In our latest healthcare guide, we highlight the importance of application programming interfaces (APIs) in driving business and consumer value. As organizations shift their legacy infrastructure in IT modernization projects, APIs will be at the center of their initiatives alongside containers, microservices, and other serverless technologies.

During the journey to API adoption, there is no doubt that technology executives and leaders will be asking questions around common use cases. After all, healthcare organizations throughout the industry must grapple with increased regulation, including the handling of medical records, data sharing between applications, and the privacy of patients.

Our work in the healthcare industry uncovers the following use cases:

• Mobile Health: Otherwise known as mHealth, this use case addresses the general use of mobile phones and other wireless technologies for medical care. For healthcare providers, mHealth transforms clinical workflows by bringing critical data to point of care through mobile or web applications. Additionally, patients can use mHealth solutions to pay for their medical care, enhancing the patient-provider experience.
• Delivery Models and Medical IoT: The Internet of Things (IoT) will affect the healthcare space over the next few years, serving as a key prediction in research firm IDC’s FutureScape report. IDC expects IoT to drive services differentiation and transform patient engagement with the market spending expected to hit $117 billion by 2020.One example use case in medical IoT stems from the treatment of diabetes, a disease expected to afflict 1.5 million Americans this year. With API integration, patients with diabetes can use their mobile device to collect food consumption, medicine, and blood sugar data from any monitoring devices to a remote nurse who can respond via email or text.
• New Digital Services: The push into digital transformation opens new revenue opportunities. For example, healthcare providers can use gamification strategies to drive engagement, leveraging APIs to connect with a variety of badges and rewards.

You can read additional uses cases on our white paper, which provides additional use cases and best practices for IT modernization with respect to APIs.

Learn More

Ultimately, the addition of APIs into healthcare technology promises to improve care, streamline data, and place privacy back into the hands of patients and consumers. If these are challenges you face, head on over to our healthcare practice page at https://www.perficient.com/industries/healthcare and speak to one of our experts today.

Healthcare costs continue to rise, especially with changing consumer demands, and evolving technology solutions. Furthermore, technology leaders find themselves overwhelmed with the added challenge of upgrading legacy technology infrastructure and adopting new development methods.

We understand these challenges and recently authored a white paper to guide healthcare professionals through the application programming interface (API) adoption process. While such solutions are not new, they have received increased attention due to their use alongside microservices, containers, and other serverless solutions in the DevOps methodology.

Download this guide today to learn:

• Where APIs fit within the realm of digital transformation
• Best practices for effective API management
• Healthcare API management use cases

If you’re in the midst of a project focused in this area, do not hesitate to learn more at www.perficient.com/industries/healthcare, where you can discover our case studies and learn about our expertise.

API management leader and Google subsidiary Apigee recently announced a partnership with Pivotal to accelerate application modernization and microservices management. Intent on accelerating the application development process, the partnership promises to add greater value as organizations look to improve their innovation methodologies. Additionally, both Apigee and Pivotal are Perficient partners.

The Apigee partnership comes upon the heels of continued growth after their $625 million acquisition by Google in the Fall 2016.  At the time, we expressed that the combined forces of the two companies underscored the focus on cloud within the developer community while emphasizing the need for application programming interfaces (APIs). Since then, our predictions have come true with nearly 19,000 APIs on the open market, complementing growth in cloud-native and DevOps development methodologies.

So where does this take the industry next? Both Apigee and Pivotal describe their partnerships to support the following use cases:

• Application Ecosystem Expansion: The addition of Apigee provides development teams more resources that support innovation. Developers can create their application in Pivotal, and then use Apigee’s API management solutions to support front-end or client-side needs. This helps create an ecosystem of applications, which in turn supports the APIs within the application.

• Manage Microservices Complexity: Apigee offers API key validation, spike arrest, quota management, and operational analytics to help teams manage their microservices. These features work in tandem with Pivotal Cloud Foundry to help organizations become more cloud-native.
• Modernize Applications: Many organizations are exploring IT modernization strategies, which include cloud-native and API implementation. Apigee and Pivotal are committed to helping achieve these goals and have solutions that monitor modernization processes through analytics, dashboards, and interface management.

