Cloud Integration Reduces Costs and Complexities for Growing Multi-Channel Companies

Most companies selling consumer or industrial products are on the second, if not third iteration of their eCommerce platform.  Companies that launched their first sites in the mid-90's had no choice but to do it internally with their own resources. Then came Dreamweaver and a host of other software applications designed to make launching eCommerce sites far easier with standardized interfaces for shipping and credit card processing.  Many companies launched their second and third generation sites spending upwards of $50,000 for design and integration into their ERP or other back office business systems.

Today the cloud has reshaped the eCommerce landscape. Platforms like Magento, Shopify, Volusion and BigCommerce are providing affordable, full featured eCommerce solutions with open, documented application interfaces (APIs).  With no software to purchase or host, and a simple monthly subscription fee, companies can launch updated, slick, hosted web stores for less money and in less time than ever before.  

The availability of open, documented APIs for cloud-based applications has paved the way for forward thinking companies to deploy the cloud for integration strategies.  Cloud based integration strategies can enable two systems such as Magento and Microsoft Dynamics GP to exchange information such as item and inventory data, sales orders and shipping notifications.  

Sometimes porting data back and forth between one or many applications is not enough. There are situations in which decisions need to be made about how to transact data based on more complex factors. Drop shipping is a great example of how a cloud-based integration can take the place of more traditional approaches.  An order coming in from eBay may have several line items.  One of the items on the order is drop shipped, which requires that an electronic sales ...