Systems Integration Design
For each type of demand, there is an application capable of simplifying the work and enhancing the results of your company. It is very unlikely that today, with the digital transformation, a company is restricted to a single information system. Possibly, the ideal solution for CRM is not the best option for Financial Management, for example. The reality is that companies rely on several tools, which need to operate in an integrated manner to ensure the correct functioning of processes. Therefore, to make all these software options work together and aligned with corporate objectives, it is necessary to pay attention to the integration between systems.
Why should your company care about systems integration?
To reach the maximum of its potential, a company must have all its sectors and collaborators working towards the same objective. And this is equally valid for the systems used in the company: if they are correctly integrated, these tools can provide much more speed and reliability in the organizational processes.
In practice, systems integration enhances an organization’s Business Intelligence, allowing better use of data obtained from different applications. All information collected will be used to achieve the main objectives of the company.
In addition, systems integration eliminates bottlenecks and productivity breakpoints. If it is necessary to enter repeated data into different systems each time a process changes hands between the company’s sectors, communication will lose value and speed — not to mention rework.
What should be the main objectives of a systems integration project?
Cost reduction
Automated processes reduce the time spent performing organizational activities, which generates cost savings.
Performance gain
Internal communication, when reinforced, is capable of optimizing interactions and promoting the establishment of joint strategies, as well as more efficient work routines. All of this translates into greater team productivity.
Process improvement
With good systems integration, frequent process optimization becomes easier. This is because activities and tasks can be changed in a simpler way, since they have technological support.
Reduced rework
In an ecosystem of integrated solutions, greater accessibility to information facilitates consultation and data access, as they are available to all sectors of the company. In addition, rework arising from the repetition of information entries in several systems is eliminated. It is enough to register the data once in an application and all the software and modules that need it will share this data.
Greater integration between departments
This means that the processes of different sectors are aligned, allowing the development of more effective collaborative strategies, in addition to the broad exchange of knowledge among employees. In this way, complex environments will have a more dynamic and unified workflow.
What are the main challenges of systems integration?
There are several complicating factors that can make this process difficult. The first is a technical issue: often, to make one tool communicate with the other, it is necessary to master both the language in which systems were written and also the logic behind the operation and implementation of the software. Not always the same professional will gather all the skills to perform the task. Therefore, it is best to have a team that has experience in the area and understands both the proposal for a technological solution and the company’s problem.
To be successfully implemented, integration also needs to overcome organizational challenges. Often, to effectively connect two very different systems, it is necessary to make significant changes in the way the team works. When modifying the workflow in any sector, the team carrying out the integration may encounter resistance from employees or even coordinators. Therefore, you need to be flexible and present changes intelligently to ensure acceptance by all.
Why should your company hire Salvato Consulting to help with systems integration?
Considering the mentioned challenges, relying on the support of professionals with experience in implementing integration projects can be a determining factor for initiatives to be successful and offer the expected return on investments made. We have a track record of deliveries made in different industries that allow us to add good practices to integration design. Our goal is to ensure that the necessary information is made available in the different systems, without causing unnecessary redundancy, with replication of data and control that add nothing to the process.
In our experience, we have seen that integrations between systems are usually carried out involving technical specialists from each application, but without the vision of people capable of analyzing these tools together from a process perspective, verifying the role that each one of them should effectively play. The result is that replicated data structures develop, need to be maintained unnecessarily across multiple systems, and constant synchronization/update issues.
We work to ensure that this is not the experience of our customers and that the integrations are only those that are really necessary and that each system involved in the processes supports the tasks that they best support. We manage integration projects by dealing with different system providers, aligning business needs and ensuring that the focus is maintained on delivering value to the business.
Our work covers:
- Systems integration design
- Integration project planning and management
- Technical leadership of teams from different suppliers
- Support in the definition of contracts with different suppliers
Key Features
- Process optimization
- Avoid unnecessary data replication
- Cost savings