ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Integration platform

An integration platform is like a big box of Legos. Imagine you have a lot of different types of Legos that you want to connect together to make one big Lego creation. But some of these Legos might not fit together right away because they are different colors or shapes.

An integration platform is like a giant play mat that helps you connect all your different Legos together even if they don't match perfectly. It helps translate the different types of Legos into a common language so that they can work together. In the same way, an integration platform helps different software applications talk to each other even if they were written in different languages or use different data formats.

For example, imagine you have two computer programs that you use for work: one program keeps track of customer orders, and the other makes payments to your vendors. You want these two programs to work together to make sure you don't pay for the same order twice. But every time you try to send information from one program to another, the information doesn't quite match up.

So, you use an integration platform to help the two programs communicate. The platform translates the different types of data from each program into a common format so that they can understand each other. It might also help automate certain tasks, like making payments or updating customer orders. Basically, an integration platform helps you connect different software applications so that they can work together and make your life easier.