practices and proven strategies so that you can best leverage application integration. Let’s dive in!

What is Application Integration? Why is It Important?

Application integration is a process of coinciding multiple applications through a common platform, enabling seamless communication and data sharing. 

Businesses these days rely on multiple applications to perform different tasks. All the application works in silos. Result? It leads to inefficient processes and errors. 

Application integration streamlines the tasks, reduces errors, and increases business and organization productivity. 

For instance, you buy clothes from an online store. What does integration of applications do? It helps the online clothing store to link their website, inventory management, and payment processing system.

When you order clothes from this online store, the website automatically updates the inventory and processes your payment. This assures that the entire process is seamless, without any hiccups. 

Inarguably, every application works great individually. However, the integration of applications plays a vital role in connecting the on-premise legacy systems with modern cloud-based enterprise applications.

In today’s tech landscape, integration is essential for optimizing organizational efficiency and reducing costs.

Benefits of Effective Application Integration Services

Application integration is a game-changer for businesses as they can streamline operations more efficiently, improve data flow, and enhance productivity.

Let’s dig deeper to know the five key benefits of application integration services.

Benefit 1: Information Sharing

As the name suggests, the application integration software has the ability to share real-time data between various software. It bridges the gap between different applications by ensuring consistency across your organization.

Example: Application Integration for a Retail Store

A retail store shares information between its e-commerce platform, inventory management system, and customer relationship management (CRM) software. How?

• A customer places an order on the website. The website shares this information with the inventory system. It checks the stocks and provides real-time updates to the CRM system.
• The CRM system updates the customers for delays or refunds. As well as it stores order history and preferences for recommendations.

Thus, with application integration, information sharing among these systems makes the process smooth, efficient, and customer-friendly.

Benefits 2: Process Automation

Integration of applications automates the entire process (as in the example above). It eliminates mundane data entry tasks by connecting different applications. Thus allowing employees to focus on value-added work.

The overall benefit of process automation is that it enhances efficiency and productivity for any organization.

Example: Application Integration for a Company’s HR System

Say a company wants to automate its employee onboarding process. Application integration helps the HR system collect employee details, set up payroll, and grant access to related systems. How?

• So, when an employee gets hired, the automated HR system shares the information with the payroll system, IT system, facilities department, and more.
• Payroll systems update salary-related details. The IT system creates a user account with necessary access permissions. The facility department arranges for desks and other equipment for the new employee.

Thus, process automation accelerates the onboarding process by enhancing efficiency and minimizing errors.

Benefit 3: Reduces Time and Saves Money

Application integration offers time savings and cost-saving advantages to an organization. It helps eliminate duplicate data and reduces operational costs. 

Automating workflow helps employees save from task redundancy and provides better data management. 

Example: Application Integration for a Small Business

Say a small business wants to grow its business by focusing more on customers. They do so by improving their sales and marketing. Application integration can help the business do so cost-effectively and in less time. How?

• They integrate their CRM system with the marketing system. The CRM system updates customer information when a potential customer shows interest in a product or service.
• The customer details are added to the list of sales leads. Which the marketing team looks at and automatically sends follow-ups to nurture the leads.

This reduces manual data entry, downsizing the dependency on manual work and lowering labor costs. 

Benefit 4: Accurate and Consistent Data

Manual data transfer from one system to another often leads to errors and inconsistencies. Of course, it’s natural. Human errors are prone to happen. Solution? Application Integration.

Application integration accurately and consistently exchanges information between applications with minimal risk of data discrepancies. 

Example: Application Integration for a Shipping Company

A shipping company integrates its order management and delivery tracking systems to ensure data consistency and accuracy. How? 

• As a customer places an order for a shipment, the order management system shares customer and order details with the delivery tracking system. 
• The delivery system does its tasks with the information and provides real-time updates to the customers. If there are changes to the delivery, the delivery system informs the order management system, which notifies the customers. 

With application integration, manual errors are eliminated, ensuring that the data shared over the systems is accurate and consistent. 

Benefit 5. Enhanced Customer Experience

Ensuring a satisfactory customer experience is essential to retaining customers and gaining a competitive edge in today’s market. No one would want to visit your organization’s platform if they had to open different applications for a single task. 

