The Brilliance of One Application Talking to Another
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”
— From the film ‘Cool Hand Luke’
What if you called a meeting, but no one came? Would it still be called a meeting? As ridiculous as the question may sound, these types of communication breakdowns can and do occur even in a modern business. Talking to each other seems like such a natural thing to us that we’re often surprised at how everyone from married couples to corporate partners to 21st-century armies can have such trouble with it.
Our thinking extends to the applications we use for business as well. All too often our apps coolly stare at each other as if they were on the far side of the planet from each other instead of the same tablet. Like a spurned lover, our client database refuses to acknowledge our client email lists.
The problem grows even worse when we’re told about the wonders of automation and how they can revolutionize our business. Emails sent out automatically without someone having to go send each one at odd hours, and lead generation results instantly available to our work teams and updated in real time so prospective clients aren’t turned off by an embarrassing slip up. The left hand truly knowing what the right hand is doing.
Each of our applications is powerful. If only they would… you know… communicate.
Fortunately, there are several established third-party applications like Workato and Zapier as well as some lesser known programs like If This Then That and Piesync that have been developed to facilitate the dialogue between your anti-social programs. One of them might be just right for you.
These platforms are cloud-based and they make use of simple and straight-forward interfaces with drag-and-drop functionality. They are scalable, so you or your IT team can add users of workgroups easily and then connect them to the tools they need to succeed. Workgroups can see the data they need, communicate it quickly to other departments and then have information updated in real time. It means the people that need to have accurate information to make quick decisions have what they need when then need it. And for frequent tasks you can design you own customized workflow to better suit the specific needs of your individual company or for a specific project.
Communication is indeed a wonderful thing. It might not be the difference between a quiet day at the office and an unfolding Shakespearean tragedy, but at the very least it can make sure your next business meeting is well-attended.