AutoMate Bridges the Gap Between Disparate Applications

It is no secret that organizations are increasingly pressured to deliver tighter enterprise application integration and business process integration, creating more value for the business without significantly adding to the IT budget. As if this wasn't challenging enough, enterprises are now either moving to the cloud or settling on a computing environment that encompasses the benefits of a cloud environment while maintaining an on-premise data center, or a Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure.

Whatever the choice may be, there is a fundamental business challenge that must be addressed before value is delivered.

Let's face it, the advent of new technologies in business has been as much a blessing as a conundrum in the sedimentary layers of increasing application deposits within IT. Enterprises have come to realize the need for an over-arching single solution that integrates silo applications and legacy systems. I think we would all agree that there is an inherent need to establish a centralized management console that provides a peripheral view into your IT and Business Processes.

In many circumstances, the build-up of multiple applications and disparate systems stems from strategic partnerships, acquisitions, and the polarity between independent organizational units within a business. A business once focused on providing a single or suite of solutions now faces its own challenge of maintaining or having to restore synergy in a defunct inter-departmental framework.

Fortunately, technology is not a fait accompli. It is composed of many different parts with many different functions. All this talk about Saas, PaaS, IaaS, DaaS = CaaS (Cloud as a Service?). I'm flabbergasted. Will someone please get me a cafe au lait?

The fact is that any level of transition to the cloud does not discount the notion that there exists a swarm of applications and systems currently the de facto infrastructure within many enterprises. So what is the answer? And whom am I to make outrageous claims that there exists a solution that serves as a polymer to bridge the gap between disparate applications and systems? I'm a voice with an opinion, like a poet, a scientist, a politician, or perhaps a physicist. The reality is that we're not alone. Consider, for a moment, integrating disparate applications through business process automation. 

Integrating Desparate Applications through Automation? Say What?

That's right, you can integrate business-critical applications or services that run in a physical data center, on traditional servers, on virtualized machines/servers, and in a private or public cloud: all from a single platform and a single console.

Not convinced yet? Let's look at a case study that shows how automation integrates critical applications for the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has the challenge of staffing and managing thousands of nurses busy delivering top-notch patient care. To manage this complexity, MD Anderson relies on three (3) critical business applications:

• Human Resource system by PeopleSoft
• Time and Attendance system by Kronos
• Staffing system by Per-Se's ANSOS One-Staff

These three applications (with their various inputs, outputs, and interfaces) must be kept up-to-date and in-sync at all times in order for the Cancer Center to staff at appropriate levels, operate efficiently, and provide quality patient care. At any one time, the Cancer Center has 150 concurrent users interacting with the solution producing thousands of data exchanges. The applications involved are a crucial component to maintain a reputable and renowned patient care system.

Let Automate be Your "Traffic Cop"

In essence, our automation platform acts as a "traffic cop" between PeopleSoft, Kronos, and ANSOS One-Staff. The traffic cop's main duty is to automate the thousands of file and data transfers that occur among these applications. The benefits of our automation platform were near instantaneous and eagerly adopted by the medical center.

Our automation platform provided application security, streamlined communication including sending emails and text messages to IT regarding successful or failed tasks, provided error handling, flexibility and versatility via its highly coveted development interface (no programming or scripting needed).

Calculating ROI

From the financial perspective, there is a hard-cost savings of approximately $150,000 with an ROI of 650% due to implementation of automated processes, not to mention all the soft costs saved with optimal nurse staffing, fewer administrative hassles, and improved ability to deliver better patient care.

For more information, read how The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has implemented our automation platform to streamline their operations.