The Integrators
Applications integration represents a large and mature industry. Those engaged in the integration process scale from micro businesses on the order of an individual IT consultant to computer industry giants like IBM, and everything in between.
Software vendors that offer consulting services are probably capable of some degree of applications integration. If not, they work with partners who offer such services. The integrators that are outlined next include a specific firm, a generic profile of an IT consultant with programming skills, and even SMB employees who, through their skills and knowledge, can compensate manually for the lack of integration while at the same time laying the groundwork for eventually bringing automated integration to fruition.
The Synergex Solutions
Synergex is an example of an integration solutions provider for SMBs that has partnered with Cisco at the hardware provider level. The benefit to SMBs from the partnership is via an end-to-end business solution that delivers a scalable network infrastructure and an integrated applications environment.
Synergex also partners with platform and software vendors. OS vendors fall into the category of platform partners. Offerings from the software partners include CRM solutions from SalesLogix and Salesforce.com, analytics tools from VisualSmart, and integration design tools from DataJunction. Through the combination of varying partnerships and its professional services, Synergex delivers integration capabilities to the SMB market in industries such as health care, banking, manufacturing, and distribution.
A key integration offering from Synergex to software vendors and SMB end users alike is the integration enabling of applications via tools such as Web Services, integration adapters, and standard APIs. The implication for software vendors from having their applications integration enabled is likely a greater salability of their products. Assuming a scenario in which, over a period of time, an SMB purchases applications that are standards-based integration enabled, the implication for the SMB is the ability to maintain an integrated applications environment, even if the SMB does not purchase an integrated applications suite to begin with. And given the growing appeal of point applications and the need for responsiveness to change in business environments, integration-enabled point apps might become the wave of the future.
IT Consultants with Programming Skills
Individual IT consultants with programming and business management skills who operate on a contract basis could be the perfect answer for smaller SMB integration projects. But the scope of the project needs to be defined before any programming is performed, and it must be considered appropriate for a single individual to undertake it. Otherwise, results might be a long way off.
In the course of defining the integration requirements, a knowledgeable consultant might easily uncover software features and capabilities that are not even being used (although they could be beneficial to the business), standards-based integration options that already exist in the applications but that the SMB is not aware of (the integration project could turn out to be easy!), and, perhaps, the need for a few manual data transfer procedures more than for extensive programming.
When an IT consultant places the needs of the SMB before any preconceived idea of what must be done, the outcome, although it can be beneficial to both parties, is not necessarily actual integration programming. Instead, training, software upgrades or replacement, additional software, or simply change in business procedures could ease or eliminate any perceived lack of applications integration.
In-House Analyst
One type of an integrator that SMBs should not overlook is an employee who creates manual interfaces within business processes where none exist due to lack of applications integration. Such an individual might perform the following functions:
1. | Collect data from multiple sources and different structures. (Most applications have a data export function.) |
2. | Map all of the data to a common format. (Use any editing tools available.) |
3. | Transfer the data into a single database (preferably relational) that can be queried via numerous standard as well as ad hoc reports. |
4. | Use his or her analytical skills (human intelligence as opposed to analytics tools) to detect trends and discrepancies. |
5. | Provide the SMB management with distilled, succinct information about business activities. |
Naturally, the type of integration outlined in the preceding steps has its drawbacks in terms of scalability, especially when business operations increase and become more complex. Also, this example deals only with analytics. There is also the cost of keeping this kind of an employee on board. But the issue of cost is relative and needs to be looked at in the context of other alternatives.
From the CRM perspective, this type of integration might appear completely useless. But consider other functions that this kind of an individual could perform. If access to product inventory is simply not available to employees who are facing the customer in service or marketing, a manual interface of creating a daily inventory report in the form of a text file that is shared over the network can still be of assistance to the front office folks when dealing with their customers.
Items that are not available and their expected arrival dates could also be reported on in this manner if, for various reasons, some employees who interact with the customers cannot have access to the real-time inventory database. There is room in those kinds of SMB scenarios for additional static reports that might be viewed as useful by different groups of employees within a business. In fact, developing those kinds of procedures could prove invaluable if an SMB later decides to implement a more automated integration solution.