J
John Iwuozor
Guest
Discover the power of low-code integration in Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs). Seamlessly connect systems and streamline workflows.
People spend a lot of time online but you know that already. Statista estimated that there are 5.16 billion internet users worldwide, which is 64.4 percent of the global population. In 2021, this number was 4.26 billion so this can only mean that digital usage is accelerating rapidly. The present challenge, which lies in managing an ever-growing number of digital touchpoints to differentiate your business, has led to the rise of Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) which help to optimize personalized experiences in multichannel customer journeys.
However, DXPs are not free from loopholes. Integrating different systems and applications in DXPs can be challenging and time-consuming, prompting the need for low-code integrations specially designed to help businesses connect, automate and optimize their critical business applications with ease.
This blog post explores how low-code integrations can be utilized in DXPs to create tailored solutions that empower omnichannel experiences through a highly scalable, low-complexity and value-driven approach.
Low-code integration is a process of connecting different data endpoints with the help of visual, integrated development environments (IDEs) that users can use to create flowcharts. Developers can use a drag-and-drop visual interface to create integration workflows that define how data and events are shared between different systems.
These workflows typically include triggers, actions and conditions that determine when and how data is synchronized between different systems. These platforms also provide pre-built CMS connectors and APIs that allow developers to quickly and easily connect to a wide range of systems and data sources, such as databases, CRMs, ERPs and marketing automation tools.
Low-code integrations are a perfect complement to DXPs. According to Alan Finlay, Head of Product for OvationCXM:
Implementing low-code integrations come along with many obvious benefits. They include:
A survey report carried out by Progress and Pulse on 100 marketing, IT and digital experience leaders in 2020 indicated that 63% of companies are looking forward to a differentiated customer experience, however the biggest technical barrier for 40% has been the complexity of internal and external integrations, and that relates to complex siloed infrastructure leading to disconnected systems and broken processes.
Jamie MacQuarrie, founder of Appivo, in highlighting how the right low-code platform can be used to augment a DXP to bolster any weak points, spoke about low-code platforms having their strengths and weaknesses.
He gave this example: “One of our clients manages a premier property for an EU hotel chain. To improve the customer experience, a decision was made to roll out a new booking/reservation system not only for rooms but for spa appointments, restaurant reservations, etc. The roll-out was a success, sort of. Customers love it, but the people managing the spa, restaurant, cleaning staff, etc. were suddenly lost. They no longer had the reports they relied upon to effectively manage their teams. Those reports had disappeared with the old system. Luckily they were able to find a low-code platform that could easily integrate with their new system and provide the dashboards and reports that they had lost. Low-code augmented their new system to create a comprehensive win for everyone: customers, staff and management.”
He summarized the best practices as:
You need to identify the areas of the platform that need to meet the needs of the organization or its users. This can be done by gathering feedback from users, analyzing data on platform performance, and conducting a thorough review of the platform’s features and functionality.
According to Alan, “One of the easiest ways to identify data gaps in your DXP is to watch to see where your users leave the platform and navigate into a different software to find a piece of data and then manually bring it back. This is inefficient and is a perfect place to leverage low-code platforms to automate data synchronization or real-time actions between two systems. Creating a DXP that is a single pane of glass for your team is a high-value effort that will pay dividends in terms of efficiency gains and better experiences delivered to the end customers."
Once the gaps have been identified, it’s important to prioritize them based on their impact on the organization and its users. For example, a critical gap that is causing significant user frustration should be addressed before a less critical gap that is causing minor inconvenience. A timeline should then be drafted to resolve these gaps, taking into account available resources, the complexity of the process and the overall impact.
Next, you should look for a low-code platform that can fill as many of the gaps as possible. In some cases, it may be necessary to consider multiple low-code platforms to fill all the gaps.
Lastly, you can start building the integrations to fill the identified gaps. Regular feedback from users should also be gathered to ensure that the integrations are meeting their needs.
At the heart of Progress’ Digital Experience Platform, Sitefinity CMS helps mid-market leaders address integration challenges. Designed with customization, extensibility and integration in mind, Sitefinity offers flexible APIs, built-in connectors, and a marketplace of readily available third-party integrations. The platform supports data integration from leading systems including Eloqua, HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce, SharePoint and Google Data Studio. By leveraging Sitefinity’s low-code integration capabilities, businesses can streamline their operations, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, ultimately driving business transformation and growth. Try out a demo today.
Continue reading...
People spend a lot of time online but you know that already. Statista estimated that there are 5.16 billion internet users worldwide, which is 64.4 percent of the global population. In 2021, this number was 4.26 billion so this can only mean that digital usage is accelerating rapidly. The present challenge, which lies in managing an ever-growing number of digital touchpoints to differentiate your business, has led to the rise of Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) which help to optimize personalized experiences in multichannel customer journeys.
However, DXPs are not free from loopholes. Integrating different systems and applications in DXPs can be challenging and time-consuming, prompting the need for low-code integrations specially designed to help businesses connect, automate and optimize their critical business applications with ease.
This blog post explores how low-code integrations can be utilized in DXPs to create tailored solutions that empower omnichannel experiences through a highly scalable, low-complexity and value-driven approach.
