The advantages of cloud integration

Cloud integration offers various advantages over older, compartmentalized organizational methodologies. Integrating cloud provides scalability to enable future expansion when it comes to number of users, applications or both. In recent years, integration in cloud has gained favor among companies, organization and government agencies implementing SaaS or Software-as-a-

Service system, a software distribution model where apps are hosted by a service provider or vendor and are made available to users over the web.

As cloud becomes mainstream, businesses would need to choose the best combination of SaaS systems and incorporate them better than their competitors to gain an edge. The good news is that cloud apps provide business owners with more control in Information Technology decisions. The days are gone when CIOs unilaterally chose a big ERP solution for the whole organization. These days, business owners could choose the best of breed SaaS solutions to support their certain requirements. The remaining challenge then is integrating these different best of breed solutions in such a way that differentiates a business from the rest of the pack.

When a business decides to go to the cloud for an enterprise app, typically, they do not consider how that application would integrate with their existing software. Nonetheless, integration is crucial. Now, every business understands that it can’t have numerous apps operating on various versions of the same customer record, for instance, without the versions updated and reconciled. The process of integration starts with business requirements. Fortunately, new, innovative integration technologies provide cost efficiencies which are not available only a few years ago.

Cloud integration with various enterprise applications provide numerous advantages over traditional methods of data exchange and information infrastructure. Here are some advantages of cloud computing integration:

1. Updated information. As all apps on the cloud are in-synch with each other, end-users could fetch the most recent information or data related to different activities. A change created by one user reflects on another app almost at once.
2. Streamlines business goals. Integration of businesses on cloud, lines up numerous aspects of a business. These include eCommerce management procurement, logistics and more. A clear projection of the different entities could be drawn in the workforce perspective.
3. Enhanced functioning. Changing all the manual segments into automated ones enhances the level of accuracy of different operations. This facilitates in a frictionless system-to-system process automation and will eventually improve the overall information sharing efficiency.
4. Safe. A username and password is allocated to every employee of an organization to verify themselves for access to cloud. Security protocols set are also followed so information could not be modified or changed by someone who does not have access to do so.
5. Scalability and flexibility. Organization applications and infrastructures integration with cloud facilitates a simple solution for businesses to update or downgrade business requirements. This helps a business to maintain the cost of different operations related to various tasks or projects.
6. Higher availability. Cloud computing integration offers higher availability of various resources to end users. Since all services are cloud hosted, it boosts efficiency of the infrastructure of an organization. Because only an internet connection is needed for accessing this cloud, there is no limit on on-premises or boundaries mobility.

Across markets and industries, there is a growing customer force around the ‘power of now’. Customers want to receive services and products faster and with minimal effort. This is in a way related to the overall trend around business technology consumerization. As businesses want the same experience at work that they receive researching or shopping online at home. This requires considerable improvements in business agility and the ability to efficiently deliver products to meet the fast-moving market. In order to achieve this, organizations should more than ever work closely with distributors, suppliers, retailers and partners.

Cloud-based business integration allows collaboration in real-time and exchange of information that surround parts, logistics, designs, inventory, customer order trends, procurement and other vital processes. Being able to receive messages in hours versus days or even weeks could make the difference between getting a deal or otherwise.

Traditional integration solutions could be expensive, and usually need a specialized and costly skill set from workers. Moreover, they are prone to break at the slightest change in schema or format. Additionally, IT departments usually are under pressure from the business side to enhance operations and help drive bigger venue or business impact, but are rarely given the additional resources to do so. Integration of existing systems via cloud helps companies avoid or delay the expenses of replacing infrastructure. The SaaS subscription pricing model enables the money for integration be moved from the capital budget to the operating budget, making integration easier to fit into the budget, and allowing IT to spend capital on other more important projects.

Ritesh Mehta is the Sales Director at TatvaSoft Australia, a Software & mobile app development company. For Over 15 years, he has been professionally active in financial management, software development.