ENTERPRISE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

Enterprise Application Development is a complex process of creating application for

business purposes. They are complex, customized for critical business requirements and can
be deployed on the cloud, on a variety of platforms across corporate networks, intranet
etc. Designing and developing such enterprise applications means satisfying hundreds or
thousands of separate requirements.

How are Enterprise Applications Different?

An enterprise applications are large multi user, multi developer and a multi component
applications that can work on large chunks of data and utilise extensive parallel processing,
network distributed resources and complex logic. These applications can be deployed across
multiple platforms and operate simultaneously with many other applications. Enterprise
applications are business oriented and deployed to meet specific business requirements.
They encode business policies, processes, rules and entities and are developed with specific
business requirements in mind. Hence, these applications require special tools in the form
of enterprise application development software to cater to their unique needs.

Traditional Enterprise Application Development Software and their Shortcomings

Though traditional application development methodologies, are known for having clear
objectives, stable requirements and measurable progress of development, they are time
consuming, have minimum iterations and there is very little customer interaction. Hence,
traditional application development methodologies and tools are unable to fulfil the
demands of modern enterprise applications. The failure is not just for web applications,
traditional methodologies are not a perfect match for mobile application development as
well. Some of their shortcomings are

 These Application are linear and predictive. They follow sequential flow and make any
new changes time consuming and difficult
 Applications are low in productivity due to high lead times and time consuming.
 The application development Involves stringent documentation and reviews at every
stage which are done by developers mostly. Thus the business imperatives naturally
take a back seat.
 User or the customer is involved at the beginning during the requirements stage and
then in the end delivery during user acceptance stage. There is no active involvement
from users in the intermediate phases which lead to many changes in the end thus
increasing cost and time
 Elements have to be designed and constructed from the ground up as per project
requirements and hence, are not reusable.
Hence it can be summed up that Enterprises today are in the lookout for better tools,
applications and software as the traditional methodologies could not gain much success.

Changing Trends in Enterprise Application Development

New and Emerging trends in Enterprise Application is impacting application development in

a big way. Let us see the key trends:
Usability (UX) – Usability is the norm of the day in when it comes to Enterprise
Architecture. Users expect their apps to be more intuitive and provide more relevant
content suited to their own business needs. In the coming year, developers will have to
focus more on ease of usability and responsive design.
Consumerization of IT– Consumerization of IT has impacted Enterprise Application’s
changing landscape. Technology today is consumer oriented. Business imperatives are given
utmost importance.
Commodity Computing (cloud), horizontal scaling – Applications today are hosted,
developed and customised on the cloud. Cloud computing has increased accessibility and
ease of operation for users of Enterprise application development.
Rapid Application Delivery & Low-code Development – RAD or Low code development is
the new trend in Enterprise. Minimal Coding is making Enterprise Application Development
more business centric and easy. Customers are involved at each phase of development.
Loose Coupling (APIs, Micro services, Compostable architecture) – With the introduction of
Loose Coupling and micro services enterprise applications are delivered as an independent
runtime service with a well-defined API. The Micro services approach allow faster delivery of
smaller incremental changes to an application.

Choosing the right enterprise application development platforms

Modern enterprise Application development focusses on reducing application development

timelines and at the same time addresses a whole gamut of other related aspects of modern
web applications required for today’s modern Enterprise. Modern day application is rapid in
terms of timeline, cost, and usability. We call them RAD (Rapid Application Development)
and they emphasizes on:
Ready-made Application Infrastructure: Providing a browser based development
environment. No more hassle of installing, setup, ongoing configuration etc.
Usability: Making sure good-looking and rich user interactive applications can be developed.
Increased attention to creating pixel perfect responsive UI applications on both Desktop as
well as Mobile Devices.
Full Stack Development: By leveraging modern client side frameworks and server side
technologies, Modern RAD is now capable to auto generate code for the entire application
(client side, Server side as well as integration touch points to external systems and services
via APIs).
Pre-Defined Best of Breed Technology Stack: Providing a pre-defined well tested best of
breed of software components as the technology stack for application development. No
more worries about enterprises having to maintain multiple teams to support complex
permutations of technology stacks.
Business User Participation: Simplifying the application development process such that
technical business users can work together with professional developers in developing the
application. This greatly benefits enterprises as business user comes in with domain
knowledge and can validate the implementation, as it is being developed.
API-led Integration: Providing REST API based integration approach such that application can
easily integrate to an internal, external as well as Cloud based service. This allows for faster,
easier development and avoids reinventing the wheel again.

