Taking it to the Web

Doing business on the Web has become compulsory for companies of all sizes to remain competitive. Even old-economy companies that run their businesses on legacy systems are joining this gold rush in droves.

The problem is that many are in such a rush to get to the Web that they are not integrating their Web applications with their back-end processes. While this technique provides a quick, temporary business solution, the reality is that the partial solution may not be in the best interests of the company for the long term.

The software that companies use in their day-to-day operations was developed over the course of many years. During the passing of those years, business processes or practices changed, requiring changes in the code - such as adding new functions, integrating with new programs, or modifying existing code. Many programs that have been around for decades are still in use today.

The result is that many homegrown legacy software systems are not the streamlined applications they were intended to be. Because of the continuous modifications, they actually resemble a duct-taped conglomeration of code. In some cases, IT staffs will touch the code only if something is broken and there is no other alternative.

It's precisely this situation that creates difficulty when trying to integrate a flashy front-end Web application with a kludgy, legacy back-end application. Many firms are spending lots of money and time on their Web front end, but fail to do the same for their back-end processes. The lack of investment in updating the back end results in inefficient business processes, which ultimately affects customer service. You get longer response times, incomplete information, or disjointed business processes.

Before going to the Web, companies should include getting their back-end applications into shape as part of their Web initiative plan. Although e-business is new, it is still business, requiring effective business processes to execute properly. E-business is not typically separate and distinct from the rest of the company's business; it's usually an extension of the business. Therefore, integrating the back-end applications to the Web front-end applications is a key component for many companies.

The reality is that many organizations do not have fully integrated front-end and back-end Web processes. Enterprise application integration products can help solve some of the integration problems, but they don't address the inefficiency of the legacy code. The Web is unforgiving to long response times and inefficient code; by contrast, internal users really don't have a choice and have just gotten used to it.

If you're planning a Web initiative or are in the middle of one, be sure to consider the business processes that will be required to conduct business over the Web, and plan how those business processes must tie into the rest of the company's IT applications. It's an intelligent approach for taking it to the Web.