The task of integrating systems, platforms and processes is something all companies have to undertake at some point. Most make mistakes in the planning and design phase, which eventually costs far more to rectify than doing it right the first time.
Although there are many things that can go wrong in an integration project, below are the three biggest mistakes companies make when starting the project.
1. DIY: The biggest mistake companies make is not buying an integration solution at all. Many companies think there already stretched IT departments can do it all with a bit of help from the user community. This leads to the business developing bits of integration logic as and when required, leading to an ever-increasing number of custom widgets being added to the integration layer.
These widgets usually contain basic business and data transformation rules with limited logging of activities. Invariably, the integration layer becomes support intensive, difficult to maintain and demands extensive manual processes to ensure its survival. And when something goes wrong, it is a crisis to identify the problem and fix it.
2. Effectively managed processes. For an integration project to be successful, there must be built-in monitoring of all the processes to ensure they function within predefined threshold levels. This must be supported by equally well-defined escalation capabilities that make the maintenance of the integration layer focused and proactive.
There must also be a comprehensive history of integration tasks and events to assist in troubleshooting and improving performance.
3. Buyer beware. When companies make the decision to purchase an integration solution, they may opt for one of the big-name mainstream offerings. Although these solutions are very powerful and will address all the needs of large organisations over time, they are extremely complex, time-consuming and expensive to implement. Additionally, the skills required to use them effectively are scarce and expensive.
What most non-enterprise companies require are pragmatic tools and experienced service providers to assist them in efficiently and cost-effectively meeting their current needs, while building a solid platform for future expansion.
Integration projects can deliver substantial rewards to companies looking to cut costs, automate manual business processes, improve application efficiency and extend the viable life of their IT systems. The key to success is planning, selecting the appropriate solution and an experienced service provider to ensure that money spent produces the returns required.
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