The Concept of Enterprise Application Integration

Enterprise application integration services remove the gap between several computer
programs. It also helps the employees in managing data through simple interfaces. The main
goal of EAI is the effective use of data that is generated by the different departments.

Among the applications that need to be integrated one can list:

 Supply Chain Management (SCM)

 Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

 Business Intelligence

 Human Resources

 E-commerce systems

These programs fall under the category called software-as-a-service (SaaS). As per a
research by Gartner, around 75% of companies which provide services that are related to IT,
use around 6 applications on an average.

Approaches to Software Integration

 Databases, as well as applications, are attached to an engine which gets and

manages all the notifications which come from several channels;

 Point-to-point link – Enterprise applications are linked to one another through one
link. Such enterprise application integration systems are easy to build, even though
there is a limit to their scalability.
  Enterprise System Bus solutions – This is a multiple layer solution for numerous IT
companies that utilize numerous complex business applications. The system
allocates data processing operation among the other parts of the network.

The selection of EAI method is dependent on the organization’s’ goals and the intricacy of
the IT infrastructure.

The Benefits of Enterprise Application Integration

The benefits of enterprise application integration services are numerous:

Improvement in management and sharing of data

EAI increases interoperability between the several departments of an organization. For the
automotive industry in the US, interoperability faults may cast up to USD 1 Billion losses. An
agile enterprise application software solution enables access to entire information that is
gathered by business applications, eradicating data processing responsibilities.

Automation of the workflow

For instance, you can utilize the CRM customer data to start an email marketing campaign
and create reports to assess its efficiency. The EAI platform improves business processes as
well as enhances transparency of financial flow.

Flexibility in IT infrastructure

The integration of software allows organizations to develop IT facilities easily and respond
timely to the growing expectations of the customer. When talking about the communication
within the enterprise, there are challenges that appear when employees who are not as not
as tech-savvy as others need to do technical tasks. They face troubles in managing the
structure which is IT based.

With bigger organizations, there could be situations when it is difficult for the executives to
take care of the IT structure in the enterprise where they are not able to utilize innovative
technologies optimally. EAI helps in overpowering these hurdles and streamlines the
business process applying better functionality in linking information as well as the
functionality of many applications into an easy-to-use interface.

Creating new opportunities

One of the main organizational benefits of EAI is that it lets the managers know and respond
to new opportunities much faster than before. Enterprise applications can help companies
address shifts in the market, reputation management issues, supply chain disruption issues
and more – all from a single interface.

Increasing efficiency

EAI enables enterprises by making their communication easier, reduces their time and
effort, better functionality, improved control that leads to an increase in the efficiency of
the organization. It enables the organization to identify and respond to new opportunities. It
can help the companies address the change in market trends, their reputation management
matters, issues related to disruptions in supply chain etc. – from only one interface.

When done efficiently, EAI allows organizations to realize the holistic advantages of their
investments. Enterprise Application is attaining acceptance among the organizations
globally. It is not only advantageous to have EAI for enhancing organizational proficiencies,
but also for the improvement an individual’s performance with several features like
employee records and rewards.

EAI provides several financial benefits to the transportation and logistics companies,
network providers, bank, and retail organizations. Nevertheless, enterprise application
software and the integration process require an expertise in the implementation of security
and coding protocols. The fact is that 66% of organizations store only around one fifth of the
data off-premises. This shows that there is a substantial lack of confidence in the cloud as
well as EAI solutions.

Here’s a list to the top enterprise apps mostly use by corporate bodies.

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Don’t you hate it when you’re so busy that a potential client slips through your fingers?

Unless you possess superhuman organizational skills and the memory of an elephant, there
will be times that you let communication dwindle, missing opportunities to close a deal,
upsell, cross-sell, or market new products to existing customers.

As PC World puts it beautifully, “Customer relationship management software is a contact

list with a brain.” This type of enterprise software works by giving you an invaluable
overview of where you are with each client, pulling together customer contact information
and details of when and how you’ve been in touch.

