How do you manage technology integration and interoperability across different systems and platforms?

Some ways to get started include utilization of process mapping software, process discovery software or hiring a business analyst to document the process on your team's behalf.

This can be an simple task or a challenging exercise depending upon the environment. Those organizations that have inherited different platforms as a result of mergers and acquisitions will have to look closely at what efforts are being duplicated and what can be done to make it easier to manage.

The most important part of the process includes defining the key stakeholders and contributors, then designating the executive project sponsor who is going to ensure the project will be supported through completion.

One should consider the vendor roadmap for the platforms you’re looking to integrate. It may not be the best use of resources if the future of the platform isn’t certain. If the platform has a future, then every effort to simplify separate platforms should be a top priority. By reducing complexity you’ll save time, money and brainpower when something goes wrong or turnover occurs within the organization.

I'd like to offer a few areas of insight: - Don't automate broken processes; make sure the process itself is optimized based on your current environment. - If your core systems can solve the problem natively or through available pre-built integration, use that first. - Automation or Robotic Process Automation (RPA) should be used to connect across disparate systems. These work best when the process is rules based, repetitive, or has potential scale where speed, accuracy, and efficiency matter.

There are times when integration needs to be done when there’s useful life from a recent capital expenditure and/or the organization can’t justify the rationale behind ripping out an existing system. I’m a big fan on standardizing on a single platform since it reduces complexity. In the cases that can’t be done immediately, then choose the integration method that’s easy to implement and manage for the support staff.

Documentation can’t be stressed enough. As time passes, so does memory as it relates to specific technology integration details. Whether if it’s paper and pen or a collaborative digital notebook, the documentation of an implementation is critical. Not only will you have a working example to reference for future implementations but it also serves as a starting point to consider the next steps if a platform migration will eventually replace the existing setup.

As APIs are built to replace proprietary communication protocols, the implementation of separate platforms have become cleaner to handle. To avoid the situation of technology sprawl with users consuming a subset of features, it’s important to research the usefulness of a platform prior to implementation. As managers of technology, we should always seek to make the user experience simple but useful enough so they can complete their work. Integrating platforms has a role but should always be balanced with the usefulness of the project for an organization.