Modern business integration involves more than simply integrating disparate systems. It’s about aligning the appropriate information and technology to produce better, more efficient processes that serve your business requirements and growth goals. It’s about making the most of your digital assets and giving your business competitive advantages.
In many small- to mid-sized and enterprise-level companies, IT systems can be an array of task-specific software applications that do not communicate with each one. This is particularly the case when businesses adopt accounting software, supply chain management and inventory tracking programs that each have their own set tasks. Eventually, this means many duplicate records in different systems that can no ever communicate with each other.
This is why enterprises must employ business integration technologies and tools to ensure that data exchange with trading partners are reliable and secure. These tools should offer the full range of communication protocols, as well as support the specific formats demanded by the specific industry or geographical location.
The most effective business-to-business (B2B) integration solutions allow organizations to streamline EDI and application data flows from multiple, disparate systems into one platform with the ability to monitor and manage data flows which help to reduce costs. This is how companies can gain a competitive advantage by increasing data quality, efficiency and visibility of their supply chain across trading partners’ communities. Business integration isn’t just about B2B communication, it’s about creating a positive experience for trading partners which is focused on the bottom line.