Integration
– And which systems are able to communicate with one another
There are countless programming languages and applications. Luckily the general consensus is that the data in a digital application should be made available to other applications.
There are good integrations that enable different applications to speak “the same language”. Most modern applications therefore have what is called an API (Application Programming Interface) that allows applications to communicate and share data.
Here we will look more closely at what integrations are, why they are useful, and how you can get started with integrations in your business.
Businesses can choose between two approaches when it comes to interaction between systems and applications: either you choose an extensive complete solution (called a monolith), where most of the applications that should communicate are gathered, or you choose one main solution that is integrated with various “best-in-class” solutions, also called microservices
Most SMEs end up with a main solution that is integrated with a number of specialised “best-in-class” solutions. This is because “the monolith” is often too cumbersome and difficult to use.
Three concrete examples of integrations between internal systems
- Getting the e-mail system to “communicate” with the CRM system so that relevant customer information is seamlessly transferred and logged against the correct customer in the CRM system. This means that you avoid the manual transfer of information
- Achieving a seamless transfer of customer communication from the customer service system to the CRM system, so that the sales department can easily see which customers are satisfied/dissatisfied. Value? You put in place suitable measures to guarantee satisfied customers
- Automatically gathering purchase history from the ERP system (finance) and sending it to the CRM system to be able to measure the return on marketing and sales activities, and to be able to put in place suitable measures based on purchase behaviour