What is Business Process Integration? Ultimate Guide

An African proverb rightfully shares, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” In business, the ability to work efficiently together is supported by business process integration. 

We’re going to look at the types of business process integration worth knowing, as well as process integration examples.

Coming Up

What is Business Process Integration?

What are the Benefits of Business Process Integration?

What are the Types of Business Process Integration?

What are Tips to Consider When Implementing Business Process Integration?

What are Examples of Business Process Integration Use Cases?

What are the Steps in Business Process Integration?

What is Business Process Integration vs BPM?

What are the Challenges Implementing Business Process Integration?

Closing Thoughts

What is Business Process Integration?

Business process integration (BPI) is the process of harmonizing and synchronizing business processes along with the people involved in an effort to optimize efficiency. Business process integration isn’t just about stringing together technology systems and workflows, it is also about integrating business strategies and overall procedures. 

With a business, business process integration helps to enhance efficiency, communication, and security. Additionally, it lends to better data insights and trend spotting to make informed business decisions that optimize outcomes. 

What are the Benefits of Business Process Integration?

The benefits of business process integration are widespread and range from operational to strategic benefits, along with financial advantages. For example, when you implement BPI, you can expect: 

1. Uninterrupted Communication 

Integrated processes can improve your communication within your business, as well as with your stakeholders. Companies that work together within a structured system can minimize miscommunication and reduce bottlenecks. 

2. Consolidated Data

With business process integration, you can also expect to consolidate data for sharing purposes. With all data saved in a centralized location, accessibility becomes immediate and collaboration is viable. 

For example, if two businesses that provide complementary services have a way to share their market information, they can both make the best decisions to better serve their customers, respectively. 

3. Improved Security 

With integrated processes, you gain the advantage of improved security. As each participant within a system has to stick to the same security guidelines, there’s less chance of data breaches. 

What are the Types of Business Process Integration?

Let’s look at the different types of business process integration to help get a better idea of what it means and how it can be achieved. 

1. Native Integration

Native integration means that it is already baked into the software, allowing data to seamlessly flow between applications. In order to connect apps with the source, you simply have to grant permission. 

2. Third-Party Integration 

Third-party integration can be combined with existing software and created to add the feature of integration, rather than having to build it out from scratch. 

3. API Integration 

API integration allows two or more programs to combine their data through application programming interfaces (APIs). 

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When discussing types of business process integration, it’s useful to mention the various tools that are involved, such as: process automation, business process reengineering, business process management, and data integration. 

There are finance automation solutions that help you to achieve process automation and data integration. At the same time, certain products leverage APIs to connect all your data systems and seamlessly centralize your data so your business can access a single source of truth. 

This makes executing processes, performing analysis, and making informed business decisions simple. 

What are Tips to Consider When Implementing Business Process Integration?

When implementing business process integration, you’ll have a lot of considerations and decisions to make. 

On the road to cutting costs, improving customer service, and reaching maximum efficiency, remember these best practices: 

1. Determine Your Strategy 

Plan a strategy, which includes defining goals, timelines, resources, and those responsible for business process implementation. 

2. Test, Monitor, and Refine 

Once you have your tools in place, don’t forget to keep an eye on how everything is functioning. Test your process integration out. If there needs to be updates made, be sure to refine the integrations so that you can optimize outcomes and boost efficiency. 

3. Select the Right Technology

Perhaps most importantly is choosing the right tools and investing in solutions that work for your business. 

Look for tools that can streamline processes, such as business automation software which can offer various use cases, including: reconciliation, expense analytics, rebate management and more. 

What are Examples of Business Process Integration Use Cases?

It’s time to review some business process integration examples so you can see how it has the potential to improve your business’ functions. 

1. Finance

Consider a business that has just introduced a new purchase order system. Naturally, it makes sense that the new software and the business’ existing bookkeeping software work together. Furthermore, it would be even more optimal if the systems could connect with the inventory software to automatically be updated when a customer makes a purchase. 

2. Project Management 

Many companies turn to project management software to oversee resources and maximize output. Consider a project management software that helps to service an array of clients for a big corporation. 

With business process integration, the project management system can work with the company’s CRM and scheduling program to better service customer needs and handle issue resolution in a timely manner. 

Business process integration connects various workflows and processes together so that your team can maximize their productivity without having to scramble to access necessary data or next steps. 

With the inclusion of automation software, you have all the tools in place to prevent manual errors, increase productivity, and reduce costs. 

What are the Steps in Business Process Integration?

Deploying business process integration has a lot in common with how to implement process automation. 

You can follow these steps:

1. Identify Processes

First, you have to make note of processes that can be integrated in the first place. Business process mapping software can be helpful here. 

2. Map Processes

Business mapping allows business stakeholders and owners to visualize business processes. By doing so, it’s easier to identify holes or gaps that are ripe for improvement. 

3. Model Process Integration 

With business modeling software, you can model a few different business integration process opportunities. This way, you can forecast the outcome before having to invest too heavily or train employees. 

4. Implement and Monitor

After assessing the best case scenarios, you can choose which integrations to implement. At the same time, don't set parameters to model over time to ensure success. 

What is Business Process Integration vs BPM?

Despite the terms having two of the three same words, business process integration and business process management are not the same thing at all. 

Here’s the major difference in their meaning:

• Business Process Integration: BPI is with regard to integrating processes and systems between entities. 

• Business process Management: BPM refers to connecting various systems within the same singular entity. 

BPI tends to be more complex and laborious than BPM because there are multiple entities to consider. 

What are the Challenges Implementing Business Process Integration?

During the consideration phase of getting started with business process integration, hurdles may arise. Some common roadblocks include:

1. Poor Documentation 

If a vendor has poor API documentation, it can cause delays in your BPI process. 

2. Changing Needs 

When you integrate systems, it’s possible that over time, the systems that you integrate may be changed or their features may not remain the same interminably. This is especially true if you choose to integrate with third-party systems as adjustments are inevitable. 

3. Technical Limitations 

Be sure that you understand your technical capabilities before you begin the business implementation process so that you’re aware of what’s feasible versus what’s not. 

4. Incorrect Existing Processes

If you spend all the energy and effort to perform business process integration, it’s pivotal that you first ensure the existing process is running properly, and most importantly, is needed. 

Closing Thoughts

Working together makes for better outcomes. This is especially true when you have multiple systems and entities that can benefit from sharing data and information, which is what business process integration brings to the table. 

BPI reduces the burden of connecting and sharing data from falling on your team, and when applied with automation, has the power to radically boost your business’ efficiency.