Modern business integration is a crucial accelerator for contemporary organizations that want to accelerate growth, unlock new revenue streams and improve customer experiences. It allows businesses to take advantage of existing technology, people, and processes to stay in front of their competitors.
Many companies use both on-premises solutions and legacy software. 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, logistics, and other industries are common use cases. These industries require robust security, governance capabilities, and audit trails to securely connect with multiple trading partners.
Another common use case is horizontal integration, where two or more companies in the same industry combine to offer a wider range of products or services. For example, a clothing company for women might integrate into a fashion brand that serves teens or young adults to introduce the company to new markets.
Modern integration strategies enable these companies to extract the right data from their front-end applications and convert it into a form that is compatible with their business partner’s central organization device. This data can be sent to the application of choice for processing. This can help automate processes, improve business communication, and decrease the risk of human errors or delays.