What is System Integration? And why does it matter?

For many of us, the idea of a “smart” home still seems pretty futuristic. But the reality is that “connected” homes are closer than you think.

In these environments, devices enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) will, essentially, talk to each other. You’ll be able to use your smartphone to turn on your dish washer, your fridge will tell you when you’re running low on milk and your lamps will automatically switch on depending on the level of light in the room. Not only does this make everyday tasks easier, it also allows us to be more productive and efficient because we have more free time.

System Integration works in the same way. Much like you being able to control your toaster or air conditioner via a smart home platform, system integration brings together component subsystems to function as a single, easy to use system. And this doesn’t mean that the systems have to be the same. Kettles don’t only communicate with kettles. With proper system integration, financial systems will integrate with HR systems, which will integrate with different billing platforms and so forth.

So, why does system integration matter?

Well, let’s go back to that smart home we mentioned above. Remember how we explained that these connected households will afford us more time to do other things. Take doing your washing for example. In the past, you’d have to hang around the house while the washing machine was running so that you could hang out your clothes once the machine was done.

With an integrated system – your appliances communicate with each other. So, you can turn on the washing machine using your phone an hour before you’re due home. In this way, your clothes will be clean by the time you walk in the door.

This level of efficiency is exactly what modern businesses need to stay ahead of their competitors. Imagine how much more productive your team would be if they no longer had to waste their time moving between platforms that don’t work together. Smart businesses will harness the power of emerging solutions and technologies to move away from complex, siloed systems. By integrating systems and automating processes, they’ll make it easier for people to work smarter.

Now that you understand what system integration is, it’s time to learn more about the business benefits this approach offers. We’ll unpack these advantages in our next post, so do keep an eye out for it.

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