3 Reasons to Prioritize Observability as part of Application Integration Strategy

Most companies in today’s business landscape that deal with large amounts of data want to integrate their applications so that they can pass data between them seamlessly and easily. Being able to ensure that you can see exactly what is happening at every stage of the process is key, and this is where approaching the process with observability in mind can make a real difference.

Deciding at the outset that observability is something that you want to be baked into the process means that you can plan and execute with that in mind. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use meshIQ, which is an observability platform for Messaging, Event Processing, and Streaming Across Hybrid Cloud (MESH).

What Kind of Applications Need Integration?

An excellent example of the kinds of applications that need integration to work together is e-commerce platforms which need to connect to customer relationship management applications, stock management and order fulfilment applications. These can all require there to be fluid movement of data between the different databases that hold the relevant information at each step of the process.

There are different types of application integration, and at their most basic level, some of these can be point-to-point, where integration is established directly between two different applications in order that they are able to communicate with each other. In cases such as this, there are numerous problems, and these include a lack of scalability and resistance to change. If you need to hand code every new integration, the deployment and testing times for any upgrades can prove to be inefficient in the extreme and unsustainable in the longer term.

A slightly more advanced way of allowing integrations is to incorporate hub and spoke or enterprise bus architectures. Both are now considered to be legacy systems. Still, the idea behind them was that it was easy to add another integration to the system as it just needed to connect to one spoke of the “wheel” to integrate with all the other applications that were already integrated. These architectures tend to be described as middleware solutions, and they are typically deployed in on-premises solutions, which is a large part of why they are considered legacy systems today, as cloud-based systems have become the norm.

With this shift en-masse to the cloud, what we are seeing is a migration to Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) which is the modern method of integrating application solutions which includes an impressive array of additional features, including complete cloud-based data integration, data management functions and easy connections to APIs. These systems are set up to be able to offer immense versatility in what they can integrate, encompassing on-premises applications as well as those which are cloud-based.

The beauty of using a cloud-based system such as meshIQ is that it is a streamlined process which accounts for and tracks all the data throughput of the system and can locate individual pieces of data within the system with a high degree of accuracy.

Why Do We Need Application Integration?

Application integration is important to ensure that data redundancy isn’t taking up excessive storage space and slowing down the system. It also ensures that there is no confusion generated by having multiple copies of the same data and it not being clear which should take precedence. In essence, different applications can create their own data silos when this happens, which defeats the whole idea and purpose of integration between them. Data inconsistencies can cause problems further down the line and can require human intervention to rectify any problems that occur.

Increased Productivity

Being freed from the chore of having to create point-to-point connections between different applications will allow your employees to use their time more productively to further the aims of your business, using the information gleaned from your data.

Easy Scalability

The APIs and connectors that are available to be utilized can make it so much easier to scale up solutions and add connections where needed without having to create bespoke connections by hand.

Cost-Effectiveness

This is one of the critical considerations in any business, and yours is no different. The savings in terms of efficiency make modern ways of application integration a necessity in the current economic climate. To run a successful business, they are simply a must.

Why is Observability so Important?

Observability is vital so that you can see exactly what is going on throughout your system at any given moment. Being able to accurately track and trace data wherever it happens to be in your platform is necessary to safeguard the viability of your business. Knowing the status of your data at any given moment is made easier through the building in of observability solutions from the ground up.

This is where meshIQ comes in. meshIQ’s proprietary application integration solutions allow a single pane of glass observability solution that can pinpoint everything that is happening in the system and can allow you to shine a light into the inner workings of your system, finding the cause of Irregular Operations (IROPS) and reducing the Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) significantly in the process.

Many solutions treat observability as an afterthought, but it is treated as a top priority by meshIQ because it is understood that time is money and that if your system is down, then you are losing money that whole time. With some other systems, looking for where there is an outage can be like looking for a needle in a haystack but with the observability that is built in with meshIQ, you can immediately pinpoint where the problem is and take steps to rectify it.

You can even set rules so that if the same problem occurs in the future, it is automatically dealt with in a particular way, which can actually mean that it is never such a significant problem in the future as it is automatically dealt with.

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