Nowadays, organizations can use iPaaS products (Integration Platform as a Service) to create anything in the cloud - including the network itself. With the increasing availability and reliability of the cloud, some companies are turning completely to integrated platform services.
With Dell Boomi, IFS customers have the choice - your choice!
Here are a few examples of how innovative companies of all sizes are using iPaaS technologies:
Self-service data preparation including integration flows. This includes creating reusable data preparation processes that provide data for self-service analysis and BI tools.
B2B data exchange for secure data flows within partner networks. This way it is no longer necessary to write code based on APIs. It also accelerates the onboarding of customers and partners.
Sales lead management functions. These functions capture the contact details of participants in live or online events and integrate them into a CMS or marketing automation platform at lightning speed.
Use of cloud technologies. This helps streamline complex integration flows, improve resource management, reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Embedded integration products. This allows customers to solve straightforward data synchronization and migration tasks without the help of IT.
Full-featured iPaaS solutions like Dell Boomi bring together multiple tools and services within a service-oriented architecture (SOA) where infrastructure, software, data and other processes interact in a responsive ecosystem. For ease of control, everything is displayed on a single console. This makes it easy for organizations to share resources and information across applications, incorporate improvements on the fly, and roll out products much faster than it would be possible without cloud integration platforms.
iPaaS and multi-client capability
Another advantage of iPaaS is the simplified multi-client capability for software. In previous cloud design models, a separate instance of a running software application was implemented each time interaction with a customer or client was required. So when a thousand customers were interacting with an environment simultaneously, a thousand instances of software were needed.
With multi-tenant software, however, a single instance can share resources on iPaaS and serve clients around the globe. This single instance also serves as a central point for updates and changes, so minor adjustments do not require extensive rollouts across the enterprise. Multi-tenancy can significantly reduce network expenses and further lower the total cost of ownership.
Four important features that no iPaaS solution should miss:
The platform and tools chosen for a data warehouse ultimately determine the extent to which it can grow and how efficiently it can grow. Although the cloud offers infinite possibilities for the use and integration of data - or maybe just because of that - it is no easy task to choose the right partner and tools from the many possible options. Make sure your solution offers these four features:
Easy manageable virtual infrastructure:
Versatile iPaaS providers enable seamless integration with a locally hosted virtual architecture or with leading cloud platforms such as AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Cloudera Altus, Snowflake, and Salesforce. Regardless of the current design, an iPaaS solution should initially enable hosting and allow the use of other cloud technologies without sacrificing manageability.
Data warehousing and integration:
Business intelligence can mean the difference between business success or loss. The chosen platform should therefore be able to deliver data to applications, data stores, etc. in near real-time. A flexible iPaaS solution that can reliably handle the ever-growing hot or cold work data will be a fundamental requirement for future networks.
Application development and continuous delivery:
An iPaaS solution should allow development teams to do in-house development or use cloud tools to build, integrate and deploy applications across the enterprise. With secure, scalable applications that run in all major environments, testing and deployment can be automated to accelerate time to market and maximize the potential of the development team.
Security and compliance:
The right iPaaS partner provides critical security features such as fraud detection, real-time intrusion alerts and actions, and clear audit and reporting screens. In addition, iPaaS should ensure compliance with industry standards such as the Payment Card Security Standards Council and DSGVO. By conducting mandatory audits and visualizing threats on iPaaS-based interfaces, not only is the burden on internal IT significantly reduced - cloud integration is also made much easier.
When choosing the right iPaaS solution, you should ensure that it provides a solid foundation for an infinitely scalable enterprise and solves the most difficult data integration/business intelligence challenges with the smallest possible budget.
iPaaS vs. ESB
Just like iPaaS, electronic service bus (ESB) systems provide a middleware layer to manage and deliver data and application components across the enterprise. ESB solutions are implemented locally and serve to integrate data. Thus, they also enable environments that have many similarities to hybrid cloud solutions.
However, there are also many important differences. If we consider ESB as the foundation for the current iPaaS, this new generation of cloud integration platforms offers many different features that previous generations lack. Among others, these include:
Remote hosting: ESBs are typically local solutions that act as an additional layer between local data and services and the cloud. An iPaaS, on the other hand, runs in the cloud, either completely or in a hybrid environment where management tools are hosted remotely rather than locally.
Multi-client capability: This important advantage of modern app development is not offered by ESB platforms, as they are not able to host multiple users using single software instances. Without multi-client capability, organizations lack one of the most powerful innovative technologies in software design and implementation.
SaaS processes: ESB systems can be modified with middleware to enable integration with a cloud-based SaaS solution. This allows organizations with lower overall requirements and existing ESB investments to take advantage of SaaS. However, ESBs are considered more "cloud-ready" than a platform for true cloud integration - so it's likely that new applications and services that use the cloud as their standard are increasingly difficult to manage through ESB platforms.
User-defined coding requirements: While iPaaS is a hosted service that automatically applies updates, security fixes, and other optimizations in an environment, traditional ESB platforms are not as responsive to changes in remote services as SaaS. As a result, IT can quickly become overwhelmed with patching and troubleshooting. In fact, maintenance costs can rise by up to 200% due to inappropriate coding tools.
Real-time reactions: Like business, network threats occur in real time. Modern iPaaS solutions bridge the gap between data collection and real-time business intelligence, enabling companies to move from reactive to proactive business intelligence. New service areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) require users to connect directly to their devices - delays in data integration automatically mean poorer service. In the future, the market will not tolerate data integration that is not nearly real-time based. As a result, iPaaS is well on the way to becoming the standard operating platform.
For organizations that need to scale, or new CIOs who need to choose a data integration architecture, iPaaS is probably the best option.
Getting started with iPaaS
Many companies today are struggling to find the right solutions for hosting, developing and integrating cloud data and applications. We provide these organizations with the data agility they need to master the challenges of today and tomorrow.
Get started today with a Dell Boomi workshop with us as a Dell Boomi Partner and learn how Boomi's centralized GUI management platform simplifies infrastructure management, turns your Big Data into valuable business information, demystifies security and risk management compliance and much more!
