Whether your e-commerce site is being developed by contractors or your internal IT team, there are good reasons to care about how it's connected to your other business systems. All integrations are not alike. Some are sleek -- some are tangled messes. What does your system look like under the hood?

The year is 2025. You're at the Detroit Auto Show. The internal combustion engine is on the decline, and alternative energy vehicles are no longer alternatives.

Walking the show floor, you're captivated by two apparently identical vehicles, parked side by side. Both are ruby red. Both have classic lines that scream performance.

However, it's the engineering and extreme performance under the hood that real car aficionados desire -- and when you pop open both hoods, the differences are startling.

The first vehicle's engine compartment is a mess of exposed machinery. Traditional in its design, every component is clearly custom fitted. Pipes, wires, belts and rods are visible everywhere. To replace a component requires a mechanic certified for the vehicle make and model.

The second car couldn't be more different. Opening the hood reveals what appears to be a sealed black box. On closer inspection, you see each engine component is itself a sealed black box, but smaller. Each has a handle, a latch, and is labeled with a function: CPU, fuse block, motor controller, DC fan, tach and more.

A turn of the latch frees a component, which slides out easily for replacement or upgrade. Each component has a standardized connector that allows any compatibile device to be used. Components can be swapped in minutes by any mechanic, even trainees.

By Krish Khambadkone