One of the many benefits of using an enterprise integration and automation tool like iPaaS (integration platform as a service) is that it will help you connect the dots between people, processes and technology. You can also greatly improve cross-departmental workflow and communication.
iPaaS acts as a hub to manage all data integration points, leveraging pre-built connectors and APIs, and facilitates the building of workflows between applications. A common area to tackle is onboarding. With this example, the request to onboard may initiate in HR or with the hiring manager and the workflow will touch everything from the global address book and active directory to the creation of email accounts, provisioning of software, equipment, security access, badges and more.
iPaaS can help connect all these integration points and allows for the creation of automation to help facilitate the process.
In addition, when you use a codeless iPaaS tool, like TeamDynamix iPaaS, you can empower employees across departments to build their own integrations and automations. This can help cut down on integration backlogs and improve development time.
Improving Communication for Email-Generated Tickets at the University of Delaware
At the University of Delaware, they rely on group emails for the community to submit questions, requests and issues, “We have about 30 email monitors going right now,” Ann Gerwitz, director of IT Service Management, said. To ensure that everyone on an email request is included in the subsequently created TeamDynamix ticket to retain awareness of the resolution of requests, the team has set up a series of workflows all built on the iPaaS platform.
The first flow takes anyone on CC from the email and adds them automatically as contacts to the ticket that is created in the system by the initial email request. This is beneficial, as it’s not just UDIT using this email request system – the University’s registrars group, procurement, HR and student financials, for example, all use this email request process.
The second workflow notifies contacts if a ticket is created that includes them. A third workflow adds contacts to the ticket if a request is submitted through a form.
These flows maintain the awareness of all people the requestor intended and provides them access to request information and the ability to comment on the request.
Looking ahead, Gerwitz says she and her team plan to move most of their complex workflows over to TeamDynamix iPaaS, “iPaaS flow processing works quickly and reduces time to process current workflows. Overall iPaaS is working well to automate processes quickly and accurately.”
5 Benefits of iPaaS
In addition to improving communication and transparency, there are other benefits to bringing iPaaS into an organization. Here are the top 5 benefits of using iPaaS for your integration and automation needs:
- Anyone Can Use It. With the right iPaaS tool, anyone can become a citizen developer. What does this mean? The best iPaaS tools are ones that utilize visual flow builders with drag-and-drop functionality. These tools are codeless, meaning you don’t need deep technical knowledge to get up and running. The benefit of this is you don’t need to rely on central IT resources to start integrating data and automating your processes. By democratizing integrations, you can free up valuable resources and boost efficiencies.
- Data Synchronization. Limited resources often mean you need to make strategic, data-based business decisions. But with data coming from so many systems, and sometimes through manual data entry, there’s a large margin for error. With iPaaS you can pull the data together (and automate manual data entry) to lower your margin for error and get a better, accurate picture of your data landscape. This, in turn, means you can make better data-based decisions.
- Automation of Repetitive Tasks. For many, this is a BIG benefit. Within departments such as IT, there is often a list of tasks that need to be completed daily, weekly and monthly. These tasks can be small, but they take time and resources to complete. Using iPaaS, IT departments are automating these tasks. Through automation, they are gaining time back in their day to focus on bigger projects and problems. This is a huge benefit, especially in IT, where resources and time are precious. There are other routine requests that can also take considerable time such as onboarding/offboarding employees – imagine if these types of activities could be automated.
- Visibility to Data and Integration Points. As lines of business procure more and more software, organizations are finding that they may have 300-500 applications in use – many holding the same data without synchronization. Connecting these applications is virtually impossible without the aid of an integration platform. Many attempts are made with APIs and webhooks which furthers security risk – does IT have true visibility to the integration points throughout every department and application? When you integrate and automate your organization with iPaaS you can get visibility to all of this. You can see which APIs are in use and by whom, and you can see where data is flowing back and forth. By using an integration layer, you can shore up access and secure your systems. In addition, you can get visibility into the workflows being built across departments and better manage resources and processes.
- Efficiency Gains. With iPaaS you can see efficiency gains. From automating small daily tasks and data entry, to fully automating complex processes like onboarding a new employee – with iPaaS you gain back valuable time and resources that you can use to focus on other improvements to keep your customers happy.
To learn more about iPaaS and how other organizations are putting it to use, read our iPaaS eBook: What’s in your Cloud? Saving Time with iPaaS.