What is Enterprise Application Integration?
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Enterprise application integration refers to the propensity of organizations to combine data, resources, and workflows from multiple applications in order to drive critical business efficiencies.
What is enterprise application integration (EAI)?
The enterprise application integration definition relates to the use of technology to help businesses integrate all their processes, workflows, and databases. For example, it’s likely that legacy businesses have different software to deal with different business units or functions.
Such software can’t integrate all business data points, leading to inefficiencies and cost overruns.
Businesses may use enterprise application integration to help with a unified picture of the organization. For example, if units such as customer relationship management, business intelligence, supply chain, HR, and compliance all use entirely separate tools then it’s problematic to furnish a high-level overview of how the business is performing.
A data silo isn’t ideal for managers or C-suite executives, hence enterprise application integration consolidates all data and analytics into a singular dashboard. Employees can also use one software to manage and plan all their tasks, which fosters better outcomes and greater collaboration.
Types of enterprise application integration software
There are two main types of enterprise application integration software. Mediation software serves as an intermediary body, relaying messages from the legacy software to the advanced version. And federation software is responsible for ensuring that each application only receives information that is relevant to it.
For example, sometimes it might not be practical for you to do away with your legacy software altogether. In that situation, you can use enterprise application integration software to connect it with the new one, ensuring seamless workflows and no loss of productivity or data.
