Integration Platforms as a Service: the foundation of cloud services and the democratization of integration
In today’s rapidly evolving IT environment, Integration Platforms as a Service (iPaaS) are becoming a core element of successful enterprise IT environments. iPaaS is becoming the centre of gravity for cloud solutions, especially in terms of connecting disparate systems, exchanging data and ensuring security. At the same time, iPaaS makes extensive use of the principle of IT democratization and does not require the involvement of integration experts to handle common application integration tasks. In the end, you’ll probably find that you need iPaaS without even knowing it.
Companies that have adopted iPaaS have seen up to a 50% increase of productivity in the delivery of integration services.
Source: Gartner
One of the main advantages of iPaaS is the ability to solve application integration without having to master complex code. This is called the no-code and low-code approach. Thanks to this, the configuration and modification of integration services can be handled even by instructed users (the term citizen integrator is used), which significantly reduces development costs. According to research by the Gartner analytics firm, companies that have adopted iPaaS have seen up to a 50% increase of productivity in the delivery of integration services. Democratization also naturally supports agile development because it facilitates the distribution of the integration agenda to agile teams. Most importantly, integration experts are expensive, scarce in today’s labour market and thus usually overloaded due to the sheer volume of work. This way, iPaaS can almost do without them.
Few can navigate the fragmented iPaaS market
Trask focuses on introducing iPaaS to specific companies. Although basic tasks can be handled by the average user, more complex tasks still require experts like those at Trask. Our company also handles the architecture, proper integration of iPaaS into the overall application environment, governance and training on how to use iPaaS correctly. Although iPaaS includes components for easy integration to many widely used cloud services and technologies (Salesforce, SAP and similar), it is also possible to design and develop your own components in addition to the official ones. An integration programmer is usually already needed to implement the actual component – the connector.
One of the greatest advantages of iPaaS is the ability to start development almost immediately after ordering the service and ensuring platform operation by the iPaaS provider. Often, it is not necessary to install anything on the client side (everything runs in the cloud), which significantly reduces the clients’ cost of operating and supporting the integration platform. These costs are not insignificant, because the integration platforms are critical elements and support alone is usually required 24/7. iPaaS providers provide regular updates that include security patches as well as various enhancements and connector additions. All this is usually done in a completely transparent manner and without downtime. The frequency of iPaaS updates varies, but it’s not uncommon for updates to occur several times a month. That’s a huge speed-up compared to the classic on-prem solution update cycle.
The iPaaS market has grown 40 percent in the last year alone, to an estimated more than $6 billion, making it the fastest growing segment in the integration business. It should also be mentioned that the market is very fragmented. The largest vendors have only a few percent of the market, which means a lot of competition between a vast number of different solutions. Some large vendors have iPaaS as a complement to their core business, such as Salesforce and MuleSoft. Others are developing more versatile solutions that specialize in a wider range of integration and automation functionalities, such as Workato (which also includes Robotic Process Automation – RPA) and Boomi. However, selecting a suitable solution from such a large range is very difficult without integration experts.
Do you want a cloud? Consider adopting an iPaaS as well
Our clients don’t usually come in wanting iPaaS straight away. Rather, they are thinking about how to build their business in a cloud. A systematic and effective grasp of the integration domain in a cloud using iPaaS is among their considerations. The benefit is that iPaaS usually enables a hybrid mode of operation, which is suitable for the transition period when part of the solution is still running on-prem and part is already in the cloud. The speed at which SaaS and on-prem services can be integrated using iPaaS is unrivalled.
It is important to mention that advanced and mature iPaaS meet all security and regulatory requirements, which is one of the essential requirements for the banking segment, for example. In the case of hybrid architectures, where iPaaS partially runs in an on-prem environment, it is ensured that the transmitted data remain in the customer’s environment and only operational statistics are delivered to the cloud. Customer data security is thus one of the priorities of iPaaS solutions.
iPaaS, by its very nature as a cloud service, enables CIOs to respond quickly to change in a world where uncertainty is becoming the norm.
Author
As the Senior Manager of Integration Services at Trask, he is leading a team of 40 integration specialists, including analysts, developers, and testers. His role often involves serving as a project lead or integration architect on multiple projects, typically for banking clients. Available to help you at mcitron@thetrask.com