Streaming those applications together using application integration enhances customer experience. 

Example: Application Integration for a Clothing Website

A clothing website integrates with its inventory management system for an enhanced customer experience. How? 

• On a website, when a customer selects a product, the website verifies its availability by checking the inventory system.
• If the product is available, the customer may process to add it to the cart; otherwise, an “out of stock” message pops up on the website’s screen. After the purchase, the inventory system updates the stock on the website.

A positive customer experience increases customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Best Practices for Successful Application Integration

1. Research

You should know what you want to achieve. Doing proper research is like doing your homework before a project. For a successful application integration, gathering information is crucial.

So, ask these questions to yourself as you start your research. 

• Integration Objective: Which integration approach is most suitable for your requirements? Which approach aligns best with your organization’s objective? 
• Understanding of the System: Learn about the way the system works. Are you aware of its technical requirements?
• Basics of Application Integration: What is API, and how do APIs work?
• Resource Planning: What is your budget and timeline? Who are the stakeholders?
• Effectiveness of the Integration: How will you measure the success of your integration, and what will be the challenges?

2. Application Integration Tools and Platforms

Familiarize yourself and experiment with various application integration tools. Why? Because you should know which tool suits your requirements or business needs. So, to work with an integration system, you need to gain practical knowledge and experience. 

These are a few application integration tools you can use – Boomi, Celigo, and IBM. Another solution is to hire an application integration expert.

3. Stay Updated

It would help if you connected with as many people as possible to stay updated with the latest technological trends and advances.

So, network with other professionals from similar fields, participate in workshops, and attend events. You can likewise attend webinars and conferences as well as follow industry blogs.

4. Data Quality and Security

To prevent errors and maintain reliable information, you need to ensure that the quality of your data is accurate and consistent. Moreover, the shared or integrated data with other applications should be securely transferred. 

5. Seek Feedback, Monitor and Test

Ask for feedback from mentors and industry experts. Use the feedback to implement necessary changes. 

Furthermore, use monitoring and error-handling mechanisms to detect the issues early, diagnose the problems and implement solutions.

Last Advice: Hire Application Integration Experts

In today’s swiftly changing digital domain, hiring an application development and integration expert is like hiring a tech-savvy magician for your business. They can be beneficial for several reasons.

1. They Know What They’re Doing: The experts have in-depth integration knowledge. They know how to integrate various systems and applications. Moreover, they streamline the processes and help prevent costly errors. 
2. Custom Solutions and Scalability: They assist you in tailoring the integrations according to your business requirements, guaranteeing progress and growth. 
3. Quick Fixes and Security: The hallmarks of expert service: they quickly resolve issues and maintain data security as they’ve done hundreds of times.
4. Compliance and Support: Experts ensure all connections comply with industry regulations and standards. They also provide continuous support and maintenance. 
5. ROI Maximization and Strategic Insights: Integration experts offer value advice for staying competitive and optimizing technology investments. 

We at Augmented revolutionize the IT industry by simplifying and enhancing how businesses utilize technology. 

With over 15 years of industry experience, Augmented Systems has over 60 projects exceeding customers’ expectations. Moreover, more than 40 active clients rely on us for their IT needs. 

We are committed to providing exceptional quality, true leadership, and a nurturing collaborative environment. We take ownership and accountability seriously. 

You can trust us to uphold the highest standards of integrity and stay updated with the latest technological achievements. 

Final Words

In this digital era, where data flows freely and technology is evolving quickly, application integration is not merely a convenience but a necessity. Organizations worldwide have adopted it, and you should, too.

At Augmented Systems, our team of experts is dedicated to providing top-notch software development and application integration services. Unlock the full potential of your organization and contact us if you need help with your application integration needs.

Is your business heavily reliant on multiple applications to operate effectively? Handling multiple applications is challenging; application integration is a knight in shining armor.

Do you want your applications to communicate with each other and share data internally? Application integration can do it for you. 

Need to cut manual labor and time-consuming activities? Application integration can do it for you.

