Systems integration: learn how it works, main types and their importance

With the company's growth, it is natural that processes become more bureaucratic and complex, and it is likely that the IT area will have difficulty scaling its operation along with the organization's growth.

In this scenario, with the increase in systems and the consequent manual work to pass information from one area to another, it is often essential to rely on systems integration , in order to connect business data, avoiding inefficient internal processes and more Expensive than necessary.

Systems integration is the process of connecting different systems or software to cooperate, functioning as a single system through the sharing of data and information.

In short, everything flows seamlessly between all the company's systems, reducing complexity and time spent on operations.

With systems integration, all functions along the business process chain can be brought together, optimizing the organization's productivity due to better information flow. 

Read this content until the end and understand why it is so important to implement systems integration and ensure that it works in your company.

Read too:

iPaaS: What It Is, How It Works, and Why Consider the Investment

Small and medium-sized companies seek the integration of legacy systems

Why is systems integration important?

Since each piece of software is programmed with a different code, systems integration acts as a go-between that translates each software's data behind the scenes. This ensures that all components work together in harmony to preserve productivity.

The most used exchanges of information include customer data, orders, account payable or receivable information, etc., making it possible, for example, to integrate all systems, from a CRM with ERP, to the e-commerce platform with the tax system. As a result, the areas of the company become more connected.  

In the end, it is easy to see that integration is essential to facilitate communication between these generally distant systems , which normally do not communicate.

In addition to this advantage, learn about the other benefits that make systems integration so important for any business.

Also take the opportunity to listen to episode #7 of Sky.Cast , Sky.One's Sky.One ! In this episode, we talk to subject matter expert Anderson Santana , Business Development Manager here at Sky.One .

Benefits of systems integration

1. Avoids duplicate work and manual errors

Being able to integrate systems can be fundamental in saving employees' time, since it reduces manual work, thus increasing productivity.

But he goes even further: the most important gain is cost reduction. Remember that with integration, data is automatically transferred between systems, resulting in automatic workflows, ensuring better process efficiency and also drastically reducing error margins.   

2. Ability to monitor business performance

With data stored in different systems and applications, an assertive analysis of business performance becomes unfeasible. 

In turn, collecting all the data in a central system optimizes this analysis, ensuring the reliability of the information and increasing its added value.

A clear example is the connection between all systems with your ERP , which guarantees the administrator a more complete view of the business.

By integrating systems, managers can manage the entire volume of information more easily and obtain insights for decision- making, even making use of a single interface, which optimizes time and contributes to their productivity.

3. Improves decision making

Another advantage is the ability to use accurate and complex data in an automated way, providing a 360° view of the organization .

Better and more accurate decisions will be made from them, which allows organizations to grow and reduce costs.

4. Alternative for replacing the legacy system

Integrating data from legacy systems with modern systems allows organizations to continue working with them and move forward in digital transformation.

It is important to highlight that the two main ways of integrating legacy systems are: 1) using API (Application Platform Interface) or 2) using an iPaaS ( Integration Platform as a Service) .

The API consists of a programming interface that aims to integrate systems, allowing the sharing of data (information) and functionalities (processes) in an automated way. 

In practice, however, this option presents some challenges, mainly noticed when we consider legacy systems. This happens because many on premise software do not have an API, making this type of integration impossible.  

The integration of legacy systems through iPaaS , in turn, has been gaining more and more adherence by the market , which has identified in the solution a way to guarantee a customized service for its needs, able to offer efficiency in the integration of local systems and data with systems and data in the cloud.

Watch the video below and find out how using a systems integration platform can contribute to greater productivity in your business:

→ Read also : How the lack of systems integration can affect a team

How does systems integration occur?

In the past, systems integration used to be a complex task. Systems and applications from different providers required a point-to-point integration solution, relying on complex configurations and custom coding.

This format has proven to be inflexible and fragile, as well as requiring constant maintenance as every software update or process change can break the entire integrated system.

