An integration platform connects different services and applications in an enterprise environment to create an integrated business system, ensuring data consistency and security. Without it, data inconsistencies can occur, leading to errors and potential problems. An integration platform removes the possibility of errors, strengthens consistency in security and data mining, and simplifies the process of analyzing data.
An integration platform is computer software that brings together otherwise disconnected services and applications. Most commonly used in enterprise environments, an integration platform connects the business at the software level, creating an integrated business system. The goal is to bring all the different software areas together, ensuring that data remains consistent from one area of the business to another. Additionally, an integration platform should facilitate data mining procedures and enforce a strict level of security across the entire network.
The lack of a working integration platform is a classic case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing. Unless all of the company’s systems are brought together under the same umbrella, data inconsistencies can easily appear across the network. For example, if the billing and accounting departments are not connected through an integration platform, employees must enter data into the system twice: once during billing and once in the accounting programs. This increases the risk of error, as two separate employees can easily enter incorrect entries into the system. Also, unless someone is actively monitoring and comparing both systems to each other, these errors can easily go undetected for long periods of time.
With an integration platform that connects the different subsystems of the enterprise, much of the possibility for error is removed, as all information in the enterprise will be contained in one central location. Now, you no longer need to make two separate entries; as soon as the information is entered into the computer, it exists in both the billing and accounting departments. If an error is made during entry, there are now two different groups of people who can detect and correct the error, as both departments will be looking at the same incorrect information. This gives them a better chance of finding the error and fixing it before it becomes a potentially serious problem.
Integration platforms also strengthen consistency in security and data mining. Since everything is uniform across the network, employees will have a fixed security clearance level, avoiding issues where an employee might be able to access two different systems at the same time. Data mining, the process of analyzing data to find trends, is also simplified because all data for the business is linked together in one central location, making it much easier to retrieve all the files you need.
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