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Systems integration platform to improve business performance

Integration platform for business efficiency

Information technology is developing rapidly. Many experts call IT the fastest-growing sphere of human activity. Systems and applications integration plays an important role in the IT space, and has a significant impact on company performance as well as on all industrial and commercial sectors. That’s why we’ve seen a surge in corporate interest when it comes to integration…

What is “systems integration”?

According to Wikipedia: system integration is defined in engineering as the process of bringing together subsystem components within a single system (an aggregation of cooperating subsystems so that the system can provide overall functionality).

But it would be a mistake to think of “systems integration” as simply the assembly of hardware and software tools; the essence of the concept is much broader than that.

“Systems integration” is an activity aimed at improving a company’s efficiency, decision-making and information quality through an automated process, where “heterogeneous” systems can communicate and integrate with each other in real time.

Most companies in today’s business environment run many “heterogeneous” systems and software, yet there is no established communication between them. This type of environment creates a lot of inefficiencies and poor quality information, which in most cases leads to reduced profits and delays in management decisions.

Automated system integration acts as a bridge where data flows between heterogeneous systems, software applications and databases in multiple directions, based on predefined business rules, as if the systems were totally “homogeneous”.

Why do companies need “systems integration”?

Increasingly, companies are arming themselves with software and hardware to solve specific business needs. All this while adding new modules and “stand-alone” systems to their IT management system. Most of the time, these solutions don’t communicate natively with each other.

While the adoption of a specific software application (cloud or on-premise) may meet a company’s business requirements and solve a business problem, it will create a series of new challenges in its own right:

  • Redundant data entry; most of the data already exists in another system.
  • Need to hire more staff to manage more systems
  • Open the door to more human error when managing new systems.

The above challenges are relevant to companies of all sizes, whether small, medium or large.

How to solve integration problems?

To solve the integration problems identified in the previous point, companies should not hesitate to adopt integration projects to synchronize and orchestrate IT software, databases, processes and equipment.

To achieve this, companies will need to adopt an “integration platform” capable of exhibiting the following properties:

  • Easy to use (drag and drop)
  • No coding required
  • Quick to learn, develop and deploy
  • Easy debugging and simple error handling
  • Several options for triggering and launching processes and flows
  • Able to connect to most of the databases commonly used in today’s market
  • Able to connect to brand-name software systems (e.g. SAP, Salesforce, Oracle, SugarCRM …) with connectors certified by the manufacturer.
  • Generic API-based connectors for IoT projects
  • Extensible to go beyond “out-of-the-box” where you can build your own connectors for specific solutions.

Benefits of systems integration

The benefits of implementing a robust API-based integration that can connect to a wide range of enterprise ecosystems are invaluable. Here are the 5 advantages:

  • Real-time data synchronization

Having a robust integration platform responsible for orchestrating and synchronizing data and processes, eliminates delays in data publication. Data is synchronized between different systems in real time, without the need for human intervention.

  • Faster data processing

With an automated integration platform, which is able to synchronize data and trigger flows and processes efficiently based on rules and conditions, data processing also becomes real-time, eliminating the need for data extraction, transformation and loading (ETL). No need for a separate ETL tool.

  • Improved employee productivity

Data synchronization and orchestration obviously eliminate a lot of time and effort for employees to manage and enter/extract data from one system to another. Employees can focus on business-related problems business-related issues, where they can generate more revenue, rather than entering and manipulating data in “heterogeneous” systems.

  • Faster decision-making

Having a robust integration platform, with all the benefits identified above, business leaders will be able to make quick decisions and avoid the time-consuming process of extracting data from different systems and merging the sets to obtain a unified data sheet.

  • Increased profitability

Taken together, the above benefits will significantly increase the profitability of any company with heterogeneous IT systems and applications.

magic-xpi-scheme-iotWhat are the signs that a company needs an integration platform?

Here are the main signs in any company that an integration platform is needed to improve business processes.

