When you think of Interoperability, the magical word seamless comes to mind!
The word seamless will be the keyword here, as without it operations of an organization cannot run smoothly, and hence require interoperability built within.
A system that enables seamless integration of various systems and applications is very critical and essential to many organizations spread across various domains including IT, manufacturing, healthcare finance, and more. This ability of different systems to communicate and exchange data with each other is known as Interoperability.
Today, data is big in the digital landscape. To stay competitive and ahead in the market, it is important to analyze and get insights into the big data for better business strategies. When interoperability is employed, your data fabric is strengthened, thereby allowing users to retrieve the information they require from any system inside the organization to provide insightful analyses and respond to ad hoc questions. One of the current trends in interoperability is the use of Data fabrics. Data fabrics are an architecture that mixes data from multiple sources and creates a unified view of the data. Another trend is the use of Artificial Intelligence’s statistical and knowledge bases to expedite ad-hoc data integrations. Thus, interoperability can free organizations from technological restrictions with its capacity to readily interchange enterprise systems and resources as needed to maximize business productivity!
What is Interoperability?
It is well known that enterprises use many kinds of Software-as –a-Service (SaaS) solution, which enhances the expansion of organizations. The process of digital transformation leads to the adoption of new technologies; however, the data continues to remain in conventional systems. The interoperability between these diverse technologies and software solutions helps to ensure seamless communication and to simplify data processing. Interoperability helps ensure data can be easily exchanged across a business’s technology stack, allowing companies to coordinate with their partners that may not necessarily use the same solutions, thereby increasing productivity and keeping operations running seamlessly!
When we look at interoperability in the context of product engineering, its important as it ensures a seamless experience when different software solutions are used in the product development lifecycle. The software product development lifecycle involves a series of stages and cycles right from brainstorming, planning, and analyzing, going through the proof of concept, designing, the proof of value, developing the code, integrating and testing, deploying and keeping track, maintaining and upgrading. This is where interoperability when implemented can ensure that the different software solutions used in any of these steps can work together and is essential for the success of the product engineering lifecycle.
Let’s explore the significant impact of interoperability on various aspects of the software ecosystem.
- Reuse of existing software components and systems helps in reducing cost of software development
- Helps in improving the quality of the software itself by allowing developers to test their software in different environments and configurations.
- Enhances user experience by enabling seamless integration of different software systems and applications.
- Promotes innovation by enabling the development of new software systems and applications that can work together with existing ones.
Before proceeding to extoll the virtues of Interoperability, let’s take a short review of its components.
Compatibility: We often come across this word, Compatibility, for example when working with versions of word which checks for compatibility with the OS version installed. This is essential to getting both systems working without any issues for an effective outcome. For any product to work effectively it needs to be compatible with the system it is installed on. A simple example is earphones and mobiles- each need to be compatible with each other for a better listening experience.
Data interchange: When data is exchanged between two systems, certain use of standard formats and protocols need to be ensured so that the data can be understood by both systems. This is most visible when handling photo shots in different formats which are required in certain standard formats when working with publishing materials, etc.
APIs: Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)are a set of protocols and tools used to build software applications. They enable different software applications to communicate with each other and exchange data.
Standards: For any information to be read accurately for an effective outcome, data needs to be standardized. This is a prerequisite when it comes to reading of health documents when accessed remotely for an effective decision-making diagnosis and treatment. Standards, best practices when followed, define the rules for data interchange, APIs, and other components of interoperability.
Middleware: Middleware is software that connects different systems and enables them to communicate with each other. It provides a layer of abstraction between the different systems, making it easier for them to work together.
Each of these components plays a critical role in achieving interoperability and thus providing a compatible environment between different systems, making it easier for them to communicate with each other.
Is Interoperability Essential?
If interoperability is not employed, the IT environment can face several challenges.
It is very difficult to implement innovative technological solutions without interoperability. Developers would have to develop from scratch new solutions and workflows for the tools in the techno stack to communicate.
Let’s look at the healthcare scenario to understand the importance of interoperability. And this was very visible during the recent Covid pandemic.
For example, people who travel around a lot, say like those in the military. A patient in the USA Military Healthcare system may receive care in numerous locations as they are deployed around the globe, at sea and throughout the country. There are different health IT systems employed by different branches of the Military, and within different locations. The challenge here would be to try and figure out how to coordinate their complex medical history to enable the medical professionals at any point in time and space to help make evidence based informed decisions.
Interoperability has shown to have several benefits:
Improves Efficiency: When interoperability is integrated different systems work seamlessly together thereby reducing the need for manual intervention. Prime example would be interoperability between electronic health records that can reduce medical errors and improve patient diagnosis and treatment outcomes.
Increases Innovation: Interoperability when engaged by developers to create new applications or services that can work with legacy systems can bring about more efficiency and effectiveness in their outcome.
Enhanced Data Management: When interoperability permits data to be shared between systems, this can lead to management and analysis of the data more easily and for better decision-making. This can be useful in financial and banking systems to help reduce risks.
Effective Customer Experience: Interoperability can help customers experience a seamless process, and this can be seen working in payment systems making it easier for customers to purchase things online.
In short, interoperability is a crucial aspect of modern technology that enables seamless communication between different devices and applications. It is one strategy for allowing users to move across and between the physical and digital world with their relevant data, digital assets, and identities. It can facilitate the free circulation of data and the secure exchange of information across systems.
But, given the crucial element in interoperability, Data, the digital world faces the issue of standardization of data. Standardization of data is the precursor for interoperability to bring about a seamless business operation. Interoperability thus becomes a cohesion problem of bringing pieces together within a meaningful, well-defined architecture using shared infrastructure and platforms to achieve fluidity of data, knowledge and shared workflows that move us towards a kind of state without boundaries.
Best Practices to Implement Interoperability
When implementing interoperability, it is important to keep in mind the following strategies and practical tips and best practices:
Implementation of Open standards: They are publicly available and can be used without restriction. The vendor lock-in can be avoided to ensure compatibility with other systems.
Modernization of legacy systems: If you have legacy systems, then upgrading without modernization will be a loss in the long run. Given the digital landscape of Generative Artificial Intelligence and intelligence automation, modernization is the only way to keep up in the competitive world.
Collaboration and Standardization: Common standards and protocols when followed reduce the challenges to be faced by companies. Collaborating with similar industry groups, bringing your data on to similar data and system formats needs to be adopted with priority.
Design systems with interoperability in mind: Keeping in mind the above, especially modernization and standardization, systems when designed with interoperability can be of great support to organizations who can avoid costly and time-consuming integration efforts later.
Further, documentation and communication too play a crucial role in achieving and maintaining interoperability. Even with legacy systems and when shifting to other modernized systems, documentation with its clear guidelines and instructions can be of valuable assistance when the change has been prioritized. And above all, communication is vital when different stakeholders are involved, as this helps to align around a common goal and thus reap the benefits of interoperability.
Conclusion
Interoperability is the future of every enterprise in this competitive market. However, every enterprise must figure their capacity to handle interoperability with respect to their objectives, scalability, and the required interface built for the essential systems. Interoperability supports automatic management of data input and output based on demand and thereby increases efficiency and adaptation to new changes in technology and systems. This further supports user access to data faster, thereby increasing productivity and control over sensitive data.
Calsoft, being a Technology-First company and a pioneer in software product engineering services, with its expertise intelligently integrates multiple data platforms to meet the end-to-end data requirements.
