For companies to grow successfully, they must also grow sustainably. Scaling operations, expanding your workforce, and exploring new markets will simultaneously increase the number of challenges your company has to address.
Two key challenges sit at the heart of these obstacles. First, your company must meet rising demand — consumer demand and the organization’s need for additional resources. Second, your company cannot grow so fast or so wide that the added costs outweigh the new profit margins. Each business employs its own mix of solutions to ease these growing pains, but one of the most versatile is API integration in workflow automations.
The Role of API Integration in Workflow Automations
An API, or an application programming interface, can be understood as a set of instructions. It allows software to understand and interpret information produced by other programs. In turn, API integration is the process of allowing software to use APIs independently, allowing them to communicate with each other.
Workflows operate similarly, offering a guideline for applications to use. However, workflows provide a comprehensive form of automation by enabling the quick, consistent, and reliable completion of repetitive tasks with minimal human oversight.
When API integration is used in conjunction with workflow automation, your company can bridge together dozens of automated processes across different applications. We provided such support for one of our pharmaceutical clients to transform their credit and collection process.
As another example, e-commerce websites use APIs for purchases. Upon check-out, the website communicates with a payment gateway (such as PESONet and InstaPay) to prompt the user to provide their bank information. Following successful card input and verification, the gateway communicates with a bank’s system to process the payment. Meanwhile, a workflow can take care of emailing the customer about their transaction while also updating the website’s listed inventory.
Types of Integrations
These interactions cover a broad range of functions that can tackle repetitive, time-consuming processes to boost productivity:
- Automations designed for synchronization allow information to be consistent across software and devices so that people are constantly aligned and data silos are eliminated. Scheduling apps like Google Calendar, as well as conference tools like Zoom and MS Teams, reflect itinerary changes and notify event participants instantaneously. These apps can even work with task managers such as Notion and Monday.com to publish task deadlines to the calendar.
- To develop their online presence, many brands have looked to automation for social media. Management platforms such as Hootsuite and Later consolidate the back-end maintenance of multiple social media accounts, allowing for bulk content uploads. These platforms include additional quality-of-life auto-scheduling features, such as posting at optimal times, tracking keyword and engagement performance, etc. For content like videos and blogs, which are hosted on other websites, workflows can be set to synchronize updates across every account.
- For B2B integration, companies develop automations so that their in-house software can communicate with the systems of their business partners, namely, suppliers and clients. Logistics platforms like the Digital Hub can automatically canvas shipping costs across couriers, according to the user’s preferences and the package’s specifications.
Developing Your APIs
API integration in workflow automations can either be processed in-house or developed by a third party.
In-house or custom integration has the advantage of granting your company precise control over functionality, but these integrations may be error-prone and require a great investment of time, money, and resources to get right. Third-party solutions allow companies to use experts without the added costs of permanent hiring. While both options are viable, the ideal option depends on your company’s existing resources and capabilities.
Regardless of your chosen approach, your integration solutions should be modular to accommodate more traffic, new features, and emerging processes without requiring a drastic number of resources to upgrade. Our mission is to support you on this journey by augmenting your logistics and operations with tailor-made technological and human solutions. Once integration and automation are successfully brought together, the possibilities are endless for a company’s growth.
Your workflow processes are best utilized when supporting a reliable workforce. Get in touch with us for a free consultation, so that we can explore how your logistics can be transformed.