By Boomi
Managing a digital infrastructure landscape has never been easy. Anyone with a role in maintaining a data and application portfolio knows the constant headaches. As a former CIO myself, I speak from experience.
But now, the challenges are infinitely more problematic. The once gradual movement from monolithic, all-in-one technologies like ERPs toward a more distributed architecture has become an all-out sprint. Today, organizations can rely on hundreds – or more – of best of breed and custom applications to solve specific problems. Data can reside anywhere and everywhere. On premises. The Cloud. IoT sensors. The sheer complexity is astounding.
The global pandemic served as a catalyst, driving businesses and public agencies to embrace digital modernization efforts out of sheer necessity. They needed the speed, agility, and flexibility the cloud offers to continue providing the goods and services that people needed.
The speed at which technology changed is so dramatic that it’s like culture shock. As a result, leaders find themselves wrestling with perhaps the most pivotal problem in business today – interoperability.
How do they tightly connect the massive digital sprawl so everything works together? How do they ensure that all systems can communicate with one another? How do they secure data, guarantee that it’s trusted, and make it readily available for consumption by those who need it?
I know there are a lot of questions in that last paragraph. But asking the right questions makes us think deeply about what we need to accomplish to drive our organizations forward – and how best to do it. Over the years, I’ve helped countless businesses and agencies think through their digital transformation initiatives. Those projects always began with me asking some hard questions.
Let’s be honest. The idea of taming a complicated architecture is daunting. There are competing visions of how best to address the myriad problems that come with creating pervasive connectivity, data readiness, and seamless user engagement. It’s not easy deciding the best way to address those challenges for your specific business. Just figuring out where to start is bewildering.
For instance, an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) is a very efficient method for connecting business processes and solving the problem of fragmented infrastructure in a scalable and cost-effective manner. But while an iPaaS is an innovative solution, technology is just a tool. It’s not a strategy.
That’s why we’ve written an eBook that takes a closer look at what to consider when trying to solve these critical integration problems.
“Chaos to Order: Connecting a Fragmented Digital Landscape Through Modern Integration” explores the essential questions business leaders should ask as they navigate the journey to a more simplified architecture.
- What is your vision?
- How effective are you delivering at your mission now?
- What is your cloud strategy?
- What are your security concerns?
- What is your plan for scalability, composability, and interoperability?
- What is your philosophy toward low code?
- Do you have an agnostic approach to integration?
- How are you working through the limitations of your technical debt?
- What is your strategy for the explosive growth of data?
- What is the human impact of modernization?
You may have other questions pertaining to your organization. But the key is taking a step back. Make sure you have a firm understanding of the necessary answers before doing anything. You’ll stand a much greater chance of success in unifying your digital landscape. Any decision you make now can have long-term ramifications. And perhaps not for the better when it comes to delivering on your objectives.
Too often, businesses feel compelled to move fast and end up modernizing for the sake of modernization. Not enough consideration is given to far-reaching implications. Speed is essential in business. But I would argue that being thoughtful is more critical.
And, yes, we make the case in the eBook for why an iPaaS – especially the Boomi AtomSphere Platform – deserves your consideration as the right technology to connect an expanding digital ecosystem.
Today, CIOs and their teams have a new, unofficial role: complexity management. Their primary task is connecting everything in the technology landscape and ensuring that the incredible volume of decentralized data is always available for harnessing insights.
A cohesive architecture gives you the flexibility to deal with changing market conditions and the speed to pounce on business opportunities. You can create the personal and relevant customer experiences that people crave today.
Fast, secure, and reliable integration is at the heart of achieving that goal as part of a well-planned strategy. That’s how you move from chaos to order.
Download your free copy of “Chaos to Order: Connecting a Fragmented Digital Landscape Through Modern Integration” today.