integraties

Integraties, in information technology, are mechanisms that connect otherwise separate systems, applications and data sources to enable coordinated functioning and data exchange. They aim to deliver a unified workflow, improved data consistency and automations across organisational boundaries.

There are several levels, including data integration (combining data from different sources), application integration (connecting software applications to share functionality), process integration (coordinating business processes across systems) and user interface integration (presenting a unified experience).

Common methods include application programming interfaces (APIs), web services, message queues, and extract, transform, load processes (ETL). Middleware, enterprise service buses (ESB) and integration platform as a service (iPaaS) provide patterns to connect many systems. Architectural approaches include point-to-point connections, hub-and-spoke, a middleware layer, and API-led connectivity.

Standards and protocols such as REST, SOAP, JSON, XML, OAuth and SAML facilitate interoperability. Security, governance, data quality and version management are critical concerns.

Benefits include improved data accuracy, operational efficiency, faster time to insight and better customer experiences. Challenges include complexity, maintenance costs, security risks, data governance, and vendor lock-in.

Typical examples: synchronising ERP and CRM data, integrating e-commerce platforms with payment gateways, or connecting IoT devices to cloud analytics. Current trends emphasize API-driven development, event-driven architectures, low-code integration, and cloud-native approaches.