Organizations face a tremendous challenge in integrating multiple information systems and extracting visibility across the enterprise, says Constantine Limberakis, vice president of product marketing with PartnerLinQ.

Companies typically undergo a constant process of selecting various information systems to manage their supply chains. The challenge lies in making all of those applications communicate smoothly and efficiently. “It’s about the ability to understand what those data models look like,” Limberakis says. “You’re trying to create a uniform message and nomenclature to help you better understand what’s going on in your operation.”

The goal is to create one data model that can incorporate information from multiple applications, whether newly implemented, acquired through a merger or acquisition, or a legacy system that’s too expensive to scrap. Companies seek a state of data “normalization” that can be accessed not just internally, but with key business partners, buyers, suppliers and intermediaries. “A canonical model guarantees having that information available,” Limberakis says. “And you’re making sure that you can also use that data later on to build intelligence.”

It's not that easy, however, to extract visibility from all of the systems that make up a technology stack for the supply chain. A global company might have multiple instances of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application — never mind the collection of systems for running warehousing, transportation, order fulfillment and the like. “The pulse of business is not going to stop when you acquire a new company or go to a new geography,” Limberakis says. “All systems have to communicate at the pace of business while you’re trying on onramp them and make sure the data is integrating.”

The answer goes back to having a single platform for normalizing the process and ensuring that information is properly flowing across the supply chain, Limberakis says.

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