John F. Kennedy once observed that the word “crisis” in Chinese is composed of two characters – one representing danger and the other, opportunity. Though his observation may not be entirely correct on the linguistics, the sentiment is true enough: a crisis presents a choice. This is essentially true today.
Disruption has brought ripples in the business world. Everything has shifted from how companies create connections to how they do business with their customers. An organization that identifies this shift and leverage it properly will become successful. But that’s a choice every organization needs to make.
For embracing the shift happening in the business world, companies need to adopt the right data integration approach. They need to consolidate all the data from business customers – at speed and scale. That helps them deliver actionable insights and make better business decisions.
Integrating data from business customers enables companies to comprehend emerging needs and deliver accordingly. But it needs to be done the right way.
Why Can Point-to-point Prove Detrimental?
Suppose a company uses a point-to-point integration approach to create data connections and integrate new customers. Needless to say, it requires IT to create custom code and complex EDI mappings. Now, when the volume of data is immense, it takes a lot of their time and effort that they could have used to drive more strategic tasks.
In short, point-to-point integration is:
- Complex
- Error-prone
- Slow
Companies need to reimagine their data integration approach through self-service to overcome the challenges and deliver value in the wake of disruption.
How Can Self-service Help?
Where point-to-point integration is cumbersome, self-service integration is easy, fast, and secure.
Self-service integration enables business users (with minimal technical competency) to create data connections and add new business customers – at the speed of business. It empowers non-techies to quickly consolidate complex, bi-directional data and garner insights to make informed business decisions.
With features like pre-built application connectors, shared templates, dashboards & intuitive screens, AI-mapping, and more, non-technical business users can quickly onboard data and then integrate and use it for business purposes. Business users can create onboarding connections in minutes by pointing and clicking through easy screens. That saves a lot of customers’ time. An end-to-end encrypted environment further facilitates security as only authenticated business users can connect data and applications. At the same time, IT can focus on more important tasks and help companies drive innovation and growth. When customers’ needs are addressed quickly, they feel delighted. That increases upsell and allows companies to grow into adjacent market spaces.
In short, self-service integration is:
- Simple
- Secure
- Fast
In the current business world, disruption is the only constant. And companies that use a self-service integration approach can navigate the impact and drive value faster.