Case Summary
Finding simplicity in a service-oriented approach
“Learning technology sits inside silos in many companies, making costs unnecessarily high. But by implementing application middleware, Expertus removed much of the complexity and cost from our LMS integration process.”
− Director of Learning Services, leading software company
Challenge
The learning systems infrastructure at a Global 2000 software company was increasingly mired in a tangle of point-to-point integrations. The company needed a more flexible scheme, with potential to interoperate across enterprise functions.
Top Priorities:
Reduce integration complexity
Trim the high cost of system maintenance
Remove risks associated with deploying upgrades, enhancements and customizations
Key Issues:
The company’s LMS was connected with 12 different systems, requiring 12 separate application programming interfaces (APIs). Any significant LMS upgrade triggered a wave of issues for every other point of integration.
Solution
Working closely with the company’s IT staff, Expertus implemented a services-oriented architecture based on a central, standard “plug-and-play” API. Relying on this single middleware layer, applications can now communicate with one another in a highly flexible, efficient learning services architecture.
Impact
This flexible architecture provided multiple benefits…
Better leverage of existing technologies
Faster response to business requirements
Decreased IT labor and time-to-deployment − leading to reduced costs
Increased protection of IT assets through industry-standard interfaces