Today, the most robust integration solutions are a reality. This makes it possible for new technologies such as cloud, big data and IoT to rapidly communicate with each other and with current systems.

With a good iPaaS platform, internal gains include the centralized management of all integrations between business software, with real-time data processing, mitigating time spent on rework, data loss and system instabilities. 

The extra time also allows the team to deal with more strategic business issues, such as optimizing processes and improving performance.

Integrations can occur in two ways :

• Unidirectional , following a single direction, that is, with a system sending information to another but not receiving anything from it.
• Bidirectional , which works both ways, sending data to each other.

Even with this division, there are some distinct types of integration that will be seen below.

Types of systems integration

Companies looking to implement data sharing across their software should consider the different types of systems integration and how they can streamline their workflows.

In addition to the scope of integration projects, which vary in size and complexity, there are also different types of connection between systems, which include: 

• Via API : The most common integration process is via API. While there are several API subcategories, including public and private, they all have the purpose of making this systems connection. By establishing these interconnections using a common code language, systems can pass data between them;
• Legacy System Integration : As we discussed in the previous section, legacy system integration allows the organization to connect legacy systems with other newer systems;
• Via database : this is an option in which the same database is shared between different systems. To work, data extraction software is used;
• Integration via Big Data : this type is essential in any Big Data . It allows the integration of data from different sources and different formats. This way you get all the data to be combined into a single view to be used for reporting and analysis.
• Integration with cloud services : connects multiple applications, systems and databases to be integrated into cloud services, allowing access by multiple devices on a network or connected to the internet.

How to ensure the best systems integration for your company?

By now, you have already realized that companies that do not have adequate systems integration can face several risks. 

But in practice, systems integration can be challenging if done in an obsolete way without the support of an integration platform. 

Integration projects gone wrong can have far-reaching consequences, even resulting in connections that cripple the IT structure.

The most common integration challenge revolves around two or more parties working together. This can result in miscommunication, unclear responsibilities, arguments over what actually needs to be integrated. Other challenges that can make the process difficult include:       

• sudden system changes; 
• integration can result in a complex project;
• find employees who can handle the integration projects; and
• integration complexities swirling around APIs. 

Hardly the development of customizations will be as good as a solution focused on a specific functionality. 

Therefore, to guarantee that you will have the best systems integration for your company, the tip is to count on the support of our iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) , the Integra.Sky !

Get to know Integra.Sky

Integra.Sky Integra.Sky designed to connect cloud (SaaS), infrastructure (On Premise) or legacy systems using modern and secure architecture.

With the platform, you can automate your business processes by integrating software and systems .

Based on modern architectures, we have developed a platform that uses APIs to ensure simple and secure integration. It meets 7 fundamental pillars for its operation:

• Security and Encryption : The communication, authentication, encryption and auditing mechanisms available in Integra.Sky ensure that integrations adhere to the best security and compliance practices. In addition, it complies with the requirements of the LGPD;
• Monitoring : the operator can verify the success of each of the steps of a communication flow and is also automatically alerted when a process has failed;
• Technical standardization : the systems developer has the opportunity to create integration flows quickly and safely, exposing to the world a standardized and secure format of interconnections through RESTful interfaces;
• Reliability : the solution is based on a distributed and scalable architecture that allows it to accommodate load variations safely and reliably;
• Integration Velocity : Provides several building blocks upon which integrations can be built. In this way, multiple flows can be created without the need for any code, reducing the time required to build them;
• API for client-server : software can offer modern APIs to the world, even if they are not yet available natively. This is possible, as Integra allows public interfaces to be built in REST format that can be mapped to other actions that the ERP can process.
• Replicability : the model supported by Integra.Sky allows an integration to be quickly replicated to all customers using the software involved.

Integra.Sky Integra.Sky solution for companies that need to integrate systems without requiring internal development or for the manufacturer of the software you use, which can provide integration in an agile and simplified way. Is this your case? So learn more about this solution !