This includes interactions in person, through social media, over phone and email and
possibly even calls to customer support, and notes on where you left things with them –
helping you to make sure a valuable customer never falls off your radar again.
Typically, the best CRM services include features like workflow automation, dedicated
document libraries, role-based user access, multi-currency support, email integration and
tracking, and lead capture from websites and custom reporting.

Leading the way: Salesforce, Zoho, Oracle, Apptivo

2. Project Management Tools

Among the most accessible enterprise apps (especially if you have secret technophobic /
traditionalist tendencies!) are those geared towards better project management for teams.

These are designed to help your collaborate more effectively, even if your team is scattered
all over the globe. They make sure everyone involved has clearly defined targets and
deadlines, and can drop in at any time to check on progress and make sure they have what
they need from their colleagues to get their own work done.

Usually, tools like these give an overview of all active projects, but allow you to dive into
each one to check every milestone, every detail, and every upcoming task you need to
complete to keep your progress on schedule.

Used right, these apps are an amazing way to visualize shared workflows, maximize
productivity, keep up the momentum – and make sure no task gets forgotten.

Leading the way: LiquidPlanner, Zoho Projects, Teamwork

3. Marketing Automation

As your company expands, there is just no way to perform all of your day-to-day marketing
activities on a manual basis. You can’t handle correspondence with every individual person
on a sprawling mailing list, personally reply to every Facebook message or new inquiry, or
even to post every Tweet or LinkedIn update in real time, yourself. There is just too much to
do, and too little time.

This is why enterprise software for marketing automation is so handy. These apps and
tools allow you to automate communication with your audience via email, SMS, social
media and/or digital ads; quickly and easily segment your list to create targeted marketing
campaigns; and set things up so you contact targets after a specified action or an optimal
period of time.
This technology can drastically improve efficiency, keep campaigns on schedule and improve
accuracy, allowing marketing teams to focus on creating great content or developing big,
ambitious strategies and campaigns.

Leading the Way: HubSpot, Marketo, Act-On, Adobe Campaign

4. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software

If a company was a sentient being with a brain, that brain would be an ERP. An ERP system
basically takes all the different modules of the business, digitizes them, and creates complex
networks between them that mean everyone is working from the same core records and
up-to-date information.

The system also integrates with other important enterprise software tools, including CRM,
BI, financial information, inventories, asset and supply chain management technology,
materials resource management, point of sale data, and sometimes even project
management dashboards & apps.

Implementing an ERP can drastically clean up the way larger organizations operate by
making activities and workflows more cohesive and transparent. They also offer up
important insights that help identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies and improve planning for
the future.

Leading the Way: Netsuite, Acumatica, SAP

5. Treasury Management System (TMS)

The purpose of a TMS is to provide a single version of truth where all things financial in your
business are concerned. It gives you a complete overview of where the money is in the
organization, helping you to track and predict cash flow, manage debt, mitigate FX risk, free
up money for investments, ensure you’re always on the right side of relevant compliance
regulations – and handle pretty much any other tasks that come under the broad umbrella
of corporate finance.

Due to some obvious overlaps, some organizations that have already splurged on an ERP
don’t see the point of a dedicated TMS, and for smaller enterprises that’s probably fair.

On the other hand, if you’re a large company juggling all kinds of investments, you deal with
several different currencies and/or you have multiple locations and bank accounts spread
across the world, you’ll struggle to find an ERP that has the full functionality you need to
manage your money in the most effective and agile way. Seeking out a top system that
integrates seamlessly with your ERP will most likely be a better shot.

Leading the way: Kyriba, Reval, Misys

6. Business Intelligence (BI)

In all seriousness though, in this rapidly changing corporate landscape, high quality data
analytics and the ability to understand where your business is, how it got there, and where
it’s going next is supremely important. This means that having a reliable, accurate, and
powerful BI tool in place is crucial.

In essence, BI software works by pulling in data from all your data sources, harmonizing and
combining this, and allowing you to run queries that extract actionable insights from these
disparate sources. Typically, these insights are presented in dashboards that tell you in a
glance how the business is doing and how much you progressed, making on hitting your
KPIs.

As with all types of enterprise software applications, though, not all BI platforms are created
equal. In particular, many BI vendors claim that their software is self-service, but definitions
of self-service cloud BI vary depending on who you talk to. Ideally, you should be looking for
a system that allows non-technical users to manipulate dashboards and query data without
IT getting involved, but without losing the all-important granularity that help you
understand exactly what’s going on, and why.