Modern business integration can be a powerful accelerator for modern organizations who want to increase their growth, unlock revenue streams and improve their customer experience. It allows companies to use their existing technology and processes, as well as their people, to stay ahead.
Traditionally, many companies have a combination of legacy systems and on-premises software applications as well as cloud solutions. These disparate technology and their associated data are not inherently communicative, which is the reason why businesses need a robust business-integration strategy.
Modern integration makes it easier for these business relationships to flourish in the digital world. This allows systems and applications within and outside of lines of business to seamlessly exchange vital information. This is known as B2B (business-to-business) integration and involves a number advanced protocols, including AS2, SFTP HTTPs Web Services, proprietary high-speed file transfers, and Web Services.
Financial services, healthcare and logistics are all common use cases. These industries have a common need to securely link multiple trading partners, while maintaining robust security, audit trail, and governance capabilities.
Another common application is horizontal integration. This is where two or more companies from the same industry combine their efforts to offer a broader range of services or products. For example, women’s apparel companies might integrate with fashion brands that cater to teens and young adults in order to introduce them into new market segments.
Modern integration strategies enable companies to extract the correct data from front-end applications, and convert it into an appropriate format for their central organization device. This can then be sent to the target application for processing. This can automate and streamline processes, improve collaboration, and reduce the likelihood of human errors and delays.