The Digital Twin and API Enablement of Application Portfolio

Introduction

In the modern digital age, the Digital Twin is being used to transform customer experience and serves as a digital replica connecting processes, people, places, systems, and devices that can be used for various purposes. While there have been numerous literature on Digital Twin implementation and the benefits surrounding it, this blog focuses on the behind the scenes (backend) of these digital transformations.

Digital Twins

In a digital world, the digital nuances of seamlessly switching between customer channels (Chat, Mobile, Web, POS, Emails, Physical Mails, Sales, Shipment, Physical Interactions, etc.) are enabled by the integration of common API backends of all these systems. While the security and other integration challenges are important considerations, the single most important aspect for a successful OMNI Channel rollout may be the enablement of smooth data communication between systems and devices over various business processes. For Digital Twins (Virtual Office, Virtual Bots, Chat Bots, etc.), this may be even more applicable due to faster customer interaction experience requirements.

Need of Faster Data Retrieval across Processes and Systems

Unlike the physical disconnected world, Digital Twins being virtual replicas for digital enabled businesses (Airlines, Banking, Retail, Travel, Education, etc. for that matter any B2C business processes), can enable the best customer experience when the data communication is fast, seamless and integrated. This can create smoother customer experiences as if moving virtually across the business processes of customer point of contacts even better than the physical world.

Challenges of Faster Data Communication across Processes and Systems

Most of the commercial digital solutions supports inbuilt (and configurable) digital processes pre-integrated with their digital platforms (CRM, Sales, Marketing, etc.) and transactional systems (ERP, etc.). A few also support integration of these Digital Platforms with the overall portfolio custom applications over their or 3^rd party integration platforms.

The challenges lie in portfolio legacy applications which were created without taking these solutions into consideration and are not integration/API ready.

API as an Enabler for Faster Data Retrieval across Processes and Systems

While on the private cloud, public cloud or hybrid cloud, we have commercial digital platforms for seamless integration with various transactional systems, but the lack of API readiness of legacy applications pose a challenge for seamless data communication across business processes over systems, applications and devices. This may impact overall the digital journey of business organizations and certainly impact Digital Twins in a big way due to the break of communication in business processes. A typical impact of this can be observed in low cost/ad hoc Digital Twins (Virtual Office/ Virtual Bots /Chat Bots, etc.) where communication with a Digital Twin may end abruptly with a promise to the digital customer for a future revert which may be followed by human calls/emails/interactions impacting the Customer Experience.

Importance of Automation in API Enablement of Application Portfolio

As described in the previous sections, Digital Twins may be the user interface for better customer experience for a Digital Business Organization, but the seamless data communication across business processes over all systems, applications, technology and devices may enable a transformed customer experience. This may require all systems and applications to be API Enabled.

These APIs can be business API, data API, etc. but in case these are ad-hoc and not planned properly, they may become bottlenecks in the seamless data communication for a truly enhanced Customer Experience. Below are some of the reasons why such API Enablement may need automation:

• For a large application portfolio cloud migration, enabling API-enabled service end points for each application is no trivial work
• Enabling API of non-cloud ready applications may require heavy code refactoring
• Integrating the APIs with interfaces may require significant time and effort

At Hexaware, our application cloud migration “Center of Excellence” continuously analyzes application cloud migration market trends. After consulting with the decision-makers of our large clients and rigorous R&D, we have come up with an enterprise cloud adoption & API Enablement product suite “Amaze^TM for Applications”. It uses AI, pattern-matching, and automation, and can automate cloud migration & API Enablement of legacy on-premise monolithic applications to cloud-native applications on any cloud for various industry sub-verticals like banking, capital markets, airlines, P&C, insurance, etc. It can help to transform business models as well as industry landscapes.

Reference:

Case Study 1:

https://hexaware.com/resource/achieved-50-tco-reduction-in-cloud-replatforming/

Case Study 2:

https://hexaware.com/resource/application-cloud-migration-with-amaze/

For more information, please write to marketing@hexaware.com