“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
While speaking to Harry Potter, Dumbeldore emphasized the importance of choices and how powerful they can be in ones’ life. He reassured Harry Potter, the boy wizard, that he won’t wind up like Tom Riddle, infamously known as Lord Voldemort, even though they were similar, as his choices were logical and brave – when he wanted to be sorted into the house of Gryffindor or chose to be friends with gentle and timid Ron Weasely instead of controlling, influential Draco Malfoy. It was these choices that took Harry Potter on a journey to becoming a legend in his own right.
The teaching of the professor not only applies to the wizarding world but also the “Muggle World”. Let’s find how.
Similar to the instance mentioned in J.K. Rowling’s classic literary creation, choices have the power to shape real-lives too. Both on a personal and professional front. This holds for enterprises as well.
It’s a known fact that organizations integrates their systems and applications to offer reliable service to their end-consumers. However, just like Harry Potter had several choices but chose the one that suited him and his objectives the most, business ecosystems also have choices when it comes to integration. Out of all the choices available, they need to cherry-pick the one that helps them embark on a success journey.
Unfortunately for various reasons, businesses are not able to make the right choice when it comes to executing their integrations. Whether it’s due to overdependence on legacy technologies, inability to execute modernization or fear of change, limited technical in-house know-how skills etc., a multitude of supply chain organizations are not able to make a wise choice.
To deal with this jeopardy, companies must have what Potter had: Talent, Awareness, and Discernment.
Talent
Companies must empower their technical as well as a business team to enable them execute integrations based on varied resources, skill level, and business strategy. This raises time-to-market and total-cost-of-ownership (TCO).
Awareness
Enterprises must be aware of the types of integration approaches used:
DIY Integrations:Companies can go with DIY integration strategy to allow users integrate themselvesusing a self-service approach. The best part is those users need not be technically-equipped. With features such as application connectors, monitoring dashboard, shared templates, security, and much more, self-service integration platforms allow companies streamline the process of integration to reap maximum dividends. Hence, the enterprise becomes responsive to insights while being its integration specialist. Companies can, therefore, gain the capacity to fix or modify a map, as well as manage their trading partner ecosystem.
With this approach, instead of putting trust in the hands of a third party, firms can create and maintain trust directly- including the strategic trading partners or critical relationships.
Managed Services:Firms that fail to meet the desired EDI or application integration skillset can pick a reliable third-party to run their integrations. This option allows enterprises stay focused on their fundamental competencies instead of making efforts to manage the technical process that require more proficiency.
Outsourcing integration requirements reduce the burden on in-house teams, fostering security, reliability, and scalability. With a trustworthy vendor, companies can confidently say ‘yes’ to new trading partner relationships while onboarding them quicker than ever.
Best of the Both:This approach allows companies have a blend of self-service and managed service. Meaning, companies can either handle problems manually while maintaining control or flip a ticket to the vendor to pave the way for managed services.
Discernment
Though talent and awareness are deemed important, this last requirement is a deal-breaker. Companies must pay heed to factors such as cost, resources, control, support & agility prior to making a decision. For example, if the company aims to grow and gain control atthe same time, self-service integration happens to be the best choice.
Choose after careful evaluation, and take your organizations to new heights. After all, choices decide our destiny.