How to improve communication between multiple IT systems? 3 examples

If you are wondering how to improve communication between different IT systems, you are in the right place. We will discuss this topic from two perspectives: integration of many internal systems within an enterprise and integration of one company’s system with various external systems of its contractors. Sounds complicated? Only seemingly. If we know what to focus on and where to start, the work will run smoothly. Ready? Let’s start!

Difficulties in the implementation of efficient communication between external and internal systems of enterprises

These types of difficulties can be encountered on many levels. They very often appear when the company faces the challenge of integrating the system with Post Office or courier systems. These are of course, one of the most common types of integration. Many OOTB solutions have such integrations provided as standard. The challenge, however, arises in the case of medium to large enterprises. Why? Because such companies usually use dedicated software.

Example 1:

Client: large, complex companyfrom the financial sector

Problem: optimization of the process of accepting and managing complaints with accurate reporting

An additional difficulty: multiple inbound channels

A solution: a dedicated system that optimizes the course of the entire complaint process: from the moment of raising an issue, through assigning the task to the appropriate business unit, by selecting the best specialist to respond to the notification and determining the legitimacy of the complaint until the final solution of the case, notifying the customer and archiving the entire case.

Challenges: integration with 5 frontend systems of the financial institution was carried out, through which customers could submit a complaint. We are talking about an online form, web and mobile applications, a complaint filed at one of the stationary branches and traditional correspondence service system. Thanks to this, one system collects information about all the complaints. However, this is not the end. Another challenge was to improve the complaint handling process itself. To conduct effective and efficient operations, it was necessary to integrate a new system with over 14 different existing internal systems.

Applied technology: SpringBoot + Spring Cloud, Vue.Js, Docker + OpenShift, PostgreSQL

Outcome: increased comfort and effectiveness of bank employees, shorter response time and processing of customer cases, professional complaint handling thanks to efficient access to customer information and intuitive notifications automatically sent by the system.

How to improve communication between different systems in the bank? Create a dedicated system that unifies the way you handle all tasks within a specific process. Our actions were reflected in the improvement of the comfort of employees and clients of the bank. Similar activities will be perfect for, among others, production and telecommunications companies. The scheme of operation of a dedicated system will be similar, but it must reflect the nature of a specific enterprise in 100%.

How to improve communication between different external systems within a company?

We often come across this type of question. The necessity to integrate one system with various external systems (managed by the external companies) is a challenge. With the right approach, you can achieve that without major problems. How to improve communication between different systems? We answer as usual with a specific example:

Example 2:

Client: facilities management

Problem: difficulties in implementing effective communication between the client’s system and the systems of its external contractors

An additional difficulty: the need to implement two-way integration and lack of a single communication protocol/standard

A solution: a dedicated system responsible for establishing connection, data translation and supporting all the communication protocols that have been imposed by the systems used by the customers

Applied technology: Java, SpringBoot, Apache Kafka, Oracle Database, MongoDB

Outcome: efficient implementation of the main business goal of the client: facilitating access and exchange of information between the internal and external systems.

These types of integrations require efficient operation of the Project Manager and the Technical Architect. A good plan is the basis for successful integration. Additionally, testers are an indispensable element of the task force. It is their work that allows the sample test scenarios to be verified to eliminate possible failures before the system is officially put into production. Project Manager needs to handle a proper communication between internal and external teams which is always a challenge.

How to improve internal communication in the company?

It has been known for a long time that effective access to information inside the company significantly streamline everyday task performance. The first, basic improvement that should be introduced on this level is the modernization of the document workflow system. The larger the scale of the enterprise is, the more documents are in the process. If we add the multitude of formats and their various purposes, we can clearly see that the potential for improvement in this field is huge.

Improving the document workflow system should take two forms: starting from the full standardization of documentation up to the optimization of a document registration and archiving. Where to start? It is best to use a specific example again.

Example 3:

Client: large, complex company from the financial sector

Problem: non-intuitive document workflow system and the need to automate the entire process

An additional difficulty: digitization of correspondence flowing in through the traditional channel and integration of the new system with many existing applications.

A solution a dedicated system that enables the effective process of document registration, access, and archiving. The designed solution covers correspondence, letters, accounting documents and all sort of application forms.

Challenges: the system should enable efficient registration of all kind of documents including those delivered in a paper form. The scanned document is OCRed, which enables its digitization and archiving in the internal repositories.

Applied technology: Java, SpringBoot + Spring Cloud, Vue.Js+ Nuxt, Docker + OpenShift, PostgreSQL, ElasticSearch, RabbitMQ

Outcome: an efficient system used by approx. 6 thousand people. The implemented solution supports approx. 20 thousand documents monthly.

The conclusion on how to improve communication between different systems in the enterprise is simple: professional integration. Each company is unique, as are the IT solutions that will fit it. In the case of one company, out-of-the-box solutions available on the market may be a good enough choice. The more complex the company is, however, the more important a dedicated approach and tailored solutions are.

How to improve communication between multiple IT systems at your company? Let’s talk about it.