Integrating with Back Office Applications

Back Office Applications refer to the software organizations run that are not accessible or visible to the general public. Typically this is Accounting software that runs on the company’s internal network. Additional packages can handle things like product information, inventory and customers. Aslan Interactive specializes in developing customized web applications and it’s quite common for our clients to what to integrate data from their Back Office.

Most of our integration projects in the past have involved legacy applications the client has ran for several years. There isn’t an universal method for connecting but we’ve always found a way. Usually this involves developing a “bridge” that allows the internal applications to securely communicate with the external. Once implemented data can be passed back and forth across the bridge.

What’s nice is that most newer Back Office Applications are designed to integrate with external systems. Some even come with documented APIs (application programming interfaces) that define exactly how to connect web applications. If you’re looking for a new Back Office application and external connectivity is desired, we advise not making it your #1 criteria. Rather, first look for the application that best matches the structure and needs of your business. You’ll want to avoid having to customize core features right out of the box as much as possible. Then the integration options can be considered.

Tags: back office, integration

This entry was posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 11:50 am and is filed under Infrastructure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.