You don’t need to be an IT expert to understand how critical Application Programming Interfaces (API) and Business Objects are to business. Especially for innovative digital transformations which are predicted to grow at an annual growth rate of 15.5% globally between 2020 and 2023. The ability to link two diverse unconnected software components together so they can communicate with each other is key for boosting operational efficiency, saving time & money, and improving customer & supplier collaboration.
API Benefits
As technology rapidly evolves and becomes more and more a part of our lives, APIs are increasingly common. When asked to predict their API usage in 2022, 90.5% of developers expect to use APIs more or the same as in 2021, while only 3.8% of developers think they will use fewer APIs in 2022.
You probably use APIs every day without realizing it. From checking the weather app on your iPhone to booking travel online, they are used everywhere…. and they are essential in a business environment. Likely, and particularly in a manufacturing business where you’re managing multiple external partnerships, you employ at least two software applications. API benefits businesses by providing the channel for these separate software applications to communicate with one another using a set of definitions and protocols. They are vital to providing content and data between systems.
SYSPRO e.net Solutions
SYSPRO’s API, called e.net Solutions, and Business Objects offer the flexibility of integrating both custom-developed applications and best-of-breed pre-built commercial products, such as Shopify, Amazon, Concur, Esker, Stampli, Salesforce, and so many more. If you’re looking for a way to transmit information between two independent applications, e.net Solutions can do that for you. e.net Solutions provides an easy solutions framework to get information in and out of the SYSPRO software without using the regular SYSPRO user interface.
Business Objects Basics
How do Business Objects fit into the equation? Let us try and explain without getting too technical. A Business Object lives in the SYSPRO Program folder and is a SYSPRO program that does not have a user interface. Each Business Object corresponds to a given SYSPRO function and it allows custom applications or integrations to follow SYSPRO’s business logic rules. They are built to receive and return XML text, like sending an email between two email accounts.
For example, in the case of the Inventory Movements program, there are nine Business Objects to provide the same functionality, like one for Receipts, one for Cost Changes, one for Transfers Out, etc. “In short, Business Objects can be thought of as the building blocks that enable you to put your own solution together,” describes Ayala Clinkman, Sr. Director of Business Solutions of BT Partners.
Nowadays, having an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, like SYSPRO, with a custom-built API, like e.net Solutions, or just having an ERP system that can seamlessly integrate with API and Business Objects is so important because it offers infinite opportunities in a changing world. If you’re wondering how Business Objects and APIs can help your business, contact our SYSPRO experts. We can provide a full assessment of your current system setup and suggest recommendations on how you can be successful in reaching your digital transformation goals.
