A way out of the systems integration jungle

In a jungle of systems, many companies have reached critical mass, which impedes their ability to respond to customers’ needs as the operating environment changes.

“Companies continue to implement add-on systems that are woven together through dozens of integrations. This leads to a complete inability to change and leaves companies with no capacity or courage for renewal for fear of a system collapse,” says Nortal’s chief architect, Pasi Anttila.

Many companies have made massive investments in their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which should be the operational nerve center of the company, but the software jungle and integrations have led to a hostage situation of sorts: Their operations are no longer customer-driven, but instead system-driven, which cannot lead to the best outcome.

Nortal has created a business framework model that uses interfaces to link software to the agile business engine, the nerve center of the outermost level of the business’s operations. The solution helps companies get back in the driver’s seat of their business.

“The agile business engine makes use of the desired parts of software in the most sensible way in terms of the business. As cross-integrations are eliminated, software can be updated with greater agility or replaced with entirely new solutions that better support the business,” says Anttila.

Many seek similar benefits through verticalized ERP applications. In practice, however, these require individual and case-by-case customization.

“Verticalized applications are only a static answer to the problem. The company will find itself back at square one if and when the operating environment, and thus customers’ needs and requirements, change,” adds account director Henri Jefimoff.

Nortal has end-to-end expertise in creating the overall solution required for framework, from strategy to implementation and software selection.

“The best software in the market is still available, but this time in a healthy way that allows companies to retain control of the reins. Thanks to the interfaces, trial and error can also take place at a reasonable cost and without causing harm or disruption to other areas of the business,” Anttila and Jefimoff agree, summing up the advantages of Nortal’s business framework.

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