Enterprise Integration Modernization – The What, How and Why?

Keeping pace with basic service level requirements is already challenging. With digital transformation and more apps at work per capita than ever, the need and demand for improved enterprise integration and automation solutions is growing. These are integral to business agility and scalability, and they enable effective Value Stream Management (VSM) since every business value stream is powered by digital systems.

According to Technavio, the global enterprise application and integration market size is projected to grow by $17,242.64 million from 2022 to 2027. Those leveraging cloud native, cutting-edge enterprise integration tools have the competitive edge.

Technavio cites three factors driving market growth:

1. Enhancing the efficiency of business processes
2. Enabling communication between applications through a shared system
3. Reducing the communication gap to make more effective business decisions.

The time and cost savings that integrations and automations provide can benefit just about any business process, but it often requires integrating several environments.

1. Application programming interface (API) based communication: Any consumption model coming from a third party to keep your production time faster.
2. Unified platform: Using a unified platform to communicate between on-prem, hybrid and cloud environments.
3. Event-driven architecture: An architecture that is event-driven complements the API led connectivity in RESTful API request and response technologies. This type of framework enhances real-time integration capabilities.  

All of these keys are working toward cost optimization, improving business monitoring (greater visibility) and increasing productivity.

According to HCLTech, an excellent integration strategy includes leveraging the native APIs of a given ecosystem (Azure Integration Solutions, Amazon API Gateway, GCP Integration, etc.) to integrate all applications located in that ecosystem. The challenge APIs present is that enterprises are now using a cacophony of distinct, siloed, nonintegrated ecosystems that are struggling to interact with each other across on-prem, hybrid and cloud environments. So, the test becomes facilitating communication between all of these environments effectively and securely, which is no easy feat.

Partnering with vendor agnostic integration experts, such as CDW, who focus on what the customer needs and have deep experience in architecting, deploying, orchestrating, managing and scaling integration solutions can ensure your success in this integral cog of digital transformation. Before devising an integration strategy, however, it’s important to determine where you’re at in terms of integration modernization readiness.

1. How is your API management strategy?
2. Is your application, data or security ready for integration for internal and external applications or systems?
3. How much are you spending and where are the opportunities for cost savings?

We can help. CDW takes a phased approach to help you get where you want to be in your integration modernization process. We create frameworks and build a strategy to ensure your application readiness, data readiness and security readiness — from architecture to function — whether on-prem, in the cloud or hybrid.

Story by Makarand Kulkarni, who is a Principal Solutions Architect at CDW, leading development and maintenance of enterprise integration architecture pre and post sales in multiple leading technologies and strategy, ensuring architectural consistency and managing technology standards.