3 Interface Engine Must-Haves for Explosive Growth

Systems integration demand is exploding. In 2019, application infrastructure middleware had a value of $33.82 billion. By 2025, it is expected to reach $51.28 billion – a whopping 84% increase! This means that a lot more integration needs to be done for the tech industry, and with that, a lot more resources will be required to keep up with the demand.

Fortunately technology offers a way that organizations can be better positioned to meet this demand. One area with particular relevance is middleware software. Middleware or interface engines facilitate integration between disparate systems and when different connectivity protocols are required for data exchange. Middleware eliminates one-off hard code interfaces. Applications that offer interface reusability, ease-of-use, facilitate rapid development and make the process more efficient can significantly impact how well organizations will be able to meet this integration demand.

What Are the 3 Design Features Your Interface Engine Must Have?

1. A Single Solution for All Data Formats

In today’s world, organizations have many different data formats they need to work with – either for ingesting, utilizing or pushing data out. Government mandates require more and more organizations to work with EDI claims data and deliver reports in specified formats. New data formats, such as FHIR, are being pushed by the industry. Organizations are exposing their own proprietary APIs. Keeping up with new technology requires that interface engines have a flexible and extensible architecture that can support old and any new formats. Having one tool that can handle any data format that you need to work with saves time training teams, makes integration projects more efficient as well as reduces an organization’s license and maintenance costs.

2. A Standardized Interface Development Process

Data integration is complex. There are many different parts to configuring an interface. Data needs to be pulled in from different systems. Different data formats and standards need to be supported. You need to have the ability to process non-standard data. Connectivity must be set up. Data needs to be transformed to meet the requirements of a target system. In addition, processes like transaction monitoring, error reporting, logging and complex process orchestrations may need to be supported.

Most interface engine solutions provide the user with the tools to perform these individual functions. But it is a bucket-of-tools type of approach. The problem with that approach is that the interfaces are cobbled together. It makes it hard for someone other than the person who built the interface to manage and maintain them. With an integrated set of components and an assembly line approach, a user follows the same process every time to build an interface. This offers the advantage of being self-documenting. It also makes it far easier for interfaces to be managed and maintained by any team member, regardless of who built them.

3. A No Code, No Scripting Development Environment

There are not enough developers or software engineers to meet the current demand to support integration projects, never mind an 84% increase in such projects. An integration engine that does not rely on programming or scripting for interface development opens the door to non-developers and analysts to take dominant roles in integration projects. Utilizing an interface engine that offers a configuration-driven (rather than coding and scripting) approach makes integration more accessible to non-technical staff. It facilitates using developers for the heavy lifting and non-developers for maintenance and management as well as for repetitive integrations. It also automates the interface configuration process, which is more efficient and faster than coding or scripting.

Is Your Interface Engine Up to the Task?

If your interface engine is not up to the task, we invite you to set up a custom demo with PilotFish or to download our 90-day free trial. PilotFish’s unique approach, featuring our graphical automated interface assembly line process, has opened the door to non-developers and analysts everywhere. In a survey, 95% of PilotFish customers reported that they could utilize non-developers to support their integration projects. These users have been able to take on a significant amount of interface management and maintenance, thus freeing up developers for the heavy lifting.

PilotFish’s self-documenting process allows teams to collaborate as well as be more efficient and productive too. It offers users an integrated development environment that can be utilized to configure integrations for virtually any data format, standard or integration requirement. With PilotFish, you can handle it all.