What is System Integration?

System integration (SI) is a process that connects the various IT systems and applications in an enterprise so that they work cohesively in a coordinated and unified manner.

In short, system integration is like putting a puzzle together.

There are scattered pieces of an organization’s information subsystems that need to fit together into one well-coordinated, cohesive architecture or integrated application mesh. It’s a complex building process that connects an organization’s functions from varying systems, streamlining disparate systems, including existing hardware, software (customized or out-of-box), and communications.

The end-game with system integration is that an organization improves working relationships with customers and partners, increases workflow efficiency, and lowers operational costs for the business. A system integrator can do this through business process management, computer networking, enterprise application integration, and/or manual programming.

Benefits of IT System Integration

Once an organization makes the commitment to go forward with modernized integration of its environment, the benefits that it gains are wide-ranging. From allowing employees to spend less time on mundane data entry to sleeping safely at night due to better levels of security, a modernized IT environment can provide endless rewards. Some of the benefits of IT systems integration for the enterprise:

Simplicity

Through an integrated infrastructure, the complexities of different business processes and applications are gone, instead replaced by a simple-to-use, unified environment. An integrated architecture is intuitive and allows changes to be made from one screen, wherever the employee is located, rather than multiple computer systems and business processes running concurrently and on top of each other.

 Save money

With the decision to manage all your data and applications from one platform, costs will be greatly reduced. Typical costs associated with the installation of different systems and applications, maintaining and managing piles of in-house equipment will no longer be a costly hurdle for enterprises.

 Security

One system means an enterprise doesn’t need to secure various systems individually, each with varying levels of success and risk when it comes to protecting your data. An integrated system allows organizations to more easily build the necessary security tools to prevent unauthorized access and better meet compliance mandates. The more tools you have, the harder a security system is to manage and to install.

Real-time visibility

An integrated architecture enables an enterprise to make better, educated business decisions because it has access to its data in real time. Gone are the days when a company must make an informed and critical decision based on outdated legacy tools. Now, enterprises can track their data throughout its lifecycle from start to finish. Rather than wait hours for accounting and finance reports, companies can access their data at any time and remain well informed with up-to-date information available from anywhere.

Efficiency

Employees can become more efficient and productive with an integrated and modernized environment. Instead of entering data manually, an often arduous and time-consuming task, structured, formatted data can hop throughout the enterprise ecosystem via automation, allowing employees to spend their time on more productive projects. Additionally, when it comes to retaining and hiring talent, an integrated system allows a company to improve its employee quality, so it doesn’t have to spending money hiring more people for menial tasks.