When we talk about platform integration at ITeM Group, we use the word ‘Unify’ – a lot.

 

It’s not only because it describes the data & platform integration process, effectively connecting multiple software platforms together, but it’s also the name of a tool ITeM Group designed and built for customers to use when they need their data, and applications to seamlessly align.

 

Let’s break it down even further and explain why businesses need to integrate their data.

 

Businesses often have many different software platforms which perform specific functions.

 

If platforms are not integrated, then manual entries need to be done, or batch updates of data need to occur.

 

This creates inefficiency and errors. It’s as though the business is constantly looking in the rear vision mirror, rather than keeping their eyes facing forward.

 

Operational efficiency and reporting are two of many key reasons a business would integrate platforms.

 

Once completed, an integration will usually allow staff to do other tasks instead of manually updating platforms.

 

Customer experience can also be improved. For example, if a customer leaves an enquiry on a website, some sales collateral can be automatically emailed to the customer along with a notification for your sales team to contact them for a follow-up.

 

What’s involved?

 

Integration for modern cloud-based applications can be done via an Application Program Interface (API) that is provided by your software platform. Interfaces for applications that don’t support APIs are typically done via SQL or file-based extracts.

 

ITeM Group’s middleware, Unify, can talk to both cloud and on-premise applications and can be on a one-to-one or one-to-many basis.

 

The integration moves data between platforms at regular intervals and can be based on triggers within either platform.

 

An example of this may be integrating a Point-of-Sale platform to an accounting system.

 

Each day, all sales information is transferred to the accounting platform for reconciliation and reporting purposes.

 

A sale within the Point-of-Sale platform may also trigger data to be pushed into an inventory management platform so that accurate stock figures are always available.

 

Introducing Unify

 

At ITeM Group, we would most often use our very own advanced platform integration tool, Unify, for this purpose.

 

Unify incorporates Master Data Management (MDM) functionality to ensure data consistency and approval workflow to ensure data compliance.

 

Once deployed, your internal team can usually self-manage the tool including managing the integrations we set up for them.

 

Unify allows a business to change their software platforms with less rework. We simply plug-in the new software to Unify (not quite plug and play, but close) and point the data to this new platform.

 

The smarts stay in Unify, rather than the software platform.

 

Other integration platforms exist, but they are either Enterprise level (with top dollar pricing), or very basic and only integrate one or two platforms effectively.

 

Our customers tell us that Unify provides them with deeper integration capability and additional data management functionality over other platforms.

 

Talk with us today about how we can help you make the most of the software platforms you have in your business. michael.woodruff@itemgroup.com.au