  • Your company has several stand-alone software systems, with no direct links between them.
  • Your company has a combination of on-premise and cloud-based software solutions that are not connected.
  • Employees spend a lot of time on their daily work, feeding several systems
  • Your company has an e-commerce site managed separately from the internal ERP system
  • The company’s IT department is unable to provide reports and analyses on time.
  • Unable to meet your customers’ business requirements, deliver within 48 hours
  • There are major data mismatches between systems and solutions, due to redundancy.
  • Many employees work on report writing and data entry work
  • No visibility of company equipment data and performance (production machines, cameras, field service data, etc.).

Are you looking for an integration platform solution for your company?

For over 18 years, our company has been an official partner of Magic Software Enterprises, a global provider of software solutions, supplying Magic xpi, an integration platform based on a fully reliable SOA, and API-driven for all necessary connections.

The Magic xpi business integration platform provides enterprise-level integration, business process automation and data synchronization, with complete security and proven reliability.

Implementing a wide range of certified and optimized connectors and adapters, Magic xpi integrates leading ERP, CRM, financial and other enterprise systems, such as SAP, Oracle, Salesforce, Microsoft, IBM, Google, and many more.

Are you looking for integration solutions? Contact us today

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A fruitful first meeting between students and companies in information technology and engineering

A fruitful first meeting between students and companies in information technology and engineering


April 4, 2018 Namtek Consulting Services

participated in the 1st edition of “Recrutement éclair étudiant en TI/Génie” organized by Le Service du développement économique de la Ville de Laval.

In the form of a networking 5 à 7, the recruitment flash concept was much appreciated. Companies had access to students from 12 different educational institutions in the Greater Montreal area. At the same time, to optimize pairings, recruitment blitzes were organized.

The participating companies, all from Laval, offered 10 internships and 25 jobs in the IT and engineering fields.

In fact, they left with numerous curricula vitae of potential candidates. Building on this success, a second edition of the event is scheduled for this autumn, and will be extended to other business sectors.

Namtek Consulting Services

Namtek Consulting Services at a glance …

Founded in 2000, with headquarters in Laval, Quebec – Canada;
Experienced software developers and engineers serving customers in Canada, the United States, Europe and other parts of the world;
Main specialities: In-house software design and development and systems integration, EDI as a service;
Expertise includes:
– IT consulting and analysis;
– Software customization and development;
– Systems integration and electronic data interchange (EDI);
– Business Intelligence & Analytics;
– Business continuity and disaster recovery;
– Cloud hosting;

Secure, private cloud application hosting data center located in Montreal, Canada;
Strategic partnership with Magic Software for over 20 years.

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The Dangers of Ransomware & How To Overcome A Cyber Attack

YOUR FILES ARE ENCRYPTED! To decrypt your files you need to obtain the private key. To obtain the private key, you need to pay 300 USD.

Any attempt to remove or damage this software will lead to the immediate destruction of the private key by server.

MalwareThis message is one that no business owner wants to see pop up on their office computer screen. Ransomware – a nasty and costly virus (or malware) that locks down computers and encrypts data until money (or a ransom) is sent – is not going anywhere. In fact, it seems to be such an epidemic these days as there are new malwares popping up and more victims paying up, which includes individuals, small and large organizations, hospitals, universities, government agencies and more.

Our team of IT experts has already seen and helped businesses recover from ransomware and other malware attacks and in fact, we’ve recently been hit as well. What has saved us and our customers from incurring high and sometimes damaging costs is the fact that we were all well prepared for such an incident. (Read our previous blog called “Ransomware Detected”)

How? Let me further explain about the costs that businesses can incur from ransomware and what to do to recover easily and quickly from this cyberattack.

