WHITE PAPER

THE BENEFITS OF AN
INTEGRATION STRATEGY
THE BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY

2
 THE BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY

Table of Contents
Summary ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
The benefits of an integration strategy ................................................................................................................ 5
Increase access to information ........................................................................................................... 5
Streamline information flows ............................................................................................................. 5
Improve business agility..................................................................................................................... 5
Facilitate mergers and acquisitions .................................................................................................... 5
Increase collaboration with business partners .................................................................................... 6
Reduce time-to-market ....................................................................................................................... 6
Optimize IT resources and reduce costs ............................................................................................. 6

3
THE BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY

Summary

At iCore, we have more than 20 years of experience of designing integration solutions.

We believe that most companies can benefit greatly from a well-defined integration
strategy with the long term objective of realizing a Service Oriented Architecture (or
SOA1). If done right, this approach lets you:
 Increase access to information.
 Streamline information flows.
 Improve business agility.
 Facilitate mergers and acquisitions.
 Increase collaboration with business partners.
 Reduce time-to-market.
 Optimize IT resources and reduce costs.

1
For more information, see iCore Solutions, White Paper : SOA  The iCore Way

4
 THE BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY

The benefits of an integration strategy

A well-defined integration strategy, combined with SOA and the right integration tools
can do many great things for your business.

Increase access to information

Integration promotes information sharing in an enterprise – between
applications as well as between departments and subsidiaries. For
enterprises that want to move fast and react quickly on new market
demands, effective information sharing is essential.
Both small and large companies usually have a number of
applications/systems that hold important data. For example, financial
data could be kept in one system, while inventory data is stored in another. To be able to
use data in an efficient way, you must have access to it right when you need it – you
shouldn’t have to ask a co-worker at another department to send it to you. With integrated
applications, data is accessible directly. You can also implement real-time solutions,
useful for example in customer service functions where information needs to be available
instantly.

Streamline information flows

Creating well-defined information flows based on business processes between
applications, systems and departments reduces the risk of errors and is more
environmentally friendly than procedures built on passing around paper-based business
documents.

Improve business agility

In today’s business climate, flexibility and adaptability are key characteristics of a
successful enterprise. An integrated IT environment, combined with the right tools and
infrastructure, can help you reach those goals. Using SOA enables you to build and deploy
IT systems that directly serve the goals of your business – the idea is to let the IT systems
adapt to the business needs instead of the other way around.

Facilitate mergers and acquisitions

With mergers and acquisitions, enterprises often end up running
several different systems for the same business process. A new affiliate
may, for example, run a completely different ERP system than the
parent company. One solution is to make everyone follow a company
standard, but changing systems is a complex and expensive procedure.
In an integration scenario, affiliates keep using their old legacy
systems, but still provide the parent company with the required data – with or without
implementing company standard applications as the application integration can be done
locally as well as centrally.

5
THE BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY

Increase collaboration with business partners

An integration strategy promotes collaboration with business partners. Today, however,
B2B integration is not always a choice as many major customers
demand automated business communication via EDIFACT or XML
standard messages.
Integrated and automated business communication gives you access to
tools that are easily adaptable to new demands, which lets you stay
ahead of your competitors by quickly adapting to the needs of your business partners. The
integration process for business partners is best done gradually. For example, start by
automating the communication with one or a few partners (preferably only for a limited
number of business processes, for example ordering and invoicing). When you’re ready,
you can add more partners and processes. This continued partner integration will usually
come at a lower cost and be a much faster process since a lot of the work from the first
partner integration can be re-used.
Integration can also make it easier to conform to industry standards, without changing
your present mode of communication or IT infrastructure. Your business partners can
decide which standards to follow; the translation to and from your in-house system will be
done automatically.
Another way to promote collaboration, internal as well as external, is by providing web
interfaces to legacy systems. This may be done by service-enabled access, for example via
Web services.

Reduce time-to-market
Time-to-market describes the amount of time required to go from first
idea, through design and development, to delivery to the market. Time-
to-market is a central concept for most enterprises producing products
and services.
A lean and efficient time-to-market process is cost-effective and
provides a competitive edge. But how do you achieve this?
By automating and integrating your IT environment, lead times can be shortened
significantly. If done in a structured way using a competent integration tool, integration
not only means letting different systems communicate, but also joining business processes
within the organization. For example, information obtained in After Sales and Customer
Relationship Management processes can be directly linked to Planning and Design. This
“joint venture” will enable you to move quickly to address changing market needs.

Optimize IT resources and reduce costs

A typical modern enterprise allocates most of its IT investments
vertically in the organization. Every department, (for example
economy/finance, sales & marketing, production, purchase, logistics,
etc.) has its own IT budget. However, once an application has been
installed, the IT department ends up being responsible for maintenance
and administration. Consequently, the budget for application
maintenance and administration falls on the IT department.
By adopting an integration perspective, you will optimize the resources and coordinate
your IT projects in a better way – meaning horizontally and cross-vertically. This reduces
the workload and unnecessary administration costs that usually land on the desks in the IT
department. It will also result in faster, more cost-effective and more secure business
processes – in-house as well as towards customers and partners.

6
 THE BENEFITS OF AN INTEGRATION STRATEGY

A horizontal perspective leads to better profitability and an IT environment in line with

the business processes of the organization. Integrating your IT systems is the natural step
towards a horizontal approach. It is also the first step towards a Service Oriented
Architecture!
Integrating your legacy applications lets you use them more effectively and also increases
their life span. You will be able to “squeeze” even more out of a previous IT investment.
Your applications are likely to have important and useful functionality, but to make the
most of an application, you need to make it work together with other applications –
seamlessly and automatically.
Another positive effect of a well-planned integration strategy is the possibility to reuse
applications, functions or procedures which can reduce the total cost of ownership of your
IT systems.