Are Your Systems And Apps Working Together To Deliver The Most Value?

Forbes

11-07-2025

Cynthia Tee serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Smartsheet, where she spearheads the development of the company's innovative products.
Technology's rapid advancement presents challenges, especially for large organizations with diverse systems. Disconnected systems, data silos and inflexible workflows hinder innovation. For businesses to maximize their technology investments, interoperability—the ability for disparate and independent systems, applications and tools to connect and exchange data—is a critical business requirement.
Interoperability goes beyond integration. It enables a user-centered ecosystem that aligns with how teams work, overcoming the challenge of fragmentation.
The Limits Of Data Integration
What's the first step toward streamlined operations? Many would say the answer is data integration. Yet, you haven't solved the entire puzzle by merely connecting systems. In fact, stopping here often causes new tasks to bubble to the surface.
Imagine trying to extract and harmonize data from disparate systems. Employees often lose valuable time manually transferring data between systems and resolving inconsistencies, while delays slow down productivity across the board. Data silos further exacerbate the problem by limiting visibility, leaving decision-makers without the insights needed to drive operations effectively. Additionally, disconnected systems prevent businesses from fully leveraging their technology investments.
The ROI Of Interoperability
Interoperability is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. Picture a team trying to build something amazing, but their tools don't work well together. Instead of throwing out key systems of record and starting over, businesses can choose to invest in a collaborative work management platform that helps them get more value out of the tools they already use. By seamlessly integrating tools and aligning technology, teams can better serve customers. This causes fewer problems and delays, and it can accelerate decision-making across teams.
Interoperability frees employees from repetitive tasks and enables them to dedicate their time to creativity, strategic thinking and high-value problem-solving.
Here are a few examples of how this comes to life for teams across an organization:
• Connect CRM data to a work management platform for faster time to delivery. Sales teams may efficiently use CRM systems like Salesforce or SAP, but other stakeholders need a broader view of the data. Interoperability allows seamless data exchange, letting each team work in its preferred environment while maintaining a unified information flow. Connecting CRM with a work management platform can help align leadership, sales and operations, ensuring smoother handoffs and successful delivery post-sale.
• Bring multiple systems together to drive data insights. Organizations that focus on integrating their systems may see faster, more efficient reporting, centralized information management and a comprehensive view of progress toward goals. A significant benefit of interoperability is not just one-way or two-way data transfers between systems, but rather connecting multiple systems to one single platform that enables a comprehensive view of all the data that's accessible to people who may or may not have access to the connected systems. This can enable business leaders to see what's going on across teams and systems in one place, helping them resolve issues and make decisions faster.
• Align stakeholders around a complete picture of request and ticket management. Connecting ticketing systems like Jira or an in-house system to a work management platform can help get information about the work that's in progress in front of decision-makers. This enables the creation of multiple views for different audiences, so teams can disseminate that information faster, identify and clear bottlenecks more quickly and reduce the possibility of error from manually duplicating information. This also lets people work in the systems where they work best: Developers can live in Jira, while executives can see the information they need in a high-level dashboard.
Prioritizing Interoperability Within Your Organization
When purchasing new software for your tech stack, interoperability is an important consideration. Here are a few questions that are important to ask:
• Is this adding value for your organization? Just because an integration exists between two systems doesn't mean that it necessarily has the functionality people need (e.g., data fields available, one-way versus two-way data transfer, etc.).
• Is your data secure? This is especially important when it comes to data being used or stored in multiple systems. Consider using least privilege by default, integrating not just with other systems of record or productivity tools but with security applications and ensuring customers have the ability to audit along the way.
• Are people able to access the data they need, when and where they need it? To effectively manage work, look for tools that can pull what's needed from both your systems of record and productivity tools, so workers have the right information at the right time.
• Are you taking into account the full costs of integrating (or not integrating)? Consider the full cost of the integration. Does it enable you to eliminate the need for licenses in more expensive systems of record by allowing people to access the data they need elsewhere?
• Are the integrations you're looking at self-service? Can end users build the integrations they need, or will building even simple workflows necessitate a lot of work from IT? Flexible, easy-to-build tools can enable business users to drive meaningful outcomes without relying on IT resources or budget.
Interoperability's Time To Shine
Interoperability is no longer optional; it's the foundation of modern business technology. For organizations at the forefront of innovation, the question isn't whether to invest in tools that can harmonize information across systems; it's how quickly they can harness its potential to unlock new opportunities and achieve their goals.
Some key trends to keep an eye out for in the future include AI-driven integrations, standardized APIs to encourage a more connected environment and human-centric design that helps users maximize their technological capabilities. When systems work well together, businesses can boost creativity, increase productivity and make real progress.
As systems become more connected and adapt to human needs, businesses may be better equipped to tackle challenges and seize opportunities. Interoperability bridges the gaps between systems, enabling streamlined operations, enhancing collaboration and freeing employees to focus on meaningful, high-value tasks. This can lead to a business environment where innovation thrives, productivity improves and technology realizes its full potential.
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