Business users often misclassify integration and data requirements as a supporting mechanism for broader digital transformation goals. Businesses with the drive to innovate should understand these initiatives are more than just a supporting mechanism: they are a competitive advantage and can be a differentiator in their industry. Trailblazing organizations are coming to understand that a clear data strategy combined with the right technology is essential when it comes to the success of digital transformation.
Putting MuleSoft’s API-Led Connectivity to Work in Your Business
Earlier this year, through listening to its customers, Salesforce identified the need for a faster pace of data technology innovation and acquired MuleSoft. MuleSoft’s mission is to help trailblazing organizations change and innovate faster by making it easy to connect the world’s applications, data, and devices. MuleSoft’s API-led connectivity approach helps organizations improve their agility, increase solution discovery and reuse, all while lowering their overall total cost of ownership of their integration and data landscape.
As the Director of Data Technology and Strategy at Silverline, I am focused on ensuring that more strategic conversations are happening around systems, data, technology, and integrations. My team understands the power of a clear data strategy and our goal is to solve customers’ immediate needs while preparing them for an ever-evolving IT landscape.
When we first enter customer environments, we often notice that the business has very demanding and transformative ambitions from IT. We also know that typical IT departments are increasingly low on resources, time and capabilities. The lack of a full set of tools creates a delivery gap that customers erroneously believe can be solved by adding more resources.
Unfortunately, throwing more people and money at the problem will not solve an IT gap. To effectively bridge the IT gap, there must be a robust integration and data strategy involved from the start.
IT Gaps: Why a Data Integration Strategy Matters
Organizations who do not plan accordingly and do not have a data and integration strategy quickly find themselves with an increased IT delivery gap. An IT delivery gap often occurs within organizations who approach connecting applications, data, and devices in a traditional point-to-point manner. This point-to-point approach includes one or many data extracts which are time-consuming and error-prone, causing a great deal of pain for the business. As more point-to-point integrations are built, they become increasingly complex and costly to maintain and are usually built in a hard-coded manner facilitated by brittle mapping files.
Similarly, organizations who approach data and integration solutions by implementing a monolithic data store—often referred to as a data warehouse—are also experiencing some pain. While the data is reliable, specific painful characteristics are associated with warehousing approaches. Projects to deliver warehousing solutions usually take too long, do not meet all business requirements and become governance nightmares.
On the other hand, organizations that embrace an API-led connectivity approach find themselves with increased agility due to asset reusability. Whether they build an API Gateway by writing code or using a tool like MuleSoft, they will see an ability to drive innovation within their business and remain competitive.
Companies that are writing lots of code to build their APIs, though, need to ask themselves if they want to be the best at writing such code or if they’re going to be the best at their core business function.
Think of an insurance company that is modernizing using the API-led connectivity approach. Does that company want to be known for having the best developers writing API code in the insurance industry? Or does it want to be recognized for providing the best insurance coverage and experience for its customers?
Technology leaders know the answer lies in the methods that will allow a company to unlock back-end data for rapid development and innovation while enhancing governance and security. The API-led connectivity approach along with a tool like MuleSoft is the best option for today’s data and integration challenges.
Where Silverline Fits into Your Data Integration Strategy
Salesforce provides solutions to answer our customers business and customer engagement needs. Silverline believes that integration and data strategies are at the center of robust solutions on the Salesforce platform. Let’s have a strategic conversation around your data and integration needs. Reach out to me at [email protected] to get started.
