Information controls everything in a modern company. As businesses continue to implement more wide-ranging software solutions and rely on integrated IT infrastructures, enterprise software integration (ESI) is becoming more and more important. ESI (sometimes known as Enterprise Application Integration) is a specialized IT field that uses middleware applications to connect critical business software systems to one another and allow easy transfer of data between disparate applications.
This can include any combination of the following:
- Supply Chain Management (SCM) applications
- Enterprise Resource Platforms (ERPs)
- Human Resource Management (HRM) systems
- Business Intelligence (BI) systems, and
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems.
The field of enterprise software integration is slated to continue growing at a rapid pace. It’s expected that the value of this sector of the IT industry will reach $13.35 billion by 2019.
To help you better understand how the state of the ESI market is changing in 2017, let’s take a look at some of the hottest trends in the field!
1. Microservices Will Begin To Dominate
“Microservices” refers to the use of small, platform-independent custom applications used in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). These small applications can be modified, deployed, and customized at-will, and duplicated among multiple servers to maintain data parity. This is in contrast to “Monolithic” applications. They tend to have all of their functionality in a single “monolith” application. This approach cannot be easily customized or modified without halting multiple system functions.
Essentially, this means two things – microservices are ideal for cloud-based integration, and monolithic services are not. Microservices use a more modular, lightweight approach to system architecture and are language-independent, it’s much easier to use them to connect multiple cloud-based platforms. Additionally, because each individual microservice can be altered at-will, it’s much easier to use a variety of small, microservice based applications and stitch them together to create solutions with reusable subcomponents.
Because of this, we believe we’ll see a rise in the use of microservices – and many major companies such as Amazon, Uber, eBay, and more are already doing just that!
2. APIs will continue to gain momentum
Modern off-the-shelf software companies are well aware of the need for smooth enterprise software integration. However, it’s very time-consuming for these companies to develop custom middleware applications for individual businesses.
The solution? Develop APIs – Application Programming Interfaces. In 2017, more companies than ever are releasing public APIs which outline the basics of their data architecture and their software. These clearly-defined, documented guidelines can provide companies with valuable information on integrations, allowing them to create their own “middleware” solutions for data integrations.
However, APIs are not a perfect solution to software integration. Though APIs can offer valuable information to developers, companies must employ an IT team that can understand these APIs and use them to integrate with other software solutions.
Despite this, we expect to see more and more software companies release APIs to the public in 2017. APIs offer an elegant solution to the age-old problem of software integration. Though they’re not perfect, skilled development teams can make use of them to create intuitive, powerful ESI solutions.
3. Demand For Specialist System Integrators Will Continue To Increase
Specialist system Integrators are specialized developers and IT workers who focus on creating powerful, inter-operable custom application solutions. They focus on integrating disparate enterpris solutions into a unified whole, relying both on APIs and custom-built software. As the software systems used by large companies continue to grow in complexity, and trends like mobile data access and cloud computing continue to rise unabated, specialist system integrators are becoming more highly sought-after in the IT world.
By using a combination of API integration and custom software solutions, specialist system integrators offer an elegant solution to the problem of data fragmentation. In 2017, we expect to see demand for these specialist workers reach record highs.
Enterprise Software Integration Is More Important Than Ever – Be On The Lookout For These Trends In 2017!
Information is at the heart of all modern enterprises. This is why enterprise software integration is going to be so important in 2017 and beyond. Together, these 3 trends reflect the overarching changes in the modern IT world:
- a focus on bringing together disparate software platforms.
- supporting cloud computing.
- learning how to deal with the mobile device revolution.
Got more questions about enterprise integration? PulaTech would be glad to help! We’re experts in both custom application solutions and enterprise software integration. Our specialist solution architects and consultants would be glad to talk to you about your ESI needs!
Contact us now, and learn how PulaTech can change the way you do business!