Overseeing Your Application Integration Inventory

It's normal for your applications portfolio to expand as your business grows. It's expected to have a bunch of disparate IT systems after a merger and acquisition. And it's unsurprising if your ecosystem contains shadow applications that don't have a place in your ecosystem. Even so, it all must connect - one way or another.

If your software applications don't communicate with one another, your enterprise information will be stored in silos. Your data won't be synched. And your business processes won't be able to access the information they require. The benefits you gain from technologies like AI or predictive analytics will diminish. So why pay for software features if you can't get the most value out of them?

Ensuring that all your systems work together is crucial.

What is Integration Architecture?

If communication is a door, then integration is the key. Integrating your various IT systems allows your ecosystem to work coherently. Integration architecture is the design of an IT landscape in a way that ensures the interoperability of different software components.

Whether you work with cloud-based applications, on-premises applications, or maintain a hybrid system, you'll need integration software. This is often referred to as middleware. Middleware bridges the gap between varying operating systems, software applications, databases, and platforms. It's a framework that allows data exchange between all your data sources.

Why Application Integration Matters

As your enterprise's application portfolio develops, you'll likely acquire a diverse set of software systems. These systems don't always operate in the same language. And that's okay! Integration software will act as a translator, so every application can understand one another. This way, they can exchange information and leverage all the data that your organization gathers.

Not having an integration strategy will cause disparate types of data stored in silos. This brings on a variety of problems, including inconsistent data, inefficient workflows, and delayed business processes.

Gain Visibility with an Integration Inventory

An application integration inventory shows you

• The interaction between your software applications
• Compatibility between application interfaces
• Direction of information
• Which applications are connected to one another

By having a detailed overview of your applications' relationships, you'll gain a better understanding of your IT landscape. Migrating or eliminating software will be easier because you will have vendor independence.

Seeing your integrations will help replace connections. This ensures a smooth transition when you're making modifications to your applications portfolio.

Wrapping Up

Having an application integration inventory is an essential step for creating a healthy, well-functioning Enterprise Architecture. Integration inventories and maps help you visualize how your IT systems communicate with each other. You'll have a clear picture of how your applications feed information to one another. This way, you'll make better decisions on shaping your technology ecosystem. To see how our integration maps work, schedule a short demo with our integration specialists today!