Do your web application development services provide easy data integration? Learn why it’s a must
Are you interested in web application development services? Is your new startup about to come up with a new SaaS web app? Make sure that data integration strategy is high on your list of priorities. Learn why underestimating it is a grave mistake and how to find a software house that understands its importance.
SaaS (Software as a service) web apps that give their users the ability to work comfortably in their browser, storing the data in the cloud, have yet to slow down as an attractive option for both companies that provide software and for those that are provided with it. According to data by Forrester Research, companies will be investing over $241 billion in cloud computing each year – roughly about six times the amount they’re spending today.
Data integration strategy and cloud go hand in hand
There is a good reason why I focused on B2B SaaS apps right from the start in an article that concerns the topic of data integration. That’s because these are companies that need data integration capability in their web apps the most. And they are ready to pay well to get it. The survey made by Computerworld Strategic Marketing Services shows that just about any advantage that companies see in the cloud has to do something with convenience – 89% demand greater business, agility, 88% more rapid implementation of business models and 81% fewer operational issues. So, why are you not working on your data integration prowess yet?
Why are data integration-focused web application development services so rare?
Web applications produced by a lot of up and coming companies and startups don’t integrate well with other web apps as well as legacy software used by businesses that choose to try them out. At the same time, cloud platforms developed by the likes of Oracle, Microsoft or IBM provide amazing data integration capabilities for their cloud offerings. That’s because data integration strategy is not an easy task and it takes a large company or simply an experienced software house that offers excellent web application development services to provide a sufficient level of it. And this laborious task well pays off as web apps that offer easy data integration are usually those that were built with scalability in mind. Not only will they work smoothly with other apps, but they will be a breeze to update and modify – each business user’s dream.
The stats above indicate that there’s certainly a large potential to gain massive advantage over your competitors just by developing your app with data integration in mind and marketing this ability as one of its killer features. Let’s briefly discuss some of the most important techniques that will help you tackle the issue of data integration in web applications.
How to go about data integration?
Software houses that prioritize data integration capabilities in their web application development services start the process on the software architecture level. Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is one of the most current architecture approaches that deal with this issue. At its most basic, SOA separates the application logic from its presentational layer (its appearance and user interface). For example, the SOA approach may allow you to create a logic layer (service) that contains the entire web application logic that serves one or more web applications. The only thing that the web applications don’t have in common is the presentational layer. The logic stored in the service is the same for all of them. If the logic requires changes, they only need to be implemented once in the service, with the presentational layers slightly adjusted. Without SOA, each application has its own logic logic. The more you have them, the more time you’re going to waste changing the logic separately for each of them.
Why is SOA so important when it comes to data integration? In order to facilitate the communication between the common backend and separate presentational layers of multiple web apps, other architectural concepts such as REST are used. Along with the XML SOAP protocol or JSON, they provide a standardized way to exchange data between the two layers. When done well, one can easily add even more web applications to the service and exchange data between all of them, establishing an integrated and highly scalable environment.
There are many ways to go about developing SOA-based web applications as far as specific technologies are concerned. The Sensinum software house has perfected Java web development supported by technologies such as Spring or Hibernate. The front end, on the other hand, often benefits from the capabilities of the popular AngularJS JavaScript framework.
Data integration strategy is one of the most important and, at the same time, one of the most underestimated and challenging issues for web application providers. This is exactly why it is vital to invest your time and effort in it and find developers that both understand and experienced data integration focused development first hand. The result will be a SaaS web application desired by businesses that believe in the power of cloud and saas solutions.
Sensinum is a Polish software house which provides companies, marketing agencies and teams with top-shelf software development services. Whether you need a subcontractor or want to cooperate with a software house directly, Sensinum guarantees effectiveness. Our experienced developers regularly working on advanced projects are something you look for. Get to know more, contact us and consult your software idea for free.