Leveraging SharePoint With Business Applications
Microsoft SharePoint is used around the world for a wide variety of common business operations. It is an ideal portal for many users because of its tight integration with Microsoft Office.
This seems to set the stage for the perfect platform. But if that is the case, then why do we have so many SharePoint licenses that are sold but not being utilized? And why are so many SharePoint deployments only being utilized for an internal portal or casual collaboration?
There are many reasons for this, but an often-cited cause is the fragmented nature of information systems with multiple transaction-focused business applications and content-centric repositories. Most business applications have documents related to the transactions, and these documents need to be stored somewhere. But in most cases, the business applications are not designed to store unstructured data like a document; the documents are often in file cabinets or in disparate standalone document management systems. In the end, users are challenged with searching and accessing these documents while completing their day-to-day tasks because the documents are stored in scattered repositories.
Even though the challenge of integration between SharePoint and business applications may be a common factor for incomplete implementations or low deployment rates, the need to improve business productivity is still a leading driver for implementing enterprise content management (ECM) systems.
Enter the Business User
So what's the big deal? Why is the integration between SharePoint and business applications so critical, and more importantly, why is the lack of integration so impactful to user productivity? Information workers are power users, right? Why can't they just learn how to interact with the new document repository?
That seems like a logical argument, but the reality is that power users are highly skilled and efficient within their business application. That is their job, and this is why they are considered power users. Business applications are purposefully built and optimized to handle tasks/transactions. Users are often disappointed when they discover that the new system—that is supposed to improve business productivity—has integration that is so poor or non-existent that they have to work harder to maintain the same level of productivity. They want their normal business processing to be as uninterrupted as possible. Users are certainly capable of learning and using the document repository alongside their business application, but the issue is that it is a productivity drain and frustrating for users to switch from one system to another when working on a business transaction. This affects their productivity and task flow.
If SharePoint is being implemented to improve business productivity, then typically a business application needs to be integrated with SharePoint. For example, an accounting or HR application needs to access documents that are stored in SharePoint. In the ECM world, this is called "bringing together" the unstructured data (documents in SharePoint) and the structured data. In other words, the transaction-focused applications need to be content-enabled. The business application is the perfect place for handling the structured data; this is what it does best. SharePoint is the perfect place to store the documents which contain the unstructured content. But there is a gap between these systems, and by nature it can be challenging for two disparate systems to seamlessly interoperate. So what are the options?
1. Context switching—This is similar to multi-tasking but occurs when a user is performing their day-to-day work, and they have to go to another application to find a document. This may mean opening another window or switching to another monitor. But the result is lost productivity because they are switching from the main task within the business application.
2. Modify source code—Another option is to modify the source code of the business application. Depending upon the proprietary nature of the business application this may be performed by an in-house developer, the vendor, or may not even be an option. Even if this option is viable, it is a high-risk and high-cost option. The source code changes may be complicated and time consuming and what happens when a new version of the business application is rolled out? Will the changes still work?
3. Application programming interface (API)—If an API is available, then you may be able to develop code using the API to accomplish tight integration. This will require in-house developers or system integrators (SIs). The challenge is that each vendor has a proprietary API, and it is hard for a developer to become proficient in all of these APIs, so this is a specialized skill-set. These resources are hard to find and they are expensive. And you have to be concerned about upgrades of the business application, will the vendor change the way the API works?
4. Copy and paste—Then we have the ole standby of copy and paste (Ctrl-c/Ctrl-v). The user copies the data (e.g. invoice number, invoice date, vendor number) from the business application and then pastes it into the SharePoint search to find the document needed. Or maybe it is a data-entry scenario, and the user needs to upload a new document and enter metadata for the new document. In this case, the user may need to copy and paste multiple times. This method is prone to human error and is time consuming.
Is there a better way? Yes, you need to bridge the gap between SharePoint and the business application. The unstructured documents in SharePoint need to be integrated with the structured data in the business applications. When designing your solution, be sure that you have considered how this integration is going to work, exactly where the integration will take place (e.g. what transaction screens, etc.), and how it will affect the user's productivity.
The benefit of taking this approach and providing a tight integration between the business application and SharePoint will be a solution that provides a higher value to the organization. The user adoption will be higher and the processing will be faster and more accurate. Ultimately, tight integration between your business application and SharePoint is going to provide greater value to each transaction.
KnowledgeLake specializes in ECM solutions for SharePoint and provides a solution for integrating business applications with SharePoint. To learn how KnowledgeLake can help integrate your business applications with SharePoint visit www.knowledgelake.com/integration.