Already, this partnership is netting benefits for over 200 customers who are enjoying the benefits of an application development and API innovator. With more organizations pursuing serverless opportunities in the face of rising capital expenses and the complexity of existing platforms, looking to Pivotal and Apigee brings much-needed peace of mind.

Learn More

Are you in the midst of IT modernization or exploring how to evolve your application development initiatives? Learn more about our integration and API practice today and speak to one of our specialists for more information.

Healthcare organizations find themselves in a rapidly changing landscape with rising costs, changing consumer demands, and evolving technology solutions. With so many executives caught between adopting new solutions and maintaining legacy infrastructure, strategies are necessary for moving forward, especially in a competitive market.

We understand these challenges and recently authored a guide that addresses the technology challenge for healthcare firms. One area that we have been helping healthcare firms in particular are in the area of application programming interfaces, or APIs, which extend the life of existing applications at a far lower cost. While the area is not new, there are numerous best practices technology leaders should consider before setting out on an execution strategy.

Download this white paper to learn more about the influence of APIs and their use in healthcare, including:

• Where APIs fit within the realm of digital transformation
• Best practices for effective API management
• Healthcare API management use cases

If you’re in the midst of a project focused in this area, do not hesitate to learn more at www.perficient.com/industries/healthcare, where you can discover our case studies and learn about our expertise.

If you wanted to take a vacation two decades ago, you likely picked up the phone and called a travel agent. Over the phone, you would tell your travel agent what you wanted to do and they in turn, would communicate the logistics of that activity. When you arrived at your destination(s), you would have all of the necessary steps figured out, whether it was your lodging, transportation, or the activities themselves.

In the era of digital transformation, there are no more travel agents, especially since the modern consumer can plan a vacation from the comfort of their own mobile phone. As with other experiences, including shopping online, depositing checks at the bank, or using a mapping system to find a destination, the new way of getting things done is The Coherence Economy, a term coined by Uri Sarid of Mulesoft, a Perficient partner.

The Coherence Economy, according to Sarid, is one focused on the availability of resources in addition to the experience already at hand, similar to that of a concierge. For example, a healthcare provider in the Coherence Economy would not only help with scheduling your tests, treatments, and appointments, but would also provide access to your health information in an easy-to-use mobile application. That way, there would be no confusion between everyone involved throughout the process.

The shift to the Coherence Economy is similar to the push towards digital transformation. In realizing the fluidity at which consumers can switch solutions, organizations are developing comprehensive platforms that hold all necessary information for success. One such example lies in Amazon, whose eCommerce platform succeeds by offering speed through shipping, all-in-one systems for both business and consumers, and customizations for enterprises through Amazon Web Services (AWS). With everything at the consumer or enterprises’ fingertips, there is presumably little reason to flock to a competitor.

Survival in the Coherence Economy

At the surface, organizations might believe that the Coherence Economy centers on a robust technology strategy, but often this is not the case. With the market moving at an accelerated speed, there is no time nor money to own it all. One way that organizations have discovered for managing this challenge is to adopt application programming interfaces, or APIs.

You can think of APIs in terms of partnership. For example, social networking giant Facebook leverages APIs from a variety of media partners to provide extensibility to its platform, offering services and solutions such as games and productivity. APIs are leveraged even in supposedly competitive situations. One such example are Netflix and AWS – even though Amazon has a video service that directly competes with Netflix, the sharing of video API technology creates a more competitive marketplace for entertainment.

In looking at the future of this economy, there are nearly 20,000 usable APIs on the market today, so you could say the Coherence Economy has already arrived. With so many organizations dependent on one another to maintain a level of innovation, the future of business lies in leadership’s ability to identify potential partnerships to create customer experiences together.

In this case, you still will not need a travel agent for your next vacation, but you might have many organizations working together to help you get your rest and relaxation.

Learn More

Do APIs intrigue you in their value for your organization? Speak with one of our specialists at www.perficient.com today and download our API Healthcare guide below to explore one specific use case.

More business is moving online and IBM has noticed, recenltly updating WebSphere Commerce to provide greater flexibility and scalability while reducing the total cost of ownership for implementation. Modularized into loosely coupled components (otherwise known as microservices), these new innovations remove the need of managing and tuning a singular application, resulting in greater customization opportunities.

