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System Integration |
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The rise of Information Technology (IT) as a strategic asset to business has been an evolutionary
process. Organizations of all sizes in all industries depend on IT to deliver competitive
advantages, increase revenues, decrease costs, drive out risk, and generally support mission-critical
business. But how business leverages IT has changed significantly over the decades, as has IT's
focus on how to present and deliver value to the business.
Era 1: From manual to automated
Most people don't know that the modern computer was invented in 1837 by
Charles Babbage -
called an "Analytical Engine". It was, however, over 100 years before his vision - the drawings of
which are still in the Smithsonian Institute - would begin to be realized and the first computer
constructed.
When the business community first began to be used by business, it took decades for the Information
Technology industry to be fully "born" ... to get proficient at putting computer systems - and eventually the
information they generated - to work for the business. During this season, IT's focus
was on automating processes which had once been accessible only through enormous manual efforts. IT
also offered the amazing benefit of making possible new business processes which no human being could do, no
matter how many people applied themselves to it, how smart they were, or how hard they worked. This was the
dawn of the information age.
Building IT systems to deliver value to the business is now a commodity, but Capstone's expertise
and experience in this area is both broad and deep, making us an invaluable partner in your quest to maximize
the benefits of information technology.
Learn more about
Capstone's full-lifecycle custom software development offerings and how to put Capstone's knowledge and
experience to work for your organization.
Era 2: From automated to integrated
As manually-intensive business processes were automated, and increasingly sophisticated systems were
created to manage these processes, the number of independent systems within the enterprise grew quickly.
But the needs of the business, and therefore the requirements of new and existing systems, grew quickly as well.
Soon business leaders were requesting functionality which required these independent systems to
communicate with one another and share information at an alarming new pace and with new flexibility and sophistication
not yet seen before. Thus the era of system integration was ushered in.
Like building custom software systems, this work too has commoditized greatly over the years. Some of the brightest
minds in the industry have devoted hundreds of thousands of hours and dozens of software releases to maturing
large, highly sophisticated IT systems - including ERP systems, CRM systems, and others. All the large
software companies have solutions, each with their own strenghts and weakness, and most companies have many systems like these
in place. But no matter what the marketing claims, none of these systems is truly one-stop shopping. None meets 100%
of the needs of the business. And none is an island unto itself.
Instead, even these massive systems need to be
integrated together, so that critical corporate information can flow freely and easily between them to respond to
the needs of the business.
As the need to integrate systems continues, Capstone is here to help our customers meet those needs.
Whether it's assisting you in selecting the right tools for your company, building custom integration pipes between existing
proprietary systems, helping you assess
and mature your overall IT strategy, or
helping you put a business intelligence
program in place (which we'll talk about next), Capstone puts invaluable enterprise IT experience and expertise
at your fingertips.
Era 3: From integrated to intelligent
With the number, size and complexity of systems on the rise and organizations experiencing more and more integration of
systems into massive multi-level enterprise software platforms, the amount of data (corporate information) being thrown
off by these systems is increasing exponentially. It is no longer uncommon for businesses to generate hundreds of
gigabytes (even terabytes) of data every year. This environment has created the need for the most advanced form of
integration yet in IT. No longer are single-function reports meeting the needs of high-speed, 21st century business.
Leaders and managers at all levels in the company are now calling for incredibly sophisticated cross-functional reports,
dashboards, and scorecards from which they can make increasingly-accurate split-second (operational) and long-term
(strategic) decisions ... all based on the empirical evidence of the data. This is business intelligence - the latest
era in IT, focused on making business data-driven, and providing access to data in highly-intuitive, targeted, actionable
ways.
Learn more about
Capstone's Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing practice.
Capstone has been in business since 1998, but our consultants have been helping customers maximize their IT investment
for a lot longer. We've been a part of each era of the IT industry, picking up myriad best practices, proven processes,
design patterns, and architectural principles along the way. As our toolkit grows, so does your ready access to IT
expertise. So, regardless of which era best describes your organization, let Capstone provide expert guidance and
deliver value to your business from our decades of experience. Whether it's building bridges between your existing
applications,
building an entire custom software solution,
assessing a critical initiative, or
helping you make better use of your data,
help is just a phone call away.
Capstone architects and developers are familiar with countless tools and technologies. However, one favorite tool
Capstone consultants have used for years to facilitate the effective integration of both custom and
off-the-shelf software products is the Tibco software suite,
especially their
B2B Integration,
Enterprise Service Bus (ESB), and
Business Process Management (BPM) technologies.
As leaders in system integration and business intelligence, Capstone knows how to
architect your enterprise to take advantage of cutting edge enterprise service bus (ESB) technology
and service oriented architecture (SOA) best practices. We have used Tibco, and other tools like
it, on dozens of projects to build bridges between previously-inaccessible silos of corporate information and
business functionality. From cross-functional reporting systems to highly-sophisticated Internet and Intranet
front-ends, Capstone has accelerated customer after customer through the later eras in IT.
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