Want to process orders at lightning speed? Guess what! Application integration can do it for you.

We know you want to put your business in order. Today, your search for optimizing your business workability will get its solution. Ready to enhance your business’s efficiency once and for all? Let’s go.

What is Application Integration?

Application integration is the process of connecting different software applications so that they can share data and communicate with each other.

Say for example you have a retail business. You would be using several applications, from ordering raw materials to keeping inventory status updated to taking from and delivering orders to your customers. By all odds, these applications work great individually. But it wouldn’t hurt to have all these applications’ data on one platform, a single dashboard for you to have it all at one click, would it?

Application integration is here to take the floor for you. 

It is a potential solution for better decision-making since all the data is available at a single node. Application integration makes communication seamless between diverse software applications. 

By connecting enterprise systems, the process reduces overhead costs and enhances scalability adding up to overall productivity. 

Levels of Application Integration

There are four levels of application integration. They are presentation-level integration, business process integration, data integration, and communications-level integration. 

These levels represent overlapping technologies that form a complete integration solution, linking new applications with existing ones.

> Presentation-Level Integration helps unify the user interface and experience of different applications, ensuring consistency. 

> Business Process Integration automates workflows by connecting applications. 

> Data Integration optimizes data merging across applications, supporting comprehensive data sharing and analysis.

> Communications-Level Integration enables smooth interactions between applications using APIs and other integration technologies.

In today’s dynamic business landscape, application integration enables businesses to function more effectively and efficiently.

Application integration sounds promising, doesn’t it? Now the only question is how to perform it. Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. 

How to Perform Application Integration?

Application integration is a complex process. It relies on three main steps to achieve seamless connectivity and data flow between different software applications. 

Let us walk you through the three essential steps to lay the foundation for designing effective integration solutions for optimized efficiency and productivity. 

Step 1: APIs – Bridging Applications with Standard Communication

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) provide a standardized way of communication. APIs are typically offered by application vendors and are commonly available in REST or SOAP formats. 

These formats allow your business to have endpoints from which the applications can request and exchange data. Once this is done, your multiple applications can communicate within the ecosystem.

Step 2: Event-Driven Actions – Orchestrating Integration

To create a successful integration, it’s crucial to apply logic when integration actions take place. Process-based integration often leverages events triggered by one application to drive the integration forward. 

Webhooks are commonly used in the source application to respond to specific events, triggering integration actions. Webhooks are user-defined HTTP callbacks that allow web applications to receive real-time notifications and data updates from external services or APIs.

If the source application lacks webhook capabilities, data can be retrieved periodically through its API using a polling mechanism. An intermediary application or middleware may be required to retrieve, transform, and send data to the destination application.

Step 3: Data Mapping – Harmonizing Information Across Applications

Data mapping is a critical aspect of application integration. The information formats and fields between applications often differ. When events are received from the source application or retrieved through its API, they are in the source application’s format.

Data mapping involves translating or transforming the data to match the format and field requirements of the destination application. It accounts for variations in terminologies and configurations used across different applications.

Application integration demands a solid understanding of both the source and destination applications’ contexts. It is to ensure accurate and meaningful data mapping. Organizations can successfully achieve application integration, streamline workflows, and enhance overall operational efficiency by effectively leveraging APIs.

Benefits of Application Integration: What Kind of Leverage Awaits For You

Benefit 1: Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity

Application integration helps eliminate manual data entry and reduces redundant tasks within your business’s ecosystem. 

It connects different applications and integrated workflows, allowing employees to focus on value-added activities that contribute directly to your organization’s goals. As a result, efficiency and productivity are significantly enhanced across the entire enterprise. 

For example, as a retail business, your team can use application integration to connect your website, order management system, and warehouse management system. This would allow you to process orders more quickly and efficiently and to keep track of inventory levels in real-time.

Benefit 2: Real-Time Data Sharing

One of the key benefits of application integration is the ability to develop real-time data sharing between various programs. Integration ensures that information is up-to-date and consistent across your organization, regardless of where it is accessed or modified.

For example, client-facing teams can receive real-time data from several integrated systems, providing them with detailed insights into consumer interactions and preferences. 