What is Low-Code Integration and How Does it Work?
Low-code integration is a process of connecting different data endpoints with the help of visual, integrated development environments (IDEs) that users can use to create flowcharts. Developers can use a drag-and-drop visual interface to create integration workflows that define how data and events are shared between different systems.
These workflows typically include triggers, actions and conditions that determine when and how data is synchronized between different systems. These platforms also provide pre-built CMS connectors and APIs that allow developers to quickly and easily connect to a wide range of systems and data sources, such as databases, CRMs, ERPs and marketing automation tools.
Low-code integrations are a perfect complement to DXPs. According to Alan Finlay, Head of Product for OvationCXM:
"DXPs often need to pull data from multiple data sources and thus require a large number of integrations to provide complete context about any given customer. With low-code integrations, users can build connectors and workflows that automate data transfer and synchronization, reducing manual effort and improving data accuracy.
Each integration you need has to be built and maintained, so the more you can do with low-code or no-code, the faster you’ll be able to pull your data together to enable better customer experiences. Also, given that you often don’t need experienced developers to build these integrations, you can include more people from your organization to help with the process of setting up these integrations."
Benefits of Low-Code Integrations
Implementing low-code integrations come along with many obvious benefits. They include:
- Automating repetitive tasks: You can automate routine tasks via these integrations. An example is lead routing where the sales team does not have to manually sort through leads and assign them to the appropriate sales representative but instead rely on automation. This frees up time and resources.
- Expanding capabilities: By linking their DXP to a middleware of their choice with just a few clicks, businesses can pass information between systems to improve workflow processes.
- Enhancing workflows: By tapping into low-code integration, businesses can strengthen workflows and add data and content processing using document automation, image and text detection, and compliance measures. For example, by integrating with a document automation tool, businesses can automatically generate contracts and other legal documents, reducing the need for manual data entry and improving accuracy. By integrating with image and text detection tools, businesses can automatically categorize and tag images and text, making it easier to search and analyze data.
Best Practices for Implementing Low-Code Integrations in DXP
A survey report carried out by Progress and Pulse on 100 marketing, IT and digital experience leaders in 2020 indicated that 63% of companies are looking forward to a differentiated customer experience, however the biggest technical barrier for 40% has been the complexity of internal and external integrations, and that relates to complex siloed infrastructure leading to disconnected systems and broken processes.
Jamie MacQuarrie, founder of Appivo, in highlighting how the right low-code platform can be used to augment a DXP to bolster any weak points, spoke about low-code platforms having their strengths and weaknesses.
He gave this example: “One of our clients manages a premier property for an EU hotel chain. To improve the customer experience, a decision was made to roll out a new booking/reservation system not only for rooms but for spa appointments, restaurant reservations, etc. The roll-out was a success, sort of. Customers love it, but the people managing the spa, restaurant, cleaning staff, etc. were suddenly lost. They no longer had the reports they relied upon to effectively manage their teams. Those reports had disappeared with the old system. Luckily they were able to find a low-code platform that could easily integrate with their new system and provide the dashboards and reports that they had lost. Low-code augmented their new system to create a comprehensive win for everyone: customers, staff and management.”
He summarized the best practices as:
1. Identify weaknesses or gaps in the current DXP solution
You need to identify the areas of the platform that need to meet the needs of the organization or its users. This can be done by gathering feedback from users, analyzing data on platform performance, and conducting a thorough review of the platform’s features and functionality.
According to Alan, “One of the easiest ways to identify data gaps in your DXP is to watch to see where your users leave the platform and navigate into a different software to find a piece of data and then manually bring it back. This is inefficient and is a perfect place to leverage low-code platforms to automate data synchronization or real-time actions between two systems. Creating a DXP that is a single pane of glass for your team is a high-value effort that will pay dividends in terms of efficiency gains and better experiences delivered to the end customers."
2. Prioritize those gaps and draft a timeline for filling them
Once the gaps have been identified, it’s important to prioritize them based on their impact on the organization and its users. For example, a critical gap that is causing significant user frustration should be addressed before a less critical gap that is causing minor inconvenience. A timeline should then be drafted to resolve these gaps, taking into account available resources, the complexity of the process and the overall impact.
3. Look for a low-code platform that can fill as many as possible
Next, you should look for a low-code platform that can fill as many of the gaps as possible. In some cases, it may be necessary to consider multiple low-code platforms to fill all the gaps.
4. Start building
Lastly, you can start building the integrations to fill the identified gaps. Regular feedback from users should also be gathered to ensure that the integrations are meeting their needs.
Get Started with Progress Sitefinity’s Digital Experience Platform (DXP)
At the heart of Progress’ Digital Experience Platform, Sitefinity CMS helps mid-market leaders address integration challenges. Designed with customization, extensibility and integration in mind, Sitefinity offers flexible APIs, built-in connectors, and a marketplace of readily available third-party integrations. The platform supports data integration from leading systems including Eloqua, HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce, SharePoint and Google Data Studio. By leveraging Sitefinity’s low-code integration capabilities, businesses can streamline their operations, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction, ultimately driving business transformation and growth. Try out a demo today.
Continue reading...