First and foremost, it’s important to know that anyone can get hit by ransomware. It is not only large, successful organizations or government agencies. It can be small businesses or individuals. Secondly, it’s criticial that business owners get rid of the thought that “it won’t happen to me or my business – ransomware has been around for years and I’ve never had an incident like that”. This is such a dangerous thought. It may never have happened before but it doesn’t mean that it can’t happen in the future. Cyber criminals are only getting smarter and more powerful. Ransomware has become a billion dollar industry, where about 4,000 cyberattacks are launched every single day (Globe and Mail, May 2017)

Unfortunately, even if managers or IT departments do their best to educate their employees on malware and how to identify suspicious emails, links or attachments, we should never take the chance that one bad email won’t slip through. Ransomware can halt business operations immediately and this is very dangerous. Over the last couple of years, on average, ransomware has cost small businesses over $100,000 per attack due to downtime (some companies have been hit more than once in the span of a few months!!). Most people think that the ransom ($) is the biggest cost that comes from a ransomware attack. However, there are a lot more damages that can be incurred, such as;

  1. Loss of revenue due to downtime
  2. Lost customers and damaged reputation
  3. Loss of productivity
  4. The cost of hiring IT experts to restore your systems in the days following an attack
  5. Data loss (!!)

So, even if the ransom is paid rather quickly, it could still take up to a week or more to remove the infection from your systems and get back up and running. (Do you know how much money your company will lose if you are down for a week?) One law firm in the U.S. suffered 3 months of downtime while their systems remained locked! Most smaller companies would not survive this. On top of all of this, companies may never be able to retrieve some of their sensitive business data.

Therefore, the downtime and data loss that companies suffer are two of the biggest threats to a company if attacked by ransomware or any malware. What’s also important to note is that even though the original ransom may be a measly $300 USD, cyber criminals have no morals and can increase this amount at any time and for any reason. For example, hospitals and universities hold highly sensitive information. Cybercriminals are aware that they would pay anything to retrieve their data. Their ransoms are known to be in the thousands – some stories have reported ransoms of $20,000. What’s worse is that if they see how quickly a company pays up the first time they get hit, if they get hit a second time the amount will increase exponentially. It’s a dangerous game and it’s not one any business owner would want to play.

What’s worse, is that most recently, the FBI has urged companies NOT to pay the ransom if their computers get infected. “Paying a ransom doesn’t guarantee an organization that it will get its data back – we’ve seen cases where organizations never got a decryption key after having paid the ransom”, said FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director James Trainor.” (CNN, July 2017)

The Business Continuity Solution to Ransomware

The BEST way to protect your data and company from this type of attack is to implement a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plan and software solution, like QBR, paired with educating your employees. They need to know what to look out for; how to identify suspicious emails, attachments and links and once identified to report them to their IT team right away. If anything should occur, the IT team will have a plan of action ready and will deploy a bare metal restore to remove all traces of the virus and go back in time. Depending on how often you chose to backup your data, all that may be lost is an hour or so of data. After that, everything can be back to normal and operations can continue as if nothing ever happened.

Therefore, implementing a Business Continuity solution like QBR truly is a small price to pay to ensure that your data is safe and your company can survive a Ransomware attack, without incurring downtime. Our customers view this service as their insurance policy instead of an added cost to their business. They would rather pay a monthly service to protect their data than take the risk of getting hit by a malware and having to incur major damages.

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User Training: The Key To Unlocking The Benefits of A Software System

End User Training During Software ImplementationFor many business owners or managers, making the decision to implement a new software system is a difficult one to make. Oftentimes, the changes and risks that come with a software implementation can discourage those business managers who are looking to streamline their company’s processes and improve overall efficiency with a new system. There’s a ton of information out there on the advantages of using an efficient, up-to-date ERP system but not that much on how to properly handle an implementation phase. No Software Provider wants to scare their clients right from the get-go but this is definitely the wrong approach. By not educating the new software users and providing all the necessary information right from the start, all parties will suffer during the implementation phase.

Therefore, to begin with, it’s important to know the possible risks involved in such a project. This can include failure, user resistance, employee stress and anxiety, improper use of the system, misunderstandings, problems, doubts, fear of change etc. In order to ensure that these risks are eliminated or reduced, end user training is definitely required. These trainings will provide employees (or end users) with the right amount of attention and skills needed to help them acclimate to new processes (that have been changed by the new system implementation) as well as to the new system itself.

