Businesses run on data, and integration delivers that data where it’s needed. Because data is so important, integration has become a critical capability for every IT organization.
Unfortunately, in too many organizations, the practice of building integrations remains inconsistent, inefficient, and costly. Because developers lack company-wide standards and a repository of reusable components, integration projects take longer to develop, troubleshoot, and maintain. Instead of investing in new IT initiatives, companies find themselves spending time and money keeping old hand-coded integrations patched and running.
Improving the practice of integration would not only improve connectivity between applications, devices, and people. It would also free IT organizations to take on new, strategically important initiatives, such as product development, improvements to customer experiences, and workflow automation.
The best way to improve the practice of integration is for a company to establish an integration center of excellence (ICoE) – a cross-departmental team of experts dedicated to applying best practices and standards to the development and management of integrations.
An ICoE brings together business and IT stakeholders to improve the practice of integration and ensure it serves the company’s strategic goals. This centralized model delivers many benefits, starting with the speed and assurance that comes from repeatable processes built on proven standards. ICoEs can even help streamline mergers and acquisitions.
We recently wrote about how one Boomi customer, Gilead Sciences, is leveraging an ICoE to gain operational agility and speed. To determine whether your company could benefit from an ICoE, ask yourself the questions below.
Get started with our free ebook, "Checklist for Building an Integration Center of Excellence."
These are just a few of the questions that can help you get started. For a longer list, including questions to help you assess an ICoE you might have already begun to put in place, download our ebook, "Checklist for Building an Integration Center of Excellence."
Need additional help with your integration center of excellence? Boomi Professional Services offers a full suite of services to help you build — or improve — an ICoE. Learn more on our ICoE page.