For most businesses today, integrated systems are key to operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. This is because integrated systems increase the speed at which key data flows between platforms, speeding up processes whilst reducing operational costs. As integration providers, we’d like to think we know a thing or two about the importance of unifying business platforms/systems.
In this blog, we will explain what system integration is and highlight some of the key benefits it brings to businesses of all sizes.
So, what is system integration?
Simply put, system integration is the process of connecting various computer systems or software platforms through one single larger system, enabling all solutions to functionally work together.
To give an example, our customer, Smarter Surfaces, integrated their eCommerce platforms with their Sage 50 accounting system. This enables Smarter Surfaces to import all online orders straight into their accounting system without the need for any manual input. Helping the business better manage order processing and fulfilment times.
Why is it important
There are many reasons why system integration is important, and some are even unique to each business, however, here is a breakdown of some of the more universal benefits of system integration:
Cost Saving
As discussed previously, system integration enables information to be accessed and sent automatically between systems. Because of this, the need for manual data processing is removed, which can often save resource costs. Not only this but through system integration data becomes more accurate, reducing the amount of costly human errors that businesses can incur.
Improved efficiency
When your company stores data in many places, there’s always the possibility of duplicated or incorrectly saved information. We are only human! But by integrating the company data, it is much easier to identify duplicate data and errors. Limiting these errors can increase the efficiency of your company’s operations.
Improve operations
A great benefit of system integration is your company’s operations are likely to experience greater productivity, efficiency, and overall quality. By utilising systems integration, your company can simplify its business processes. For example, if your company sells products online. When packing orders, your team may have a simpler task accessing the necessary data to pack and ships customer orders as all necessary data will be transferred to one accessible system. Not only this, automating the transfer of customer orders reduces processing time which can result in a faster fulfilment process. Better operations and better customer service, it’s a win-win!
Improved communications
One often overlooked benefit to systems integration is the improved connectivity within your organisation. By integrating systems to allow for one central view of data, information can be shared easily between departments, creating more cohesion amongst employees which in turn can lead to an improvement in overall employee performance and satisfaction.
Conclusion
Whilst having state of the art business systems is great for any business, without integration not only will teams have to perform laborious tasks transferring information between systems, costing time and resources but businesses will also have multiple data silos. Data silos can not only affect the current business operations but hinders decision making and forward planning which could have a negative impact on business growth.
When you decide to introduce integration and have your different platforms and software communicating to each other in real-time, you’ll see the benefits immediately. There’s nothing like improved operational efficiency through joining business software into one cohesive infrastructure.
If you’re looking to find out even more on system integration and what it can do then why not register for our latest webinar discussing what system integration is, how it helps businesses, and what solutions are out there for you.
