Build an Application Integration Strategy
Level the table before assembling the application integration puzzle or risk losing pieces.
- Even though organizations are now planning for Application Integration (AI) in their projects, very few have developed a holistic approach to their integration problems resulting in each project deploying different tactical solutions.
- Point-to-point and ad hoc integration solutions won’t cut it anymore: the cloud, big data, mobile, social, and new regulations require more sophisticated integration tooling.
- Loosely defined AI strategies result in point solutions, overlaps in technology capabilities, and increased maintenance costs; the correlation between business drivers and technical solutions is lost.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Involving the business in strategy development will keep them engaged and align business drivers with technical initiatives.
- An architectural approach to AI strategy is critical to making appropriate technology decisions and promoting consistency across AI solutions through the use of common patterns.
- Get control of your AI environment with an appropriate architecture, including policies and procedures, before end users start adding bring-your-own-integration (BYOI) capabilities to the office.
Impact and Result
- Engage in a formal AI strategy and involve the business when aligning business goals with AI value; each double the AI success rate.
- Benefits from a formal AI strategy largely depend on how gaps will be filled.
- Create an Integration Center of Competency for maintaining architectural standards and guidelines.
- AI strategies are continuously updated as new business drivers emerge from changing business environments and/or essential technologies.
Build an Application Integration Strategy Research & Tools
1. Make the Case for AI Strategy
Obtain organizational buy-in and build a standardized and formal AI blueprint.
2. Assess the organization's readiness for AI
Assess your people, process, and technology for AI readiness and realize areas for improvement.
3. Develop a Vision
Fill the required AI-related roles to meet business requirements
4. Perform a Gap Analysis
Assess the appropriateness of AI in your organization and identify gaps in people, processes, and technology as it relates to AI.
5. Build an AI Roadmap
Compile the important information and artifacts to include in the AI blueprint.
6. Build the Integration Blueprint
Keep a record of services and interfaces to reduce waste.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
8.0/10
Overall Impact
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Coor Service Management Group AB
Guided Implementation
8/10
N/A
N/A
Normandale Community College
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
N/A
Multnomah County
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
20
Workshop: Build an Application Integration Strategy
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Make the Case for AI Strategy
The Purpose
Uncover current and future AI business drivers, and assess current capabilities.
Key Benefits Achieved
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Perform a current state assessment and create a future vision.
Activities
Outputs
Identify Current and Future Business Drivers
- High-level groupings of AI strategy business drivers.
AI Readiness Assessment
- Determine the organization’s readiness for AI, and identify areas for improvement.
Integration Service Catalog Template
- Create a record of services and interfaces to reduce waste.
Module 2: Know Current Environment
The Purpose
Identify building blocks, common patterns, and decompose them.
Key Benefits Achieved
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Develop an AI Architecture.
Activities
Outputs
Integration Principles
- Set general AI architecture principles.
High-level Patterns
- Categorize future and existing interactions by pattern to establish your integration framework.
Pattern decomposition and recomposition
- Identification of common functional components across patterns.
Module 3: Perform a Gap Analysis
The Purpose
Analyze the gaps between the current and future environment in people, process, and technology.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Uncover gaps between current and future capabilities and determine if your ideal environment is feasible.
Activities
Outputs
Gap Analysis
- Identify gaps between the current environment and future AI vision.
Module 4: Build a Roadmap for Application Integration
The Purpose
Define strategic initiatives, know your resource constraints, and use a timeline for planning AI.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Create a plan of strategic initiatives required to close gaps.
Activities
Outputs
Identify and prioritize strategic initiatives
- Use strategic initiatives to build the AI strategy roadmap.
Distribute initiatives on a timeline
- Establish when initiatives are going to take place.
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 1-phase advisory process. You'll receive 4 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
- Call 1: Uncover business drivers for integration
Identify risks and issues, along with mitigation plans to help bolster the program, and define KPIs that will be used to measure the success of the program.
- Call 2: Interpret your organization’s AI readiness assessment results
Identify gaps that will need to be addressed in people, process, and technology as a plan is developed.
- Call 3: Validate the requirements, architectural vision, and identify common integration patterns
Accelerate implementation and promote consistency across the environment.
- Call 4: Validate the gap analysis, initiative composition, and strategic plan
Understand the resourcing requirements and constraints.
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