You can begin by creating a training plan then scheduling it accordingly, by department or simply by department heads and managers. Trainings can be given either in small groups or on a one-on-one basis. Documentation of course will also be provided to ensure that employees can easily access a “how-to” guide on using the system.

Once these trainings are underway, its advantages will be quite evident since trainings can alleviate stress, combat fears, bring acceptance to the system, reduce system errors and misunderstandings. Bottom line, when software users are properly educated on new functionality and processes, it’s a WIN-WIN for everyone! The trainings will teach end users the necessary skills needed to prevent problems and to use the system in the most efficient way possible. Individual performance will improve thus increasing productivity. Business managers will be happy as well as Software Providers.

As a Software Provider, our team truly understands just how important it is to pay attention to the USERS (or employees) and their needs during an implementation phase, rather than on solely the system itself. We realize how difficult this time may be for some people, especially if they have been used to working with the same processes and systems for years and have developed habits and routines in their workplace. Introducing a new software management system, with new processes, can disrupt their work life and this most definitely can cause stress and fear.

As a complete ERP software implementation can typically take about 12 months, it’s important that during this time, everyone is working together, as a team, for a successful and smooth phase. No surprises or headaches!

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Why Are Businesses Still Unhappy With Their IT Provider?

business-IT-relationship

In today’s digital age, where we can effortlessly manage various aspects of our personal lives through user-friendly applications, it begs the question: Why can’t businesses also enjoy the benefits of simple, affordable, and flexible software solutions for their operations? Unfortunately, many companies still find themselves dissatisfied with their IT providers and business software systems. In this article, we will explore the common complaints voiced by business managers and offer insights into how to improve the relationship between businesses and their IT providers.

Common Complaints from Business Managers

Business managers frequently express their dissatisfaction with IT providers and software systems. Here are some common grievances:

  1. Lack of Availability: “My IT provider is never available when I need help or simply have a question.”
  2. Lack of Flexibility: “My system is not flexible.”
  3. High Costs: “I am spending way too much money on this system and not seeing improvements.”
  4. Prolonged Implementation: “My system implementation has cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars and has lasted over 2 years – how is this possible?”
  5. Lack of Innovation: “I do not feel I am getting innovative solutions to tackle our business challenges.”
  6. Absence of Relationship: “I do not have a relationship with my IT provider.”
  7. Headaches for the Team: “Our system has caused my entire team too many headaches.”
  8. Integration Hassles: “Integrating my system with a third-party ecommerce site or another software system is a hassle; my IT provider is not making it easy to give me access to the company’s database for integration purposes.”
  9. Hidden Costs: “Prior to the implementation, I was never told there would be all of these additional costs.”
  10. Employee Discontent: “My employees hate using the system.”
  11. Data Extraction: “We have a full ERP system and yet we still need to extract our data into Excel spreadsheets to analyze our data.”
  12. Slow Issue Resolution: “My software issues aren’t being resolved in a timely fashion.”
  13. Reluctance to Switch: “I am not happy with my system but I’ve already spent too much time and money to switch now.”

Improving the Management System

It’s high time that business owners and managers enjoy using their management systems and build positive relationships with their IT providers. To address these concerns, we at Namtek Consulting Services focus on providing high-quality, flexible, and affordable software solutions with accessible support. Our goal is to help businesses overcome challenges and streamline operations.

Choosing the Right IT Provider

Selecting the right IT provider is crucial. Instead of relying solely on brand names or popular choices, consider the following:

  1. After-Sales Support: “Aside from concentrating on the software system itself, companies should also pay attention to the IT company.”
  2. Point of Contact: “Who will be my main point of contact in the sales department as well as in the software support department?”
  3. Responsiveness: “Am I simply given a form to fill out if I have an issue or can I email or call someone directly and get immediate assistance?”
  4. Timely Support: “Looking into the after-sales support service is extremely important because it is not enough to simply assume that the responsiveness of the support team will be the same as the sales team you dealt with prior to your software purchase.”

