Working with an ERP business management system is very common in most companies. Often, especially in B2B companies, CRM software or other business applications are also used to manage the customer portfolio.

Thanks to these technologies, companies can organise and collect a large amount of data daily. Good management of this information is essential to ensure success. However, doing so is increasingly difficult, due to the large number of applications and channels that exist or are used within a corporation.

That is where companies need a new paradigm for using technology: Enterprise Application Integration or EAI.

Why opt for EAI?

As we discussed earlier in the blog, digital solutions always have greater potential if they can connect to each other.
The correct implementation of system integration is essential for there to be a useful exchange of information in the company.
If this integration does not exist, or is not applied correctly, bottlenecks are generated. This means that the transfer of information must be done manually, involving a great expenditure of time and resources for the company.

So, what exactly are the benefits of integrating business applications?

5 advantages of enterprise application integration

1. Connection of the entire company and greater control

Implementing solutions to integrate the company's applications is a good way to achieve greater control of the company at a general level.
For example, connecting a sales platform with an ERP allows for better business management that also includes data on sales and customers; especially if there is also a connection to a CRM.
In general, EAI allows centralising information, so its handling becomes simpler thanks to the “single data source”. With this, management can have greater knowledge of what is happening in the company with an overview.

2. Reduction of time and effort

One of the great advantages of integration is that it streamlines day-to-day business processes.
Concentrating all relevant information in one place makes work simpler for the different departments and employees.
Normally, salespeople spend a large part of their working time preparing materials for visits and manually collecting data on customers, visits, routes, etc.
Integration allows the sales force to have easy access to both commercial content and relevant metrics on sales results.
In general, the automation of tasks in an integrated way between the different systems can improve team productivity.

3. Cost reduction

It should be borne in mind that increased productivity allows cost savings by reducing the time spent on lower-value tasks. But not only this.
A doubt that may arise when acquiring a new solution is what to do with old software or whether all the information from this system can be lost. With integration it is not necessary to eliminate old software, as it can be connected to new software, which means a lower investment.
In this way it will always be simpler to expand the applications used by the company and obtain new products and services, both for internal use and for customers.

• For example, connecting an ecommerce platform to an existing ERP allows online sales information to be managed from the outset and without greatly increasing costs.

4. Increase in opportunities

Among the large amount of data generated in a company daily is very valuable information that can be used both to improve internal management and to detect sales opportunities.
The ability to cross-reference data that EAI technologies have allows the detection of patterns quickly and effectively, especially if software with Artificial Intelligence. is applied. This implies:

• Reduction of errors due to lack of communication between systems
• More agile problem resolution, which takes into account the processes of the entire company
• Detection of sales opportunities by cross-referencing data from Marketing, Sales and Administration of the company

In general, integration provides a lot of valuable information that can be used as a competitive advantage over other companies.

5. Improves the customer experience

To all of the above, we can also add the possibility of substantially improving the customer experience.
Nowadays it is very common for the customer to want a certain level of autonomy in the purchasing process: finding out about the product or service on their own, having the possibility of carrying out the transaction from their devices, etc.
Integration allows, on the one hand, the customer to access content quickly and, on the other hand, to collect information about these actions and then use it to optimise the customer experience and personalise it based on objective data.