Here are some of the highlights included in this latest update:

• Improved performance, agility, and scalability with Docker.
• Improved store presentation. Brands can additionally leverage the Watson Content Hub to manage and edit a variety of digital assets.
• Technology innovation that lowers total cost of ownership.
• And much more! 

You can learn more on our Commerce blog, which includes all of the technical details and reasons for these implementations.

With this update, IBM has also announced the end-of-life for WebSphere Commerce V7 effective April 30, 2019. If you require assistance around an upgrade or implementation project, reach out to us for a conversation today.

Yesterday, we held a webinar where we discussed the state of Blockchain and how technology professionals should approach the nascent technology beyond the buzzword. Led by Naveen Sachdeva, Perficient’s solution director and blockchain practice lead, the webinar attracted over 600 attendees.

Here were some of the highlights:

Defining Blockchain

Many including the general public still don’t have an understanding of what blockchain is, often times confusing the technology with the cryptocurrencies commonly associated. In short, blockchain is a replicated, distributed ledger of transactions with entries referencing other data stores. In legal and business terms, this definition expands to include the parties involved.

Our tweets:

How do you define #blockchain? Naveen Sachveda looks at the #tech from a business, technical, and legal perspective, broken down here.

Learn more about how our blockchain work can help you achieve your goals: https://t.co/yRqBUM8ryj pic.twitter.com/5aS7A2xw1f

— Perficient Integrate (@PRFT_Integrate) April 3, 2018

#Blockchain characteristics serve everyone involved in the midst of a transaction. From a secure platform to complete visibility, nobody is left in the dark.

Looking for training? Check out our offerings and learn more: https://t.co/EWlxaksMHl pic.twitter.com/8lks9APAeL

— Perficient Integrate (@PRFT_Integrate) April 3, 2018

Blockchain Use Cases

At the heart of any technology adoption is the considerations for use cases. Given that the heart of blockchain involves transparency, communications, and records keeping, it’s no surprise that organizations from finance to healthcare to supply chain are exploring their options. Some of our customers whom we’ve been working with over the past few months have already seen blockchain benefits:

“One of our clients has reduced their supply chain from months to minutes using #blockchain. Participants are seeing the value – leveraging direct participation from all parties.” -Naveen Sachveda

— Perficient Integrate (@PRFT_Integrate) April 3, 2018

Blockchain even provides peace of mind in unexpected industries including business process management (BPM) use cases, where organizations can employ improved asset management.

In addition to the use cases we just showed, #blockchain also applies through asset management. That way, nobody feels like they lack visibility in any part of a transaction.

Learn more about #BPM and Blockchain in this blog post: https://t.co/VJtp1oRiCT pic.twitter.com/IkjcahRhTB

— Perficient Integrate (@PRFT_Integrate) April 3, 2018

Getting Started with Blockchain

With all noted popularity of blockchain, the next step is discovering how to get started. Like every technology, the key is to identify a scalable use case that the organization can pilot. Our tweets explain the step by step process and what makes a good use case:

Next, we’ll talk about getting started in #Blockchain, including identifying use cases. A good use case solves a business problem, leverages an identifiable business network, and requires trust.

Wondering how to get started? Learn about our work here: https://t.co/yRqBUM8ryj pic.twitter.com/2cmU2t7BbH

— Perficient Integrate (@PRFT_Integrate) April 3, 2018

What makes a good first #blockchain use case? A minimum viable product.

“You start small, look for low hanging fruit… you just need key stakeholders there who are innovative in nature.” -Naveen Sachveda

— Perficient Integrate (@PRFT_Integrate) April 3, 2018

With research firm IDC predicting blockchain spending to grow to $9.7 billion in 2021 and leveraging use cases in post-trade tracking, shipment management, and records compliance, the potential for innovation is high.

Going From Here

Blockchain interest will continue to grow in the months ahead and promises to change how organizations conduct business. If you have any questions about blockchain, check out our practice page here or stay tuned for more blogs.