Namtek’s Approach to IT Services

Namtek Consulting Services differentiates itself from other IT providers through:

  1. Listening to Customers: “We’ve taken the time to listen to our customers and pay attention to their challenges so that we can be available and responsive to tackle their issues and provide helpful, innovative solutions for them.”
  2. Direct Communication: “Customers can pick up the phone or email a support staff directly when needed. This makes for a better relationship and a happier software user.”
  3. Ongoing Partnership: “We continue to work hand in hand with our customers, even after any software implementation, since we understand that the business world is constantly evolving and technology is continuously advancing, so business and IT must work together to ensure company efficiency.”

Changing the Perception of IT Providers

We aim to change the perception that many business managers have of the IT industry. Our focus is on:

  1. Valuing Partnerships: “We treat our customers like a partner, rather than just another customer.”
  2. Removing the Love/Hate Relationship: “Removing this love/hate relationship between IT and business is the goal.”
  3. Embracing Technology: “Technology in the business world is extremely valuable, and everyone can benefit from implementing innovative, flexible, high-quality software systems that are a good fit for their business.”

Ensuring Satisfaction with Your IT Provider

To ensure satisfaction with your IT provider and their services, consider the following:

  1. Flexible Solutions: “Ensure that the software solutions are flexible, scalable, easy-to-use, and affordable.”
  2. Accessible Support: “Verify that the support team can be reached by phone and/or email, and you have a point of contact.”
  3. Honesty and Transparency: “Make sure the IT team is honest, reliable, and transparent in all of their dealings.”
  4. Valued Partnership: “Expect the IT provider to treat you like a valued partner and take the time to listen to your business and IT needs.”
  5. Continuous Innovation: “Look for an IT provider that continuously offers valuable, innovative solutions to fit with your growing business to ensure continuous efficiency.”

By focusing on these aspects, businesses can build strong relationships with their IT providers, leading to improved operations and greater overall satisfaction.

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Bringing Improved Collaboration & Productivity to Project Management

It’s time to ditch those Excel Spreadsheets and long Email threads you’ve been using to manage all of your company projects and tasks. I love Excel, don’t get me wrong – but it simply is no longer efficient and reliable for project and task management.

It’s time to bring efficiency to a whole new level in order to stay competitive and keep up with our ever-changing business environment. Your Excel sheets lack collaboration features and are too time-consuming. Important emails can get lost in the whole mix of project threads and don’t allow project information to be easily searchable. What does your company need then to add value and increase productivity? Project Management Software, of course, that is also optimized for mobile integration. Read more

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User Training for New ERP Implementation – Done Right!

User Training for New ERP Implementation – Done Right!

In many of my previous articles, I repeatedly mentioned the term “user resistance” when it came to implementing a new software solution at a company (no matter its size). I tend to put quite a bit of focus on user resistance since this happens all too often at companies and it can easily be stopped (with a bit of work of course)! Read more

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How Can I Eliminate The Risk Of Having Too Much Or Too Little Inventory?

Inventory!!! Here’s my answer in one simple phrase: Track your stock properly!

This may seem like such an obvious thing to do if you are in the Manufacturing industry but funnily enough, there are still tons of companies out there that are not tracking their inventory correctly or with the proper tools. These companies are then left with either too much or too little inventory. How can this affect their business? Read more

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Four Basic Questions to Assess your Backup Software & Process

Last week, we published an article explaining why proper business data protection should be taken seriously in this day and age. Today, I will dig a little deeper and go over 4 main questions every business executive should ask him/herself in order to assess if their current backup and recovery process and solution are effective and complete to reduce or even eliminate downtime. Read more

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IT: What Bold Moves Will You Be Making This Year?

I am sure you are all already swamped in a crazy workload. Back in December, we gave our readers a post-holiday mission – to sit down after the busy holiday season, once things calmed down, in order to carefully examine their company’s current processes to find areas that can be improved and simplified. This would allow business owners and executives to then write down some objectives that they’d like to accomplish during the coming year. Read more

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