IPaaS can be a strategic tool for businesses to increase the efficiency of their teams and potentially improve collaboration with business partners.
The technology could be used to manage and streamline data across various platforms and systems, making it easier for businesses to collaborate, share information, and work together more efficiently.
- Integrating systems could streamline processes and automate data synchronization thus speeding up communication between different teams.
- IPaaS could also help to break down silos between different teams or organizations making the same data available to multiple stakeholders.
- Data analysis becomes easy and more consistent because of the improved accuracy that comes with automated data synchronization. This allows for better decision-making and improved strategic planning.
- As business grow some systems will be replaced. Having an IPaaS solution in place will minimize disruptions and thus allow businesses to seamlessly scale operations, making it easier to handle growth and expansion.
Integrated businesses can leverage the benefits mentioned above to increase profitability. Some good examples come from the agriculture and food industry where multiple businesses can be aggregated (farms, seed production, distribution) to increase profitability.
An Illustrative Example
Let’s consider this scenario: You run a seed processing business that processes seeds to prepare them for storage and commercialization.
Your key activities are:
- Removing impurities that accompany harvested seeds.
- Drying seeds to ensure long-term storage without decay.
- Applying treatments to boost germination and keep pests at bay.
- Packaging the seeds for commercialization.
In such a business, you probably rely on
- an ERP system for activity tracking
- a Warehouse Management system for inventory management
- an Equipment Management solution to manage seed processing machinery
- a Customer Management solution for managing customers and sales.
You then decide to acquire grain farms to improve profitability by producing input for your seed processing business. The technology landscape of the farms might comprise their own ERP and Equipment Management solutions, and planning solutions to manage crop cultivation.
Furthermore, you realize the farms’ byproducts present an opportunity, leading you to purchase a pellet factory, which has similar IT requirements to your seed processing business: an ERP, an Equipment Management solution, a Warehouse Management solution, and a CRM.
Once your business has grown enough, having your logistics also makes sense. The logistics business would require an ERP, an Order Fulfillment system, and a Delivery Management solution.
All the systems mentioned above will need to work together to keep the business operations at an optimal cost. Without integration, data synchronization becomes a laborious manual task that will slow down operations and increase error risks. Hence, an IPaaS solution accelerates business operations, adding value to your business. The IPaaS solution will simplify complex data transformations by making use of low-code interfaces for data transformation mapping. It also offers built-in connectors that streamline integration.
As your business expands, you may need to integrate additional solutions, such as an HR system to manage a growing workforce or a BI tool to maintain an overview of organizational activities. If already have an IPaaS solution, integrating new systems becomes easy.
The Strategic Value of an IPaaS Solution:
You could approach integrations as a series of standalone, tactical solutions and build point-to-point integrations for every system connection requirement. However, this will result in scattered integration solutions that will be challenging and costly to maintain.
With an IPaaS solution:
- Your integrations are centralized
- Infrastructure maintenance is handled by the IPaaS provider
- Premium quality and security are built-in
- You only pay for the integrations you use
Therefore, viewing IPaaS as a strategic solution can significantly simplify managing the digital transformations associated with business growth.
If you are interested in finding out more details on how integrations can help your business visit our integration services page or contact us directly.