Our partner Dell Boomi recently released a report concerning the case for a connected business. In the report, they polled a number of IT professionals regarding the impact of integration on their business. Some of the answers included:

• 89% of organizations suffer drawbacks from poor integration
• 59% of integration professionals say poor integration is their Achilles Heel

However drastic this news sounds, it’s not all bad. The survey also showed that organizations who have successfully implemented integration solutions are seeing the benefits, with three-quarters of respondents seeing acceleration in their businesses, including increased revenue.

The impetus for the connected business is part of a greater transformation occurring in the office. As integration becomes more mainstream, it joins its counterparts in the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cognitive, robotic process automation (RPA), and human-centric business process management (BPM). With integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) serving as a major connector between these nascent technologies and legacy systems, innovative organizations will be able to pull additional customer data unseen before to drive better business decisions. The authors of Boomi’s study also points out that “new disruptive technologies are being constantly introduced to the workplace, with organizations in all sectors and industries fighting to keep up and remain competitive. The fact of the matter is we now live in a connected digital world; ultimately it takes a connected business to succeed.”

With these considerations in mind, what is your organization doing to move forward? Read more at the Dell Boomi Blog and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Get Started with Integration

Is your organization looking to connect in the digital ecosystem? Learn more by downloading our iPaaS guide today for more information.

We are no strangers to Salesforce and MuleSoft, working in tandem with both partners to achieve integration success with our customers across a variety of industries. As the dust finally settling on Salesforce’s monumental $6.5 billion dollar acquisition of MuleSoft, we wanted to also acknowledge what this means for the industry now and going forward.

In today’s business, the right technology assets drive bottom line success. Application programming interfaces (APIs) have emerged as a fundamental tool as a part of the journey, starting with Google’s acquisition of Apigee in late 2016. What does the more recent acquisition entail for the market?

For Salesforce, continued innovation is a critical piece of their product portfolio. In just the week since announcing the acquisition, the company introduced Integration Cloud, consisting of:

• Integration Platform, which will run on software developed by MuleSoft.
• Integration Builder, which allows for a complete picture of a customer across all their enterprise data repositories.
• Integration Experiences, designed to help organizations build customized experiences.

According to Salesforce COO Keith Block, “This is thinking about the next 10 years”, as organizations attempt to move forward from their frustrations caused by locked legacy data.

For MuleSoft, this acquisition serves as a validation of their work in the API space on the heels of a successful IPO early last year, while increasing the adoption and visibility of APIs overall.  Gartner’s Full Lifecycle API Management and Enterprise iPaaS reports peg MuleSoft as an industry leader, with companies such as Netflix, Target, and Verizon trusting its offerings to extend applications and add further value to data.

Director of the IoT & Connectivity practice at Perficient, Annel Adzem, says, “It’s the largest deal in Salesforce’s 19 year history, so it speaks volumes to the importance of APIs and unlocking data. Salesforce can offer a complete solution to their customers and address integration needs.”

From a greater market perspective, this acquisition will likely stir up greater competition in the integration market, already valued at $25-30 billion and expected to grow annually by 25% according to figures from the Cleveland Research Company.

The Road from Here

We are partnered with both Salesforce and MuleSoft, our expertise is here for you as you make sense of your API and customer management needs. You can leverage the following resources to understand our capabilities and reach out to an expert who can answer your questions.

• Perficient Salesforce Blog
• Our Salesforce Partnership
• Blogs about API Management
• Getting Started with API Management

One of the mysteries of blockchain lies in its industry applications. While many understand its usage in banking for secure, untampered transactions, innovators are looking to other industries for practical use too, particularly in recording and verifying a high volume of transactions.

Here are some less common areas that stand to gain from the influence of blockchain:

• Real Estate is an area ripe for technology disruption from blockchain, with transactions and document management at the center. With many parties taking on a transaction at once, blockchain’s presence will ensure that everyone is on the same page, speeding up the home purchasing process. Furthermore, blockchain will also reduce the risk of fraud and theft while also eliminating intermediaries.
• Healthcare is a lot like real estate, with significant amounts of data created by both the patient and doctor. With blockchain, patients stand to gain the most by acquiring control of their healthcare data and experiencing peace-of-mind with increased security and privacy. With patients, medical institutions, and doctors all privy to the same information, everyone will be on the same page, reducing the odds of medical error and miscommunication.
• Human resources (HR) operations are significantly more active these days with a booming economy, and many departments are strapped for time in verifying the qualifications of candidates and making payroll, particularly for international candidates. Blockchain applications will benefit HR by accelerating the verification of credentials and overcoming the complexity of payroll by making possible easier and more efficient payments.
• Education has long been craving innovation, something that blockchain can offer with respect to records keeping management including keeping track of learning achievements, transferring credits, and proving of credentials. No longer will employers need to worry about an applicant lying about a degree on their resume, since the blockchain will show proof.
• Retail is going through a transformation phase, especially as consumers take their business online. On the front-end, blockchain enables retailers to offer alternative payment methods for purchases. On the back end, blockchain supports supply chain operations by offering all parties in the process the visibility needed around updates such as the status of inventory.  

With blockchain, the possibilities for innovation are endless no matter what industry you work. If you’re curious about how you can leverage the security and agility of such innovations in your industry, join us next week by signing up for the webinar below.

See you there!

For the modern consumer, having a cold soda with a burger and fries no longer ends at the conclusion of the meal. In reality, the customer experience is just beginning, since the most frenzied of fans can now connect with one another through mobile applications, social media, fan experiences, and more.

With customers desiring more from their experiences, one leading beverage firm reached out to Perficient to discover customer insights through their legacy database. We implemented an iPaaS solution to expose data to the cloud, including through their customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

With an iPaaS solution in place, the organization now has marketing and customer data in the cloud and can better understand upcoming business decisions.

Discover how iPaaS can Help You Capture the Customer

Are you looking to get more out of your customer data? See how iPaaS can help you achieve your business goals by talking to one of our specialists at www.perficient.com. Additionally, download our guide, “3 Ways to Jumpstart Your iPaaS Program” below.

Perficient Digital was just named IBM’s 2018 WCE Partner of the Year for Commerce. The IBM Excellence Award, announced yesterday during IBM’s PartnerWorld at Think 2018, recognizes our ongoing growth and relationships with key customers, and thought leadership around the IBM Watson Customer Engagement Commerce platform.

In today’s businesses, the experience companies provide their customers will continue to drive loyalty. Commerce solutions are increasingly becoming a key element to a company’s success in delivering on the customer experience.

“Quite simply, the online experience your brand provides to its customers can very well make or break your business,” said Steve Gatto, national sales director for Perficient Digital’s Commerce Solutions Practice. “We’re fortunate to have the depth and breadth of skills and expertise within the IBM Watson Customer Engagement platform to bring to market leading-edge commerce solutions that transform our customers’ businesses in a way that not only drives sales but strengthens their overall brand. Our approach to commerce is focused on crafting a journey, connecting with customers, and delivering a seamless customer experience across channels and throughout the enterprise. And we continually optimize and evolve our offerings to keep customers at the top of their game.”

Most recently, a global manufacturing company embarked on a rebrand to better meet the needs of its customers while also streamlining operations, reducing costs, and providing a seamless and consistent online experience. The company partnered with us to guide it through its technical implementation of an integrated eCommerce solution across all its business units.

Together, we helped bring the manufacturing company’s business strategy to fruition through a robust commerce approach, launching a unified content-driven commerce platform and providing the infrastructure, governance, development and on-going support for the implementation of a new global website, which was tightly integrated with IBM Commerce, to provide an engaging and robust B2B brand experience for its customers worldwide.

“Strategic, optimized and holistic commerce solutions are a critical element to successful digital transformations,” said Sameer Peera, general manager for Perficient Digital’s Commerce Solutions Practice. “Being named IBM’s WCE Commerce Partner of the Year is an incredible honor as it recognizes the work we’ve done in delivering end-to-end commerce solutions that go beyond transactions and extend throughout the entire customer lifecycle. We’ve witnessed some incredible transformations along the way, enabling innovation and empowering growth for our clients as they deliver seamless, consistent brand experiences to their customers.”

As a Platinum IBM Business Partner, we hold more than 30 awards across our 20-year partnership history, most recently receiving the 2017 IBM Beacon Award for Outstanding Watson Solution.

Read more about our Commerce work at our blog.