What is enterprise application integration and why is it necessary?

Enterprise application integration refers to the use of technology across an enterprise to enable the integration of the various software applications and hardware systems. The driving force behind the emergence of enterprise application integration is one or many of the following categories which are within themselves interrelated too:

Mergers and acquisitions

Whenever there is a merger or an acquisition, there are a number o dissimilar business processes followed by two or more companies. These need to be integrated so that they can work as a single corporation. EAI is one such solution that will enable rapid integration of a number of dissimilar businesses.

E- Business

E-businesses require connecting customers, suppliers and partners across the world and integration can help form a value supply chain over the internet.

Business Process Automation

Business process automation requires new products and services to be integrated with the existing applications so as to improve the efficiency, lower the operating costs and improve customer services across the organization.

ERP systems need to be integrated with the other applications and the backend systems in order to work effectively.

Supply chain management and customer relationship management

With proper implementation of enterprise application integration, it is possible for businesses to integrate their internal functional departments as well as with their partners and suppliers. The business processes can be effectively re-engineered for greater customer focus in order to improve the cooperation between a number of standalone applications.

Zero latency

It allows for zero latency that refers to an organization that can change its business rules in real time to act on new market opportunities and customer demands. Enterprise integration solutions help accelerate responses and facilitate business changes.

Reduction of business process life cycle

In today’s competitive business scenario, the it is imperative that business systems are aligned with business goals. As business processes evolve, new methods and new data that is introduced in the system, integration with the existing ones become all the more important.

Above all, the internet explosion has completely revolutionized the way things work and the demand for new web applications that require integration with the back end legacy systems. Enterprise application integration is important for all types businesses.