App integration – it’s where the magic happens

Building an app is the easy bit – it’s integration that really matters

While successful apps are designed to solve problems, that’s not always enough in a business setting.  

In most cases (particularly with established businesses), day-to-day operations run on a legacy system that you can’t easily replace with updated or more advanced technology.  

For this reason, a newly developed app is only truly successful at solving a business problem when it seamlessly integrates with existing legacy systems.  

To show how integration can make all the difference, here are three different scenarios: 

Scenario 1: the app that broke the camel’s back 

An app that doesn’t integrate might deliver some short-term value, but how will it stack up as business needs change and other apps are added in the future?  

Most businesses use many systems, often connected via manual work and spreadsheets. Putting an app on top of that only adds more data to an already brittle process. Let’s say your new app makes it easier for your care team to log incidents and you quickly go from logging 40 incidents per month to 400. Without good integration, that sharp increase in data can create a whole new set of problems.  

Save time, increase productivity 

Get the integration right, and it’ll reduce that risk. You can reallocate people resource away from monotonous tasks like updating spreadsheets. You’ll increase transparency across the business, save time and money and, ultimately, allow key stakeholders to focus on activities that drive growth.  

Scenario 2: real-time versus near real-time 

Apps operating in data silos are challenging to manage and can stop you from working in real time.  

Here’s an example – it currently takes four to six weeks for data to move from your field team into commercial invoicing. If a variation or change happens, and it takes six weeks for approval, you’ve likely already done the work. You have to, or the project will be at risk. When it takes six weeks to move through the business, you risk not getting paid. 

Gain insight, clarity and confidence 

Your data is the circulation system of your business. If the information gets blocked or clotted, it’s not great for business. But, if you can move data through the company in a sixth of the time, that gives you a competitive advantage.  

You’ll benefit from a deeper level of insight and gain clarity and confidence when making decisions across the business. 

Scenario 3: get ‘in and out’ quickly 

Suppose your refund process starts with a customer phone call. That leads to a customer service rep logging a ticket in Salesforce. They communicate with the finance team via Slack, log the credit into an invoicing system, action the refund, and run a spreadsheet report. Multiple people are involved, there’s plenty of room for error and a higher security risk.  

Deliver on expectations 

Well-integrated enterprise apps allow seamless data sharing and process automation, making it easy for users to get ‘in and out’ quickly and complete their tasks efficiently. It’s a sure sign that your app is both delivering on stakeholder expectations and solving a workflow challenge.  

In this case, you’d only need one dedicated role – the others could transfer into proactive revenue generation or protection roles. 

The key ingredient in app development 

Before you push play on that problem-solving app, ensure it has been built with integration at its core. We know that’s not always easy, which is why enterprise apps often fall short. If it sounds like a challenge, consider that integration can be knocked off piece by piece – if you understand the data and how it’s moving around your business. If you know the app will bring in more data, you can prepare to deal with it.  

Integration points to consider: 

• Do you have a plan? You don’t have to fix everything all at once – data, systems or people. Understand the workflow and the people involved, and break it into chunks by business unit, region, team or department – whatever is right for your business.  

• Have you done your due diligence? Understand how the data moves through your business, which systems can be integrated (and which ones can’t), and how to work around them. You’ll need to deal with more data, can your backend teams support this?  

• How does your security change? What does your attack surface look like with more apps more people and more data. With a larger attack surface, you’ll likely need to increase security measures too.