Study: Companies have upwards of 1,000 apps but only a third are integrated

Image: WrightStudio/Adobe Stock

Tech marketplace observers foretell organizations volition increase IT spending this year, driven successful portion by  integer transformation. But, a survey by Salesforce’s MuleSoft part shows that trying to execute translation by scooping up applications mightiness not get you determination if the strategy doesn’t see utilizing exertion programming interfaces, automation and different methods to integrate them.

SEE: Research: Digital translation initiatives absorption connected collaboration (TechRepublic Premium)

The online survey of 1,050 IT leaders from planetary enterprises, successful concern with Vanson Bourne, aimed to uncover however overmuch organizations basal to summation from digital transformation and to recognize the IT strategies that work. Among the findings, a 3rd of organizations program to put successful robotic process automation to thrust businesslike growth. Demand for automation was beardown crossed nontechnical teams including quality resources, selling and product.

Jump to:

• A large summation successful usage of applications
• APIs and low-code capabilities for nontechnical users
• For businesslike processes and supporting nontech workflow, automation is ascendant
• As integer translation moves ahead, outgo of nonaccomplishment rises
• False dichotomy: Innovation contiguous vs. investing successful the future

A large summation successful usage of applications

Based connected responses to the survey, conducted successful October and November, 2022, businesses accrued the fig of applications they usage by 10% successful the 12 months anterior to implicit 1,060 connected average. However, less than one-third of those apps were integrated, creating data silos, rising costs, duplicated work, productivity bottlenecks, and disconnected experiences, according to MuleSoft.

Thirty-six percent of those surveyed — each of whom enactment astatine an enactment with astatine slightest 1,000 employees and clasp astatine slightest a managerial presumption successful an IT section — said integrating siloed apps and information was their biggest integer translation challenge.

Matt McLarty, main exertion serviceman astatine MuleSoft said integration woes are due, astatine slightest successful part, to older platforms oregon platforms that were ne'er designed to play nicely with APIs.

“Some of that could see back-office functions that are successful an exclusive domain,” McLarty said. “But, determination are decidedly large challenges, arsenic immoderate applications are built without the presumption that users mightiness privation to link into the app, portion others are designed good with hooks for APIs.”

SEE: Top 5 IT trends you should retrieve from 2022 (TechRepublic)

McLarty added that 1 facet of the request for robotic processes articulated by those surveyed whitethorn good beryllium that immoderate of those antediluvian applications lone let for integration done a idiosyncratic interface.

“Robotic process automation allows a constituent to enactment similar a idiosyncratic utilizing the idiosyncratic interface to supply an integration. You don’t privation to bash that each the time, but it is simply a mode to ace into hard-to-get-at applications,” McLarty said.

APIs and low-code capabilities for nontechnical users

Virtually each of the respondents said they usage APIs to integrate applications and information to make exceptional lawsuit experiences and make revenue. Furthermore:

• Sixty-eight percent of organizations that said they were up of planned integer translation advancement said they person a mature strategy — including low-code tools — to empower nontechnical users to easy integrate applications and information sources.
• On average, based connected survey responses, organizations are generating 38% of gross from APIs, compared to 35% a twelvemonth ago. Also, 75% of organizations present person a top-down API integration strategy.

McLarty said that top-down strategy for API integration allows for greater ratio crossed an organization, arsenic it tin pb to agile bundle that tin beryllium “reused” for antithetic applications. The survey recovered that, connected average, 47% of organizations’ interior bundle assets and components are disposable to developers for reuse.

“Organizations are encouraging overmuch much engagement (in API integration strategies) from concern leadership,” said McLarty. “It’s astir a reimagining of however you utilize bundle assets successful your organization, and it follows a inclination we person seen implicit the past 20 years: utilizing APIs arsenic a mode of breaking down the aboveground furniture of software, truthful you tin develop  applications astatine a higher level alternatively than gathering bundle from scratch. You tin prime and take prebuilt pieces you are already using.”

He added companies’ clasp of low-code and no-code frameworks are tacit acknowledgements of the imperatives of a booming integer economy: There aren’t capable coders and developers to spell around.

“Low-code/no-code is simply a class of tooling; the thought is to make tools that are intent built for radical without bundle background, truthful alternatively of idiosyncratic having to constitute Python scripts, I tin springiness you a instrumentality acceptable that lets you drawback and harvester data,” McLarty explained, adding that the process tin beryllium highly collaborative. “What we are seeing present is that organizations that tin enactment much tools into their concern people’s hands are really getting amended engagement and ideas, truthful it’s having an impact.

“It is simply a creation betwixt concern users getting much engaged and IT teams getting much accusation astir what the existent problems are and however they some tin lick them.”

For businesslike processes and supporting nontech workflow, automation is ascendant

MuleSoft recovered that robotic process automation is enabling teams to automate concern processes and tasks, with 33% percent of organizations investing successful the exertion and 92% of organizations saying astatine slightest 1 section wrong their institution requires some integration and automation.

While developers, IT operations and exertion administrators are astir apt to beryllium liable for automating concern processes, per the study, departments that reported a request for automation were:

• Data subject (64%)
• Product (62%)
• Business analysts (61%)
• Customer enactment (58%)
• Finance (57%)
• Marketing (56%)
• Engineering (56%)
• HR (52%)

As integer translation moves ahead, outgo of nonaccomplishment rises

The MuleSoft survey said the outgo of failed integer translation is $9.5 cardinal annually, up from $6.8 cardinal successful 2021. But contempt an summation successful IT task measurement (41% maturation twelvemonth implicit year), 69% of organizations are up of docket connected integer translation advancement due, successful part, to infrastructure improvement.

A emergence successful customized integration costs by organizations, which spent connected mean $4.7 cardinal connected customized integration labour during the 12 months earlier the study, showed an summation from $3.7 cardinal reported successful 2021.

False dichotomy: Innovation contiguous vs. investing successful the future

McLarty said a large astonishment for him from the survey was the fig of organizations looking to empower users.

“I effort to find a equilibrium betwixt what organizations are asking for and what they really need,” McLarty said. “Sometimes they don’t match. Companies whitethorn accidental they request much developers, question to prosecute much developers, and make the champion developer experience, but I would ask, ‘have you thought astir broadening your capableness by empowering much of your users?’”

While conceding that downsizing by large tech successful caller weeks may, connected the surface, look to person negated manufacture predictions for accrued spending, McLarty thinks established companies whitethorn spot layoffs arsenic an accidental to drawback up, “to leap guardant successful presumption of their ain integer translation and successful terms, generally, of manufacture rebalancing.”

Also, McLarty thinks companies that whitethorn beryllium considering putting disconnected innovation, whitethorn beryllium operating nether a mendacious dichotomy: solving symptom points present versus investing successful the future. The bottommost line, helium explained, is that erstwhile it comes to doing things similar automating “pain point” processes, empowering non-developer cognition workers to make solutions successful collaboration with IT and employing top-down API integration, “you volition some make efficiencies contiguous and unfastened optionality for future. If you instrumentality the innovation attack now, you tin bash both.”