The success of digital transformation hinges on how effectively systems talk to each other. However, translating business objectives into technical solutions often becomes a stumbling block for many Australian organisations. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, between June 2021 and June 2023, 46% of businesses indicated a growing emphasis on adopting new technologies and processes to enhance operations. However, this also suggests that over half of Australian companies have yet to fully engage in innovation activities, potentially missing out on the benefits of integrated digital systems. These figures underscore that we're halfway there in transforming integration opportunities and challenges to maximise sales capabilities.
In the first of a three-part series on systems integration, this article walks you through the essential first phase: defining the business problem or opportunity and how to translate that into a technical requirement that sets your integration project on the right path.
Between June 2021 and June 2023, Australian organisations adopting new technologies and processes to enhance operations stood at:
Have you experienced moments where your IT team struggles to grasp the core business issue you're asking them to fix? You're not alone. This gap often arises because the business problem hasn't been fully translated into a technical problem. Without clarity at this stage, there's a risk of misalignment between the business stakeholders and the technical team, resulting in wasted time, cost overruns, or missed objectives.
The goal is to engage with the business in their language, extracting exactly what challenges they need to solve or what process they wish to improve. Systems or data integration, whether connecting enterprise systems, automating workflows, or facilitating real-time data sharing, work best when you start with a clear understanding of the business issue and how your systems currently operate.
Businesses often know what they want to achieve but lack the technical vocabulary to translate these needs into actionable steps. For example, in a consumer goods company, improving e-commerce efficiency might involve faster order processing, real-time stock updates, and better customer communication. This information must be reframed as specific technical requirements that set the integration project's foundation.
Typically, once a customer completes an online transaction, a request is sent to the warehouse team to dispatch the item(s). The warehouse checks stock availability and begins processing. Each night, the warehouse exports inventory data manually imported into the e-commerce platform to update stock levels.
The e-commerce site sends an automated acknowledgement email to the customer. Still, it does not confirm delivery times or availability, as stock levels may have changed before the latest update. Orders are manually exported from the e-commerce platform to the finance system overnight.
Updating stock levels overnight would be fine with a brick-and-mortar store with after-hours for these updates to take place. In an online ecosystem, there are no after-hours. The desired process is for these updates to occur instantaneously without relying on nightly data transfers. E-commerce, warehouse, and finance systems should automatically align with the same real-time information.
Before implementing integrations, it's critical to map both the current process and the desired future state. This mapping identifies delays, bottlenecks, and manual tasks that integration can remove. Visualising the existing workflow alongside the ideal outcome allows businesses to see where integration will deliver measurable efficiency gains.
With the business process mapped out, the next step is to define all the systems involved. Each system plays a specific role and requires certain data inputs and outputs to operate correctly. Missing connections or unclear responsibilities between systems are common causes of integration failure. Understanding these failures early prevents overlooked connections or misalignments later.
Critical systems in this example:
Defining how data should flow between systems—and crucially, where the 'source of truth' lies—is key to a successful integration strategy. Each system relies on specific data inputs to function properly, and without consistent, reliable information, errors and discrepancies can occur. The goal is to establish clear data ownership and synchronisation points, ensuring all systems are aligned in real time.
With a clear picture of business needs, current processes, and systems, the next step is to evaluate the best integration options. The objective is to achieve seamless, real-time data synchronisation while controlling costs. In most modern scenarios, API integrations, cloud integrations, and workflow automation tools provide the flexibility required.
Obvious technical solutions include:
All the insights gathered in the previous steps form the foundation for the final solution outline. This document acts as a bridge between business stakeholders and the technical team, ensuring a shared understanding of objectives, systems, data, and processes. It sets out a clear plan, enabling technical architects to design and build the integration solution efficiently and correctly.
Your solution outline should include the following:
This first phase of integration lays the groundwork for success. By identifying the business problem or opportunity, mapping current and desired workflows, and understanding the systems and data flows involved, you create a solid foundation for any integration project. These steps help uncover inefficiencies, clarify system responsibilities, and translate business needs into technical terms, ensuring alignment across business and IT teams.
This article is the first in a three-part series covering the best integration approach. In the next phase, we'll explore how to design and build your integration solution, followed by how to support and maintain it for long-term success. By getting Phase 1 right, you're not just preparing for technical implementation, you're setting your organisation up for improved performance, faster decision-making, and a more connected customer experience.
Creative Folks' Integrations as a Service helps businesses streamline operations by linking disconnected systems and improving data flow across departments. It's a practical option for organisations that want to improve productivity and system visibility without the burden of managing integration internally.
You won't need to build or maintain complex infrastructure. Our team handles everything—from analysing business requirements to designing and deploying the solution with our SiPHON Platform.
Identify the opportunities and highlight the challenges of your business more clearly with Integrations as a Service.