When applications with built-in links involve more robust features, a small amount of training is usually required for easy use. With differing applications that have robust features, this can be a little more difficult but certainly manageable. With this option there may be some simple coding that's necessary, but it's easier than creating an application from scratch that will do this for you. For applications without an API, another option is a third-party product. This option usually involves an investment of time and money, but often allows a company to have a fully functional enterprise system that's tailored to its needs.
Many companies use one application for scheduling and another for financial information.
While the scheduling application may have an area that tracks time and resource rates, this same information may already be included in the financial application. Without a direct link between the two, users must input the data twice, creating more work and the possibility of user error in one of the applications. A direct link also helps alleviate confusion resulting from resource rate changes or resource eliminations, since this information now only needs to be updated once. With a direct link between both applications, the information is simply input once and used by each application simultaneously, while the accuracy of the data remains unaffected in both. The same type of link can also work between a scheduling application and a contract control application.