Benefit 3: Cost Savings

Application integration offers significant cost-saving advantages for your organization. By eliminating duplicate data storage and manual data transfers, integration optimizes resource allocation and reduces operational expenses. 

Instead of maintaining multiple copies of the same data across different systems, integration ensures a single source of information, minimizing the need for redundant data storage.

Moreover, automation of workflows through integration reduces the dependency on manual labor, leading to lower labor costs. As employees spend less time on repetitive tasks and data management, they can be assigned tasks that add value to your organization.

Benefit 4: Improved Customer Experience

In today’s competitive business landscape, providing a satisfactory customer experience is essential for retaining customers and gaining a competitive edge. 

Application integration plays a vital role in enhancing the customer experience by enabling different systems to work seamlessly together. 

When customer-facing teams have access to integrated data from various systems, they can provide customers with consistent and accurate information. 

Benefit 5: Agile Business Processes

In the fast-paced business environment, agility is a critical factor for success. Application integration empowers your organization to automate and optimize business processes. It reduces response times and improves overall agility.

Automation of workflows enables rapid execution of tasks. Your business can reduce manual intervention and potential delays. Additionally, it allows you to respond quickly to changing market conditions and customer demands by orchestrating business processes efficiently.

Benefit 6: Data Accuracy and Consistency

Data accuracy and consistency are necessary for making informed business decisions. Manual data transfers between systems often introduce errors and inconsistencies. 

Application integration addresses this challenge by ensuring that data is seamlessly exchanged between applications, minimizing the risk of data discrepancies.

Benefit 7: Scalability and Flexibility

For your business to grow and evolve, it requires systems that can scale to accommodate increasing data volumes and evolving business requirements. 

Application integration offers the scalability and flexibility needed to support your organization’s growth and adapt to changing market dynamics.

Benefit 8: Competitive Advantage

In today’s competitive landscape, gaining a competitive advantage is essential for sustainable success. 

It’s necessary to do what everyone is doing. But it is even better to do something that your competitors are not doing to come out on top.

Application integration’s increased speed can give you a better perspective on your business’s success while increasing productivity with improved quality.

Benefit 9: Seamless User Experience

A seamless and intuitive user experience is crucial for employee satisfaction and productivity. Application integration provides users with a unified interface, simplifying workflows and reducing the complexities of switching between multiple applications.

When your employees can access different applications through a single interface, they can work more efficiently. Now, they don’t need to navigate between various systems. 

Benefit 10: Innovation and Digital Transformation

Innovation and digital transformation are key drivers of business growth and success in today’s technology-driven world. 

Application integration forms the foundation for innovation initiatives, allowing your organization to leverage data-driven insights and foster collaboration between different systems.

We are sure you are wondering how to apply application integration to your business. Let us share some use cases so you can analyze how they can be fruitful for your business.

Use Cases for Application Integration

Use Case 1: Banking

Digital banking is roaring and has grown like anything in the last decade. A bank can integrate customer accounts, applications, and back-end systems in its mobile app. This way, it can provide services to existing customers and attract new ones through the app.

Use Case 2: CRM Platforms

Customer relationship is essential to a business. By combining several tools and services, CRM platforms can work at their best efficiency. Automated marketing and customer support result in an increased number of sales and better product development functions.

Use Case 3: Manufacturing Industry

In manufacturing, connecting devices to other systems can help identify production problems and optimize quality, cost, and throughput. By connecting devices to parts inventories, scheduling applications, and manufacturing environment systems, manufacturers can gain insights for better decision-making.

Use Case 4: ERP Systems

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems serve as a hub for all business activities in the organization. Integrating ERP with supporting applications and services can streamline and automate mission-critical business processes with enterprise application integration. 

This can help organizations save time and money, improve efficiency, and make better decisions.

Conclusion

Boost processes, make data-driven decisions, and perform routine and occasional tasks at a faster pace with application integration. Big organizations around the world have adapted to it and now it is time you integrate it into your business’s operation.

If you need help with your application integration process, we would happily help you. Our experts work on the development and integration of software every day of the year. Contact us today for application integration services.