Gartner defines an integration platform as a service (iPaaS), a.k.a. “Enterprise iPaaS” (EiPaaS), as “a suite of cloud services enabling development, execution and governance of integration flows connecting any combination of on premises and cloud-based processes, services, applications and data within individual or across multiple organizations.”
While the definition is sound, it perhaps misses a key criterion: the need for integration flexibility and scalability which underpins the core meaning of iPaaS compared to traditional robotic process automation (RPA). Enterprise iPaaS comes with cloud-based data exchange and service management tools, combined with ready-made workflows and templates. iPaaS is not a new concept or solution; it has been around enabling enterprise platform integration for over a decade.
Broadly speaking, automation is about making business processes simpler and more efficient. RPA contributes to the democratization of user process automation to drive resource efficiency. iPaaS is set to democratize API-based enterprise integration—making integration more cost-effective to deploy and maintain across applications.
In this post, I discuss how iPaaS contributes to integrating business capabilities across the wider enterprise, as an effective mean to build scalable digital threads.
Cloud-based solution adoption is a hot topic when it comes to enterprise platforms, from small organizations and start-ups to established global businesses. Software as a service (SaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) are not only technology or infrastructure solutions. These bring together new business models and operating opportunities—further driving value realization in terms of scalability, low entry barriers, flexible adoption, proven security, global accessibility, maintainability and greater cross-functional collaboration.
Many organizations have adopted several SaaS solutions as part of their enterprise landscape, from Fintech, Martech, to PLM-tech, ERP, MES, integrating other technologies and capabilities (AI, ML, analytics, low code, and more). Typical SaaS and PaaS discussions cover topics such as:
- Global accessibility, performance, extensibility and security.
- Level of configurability, adaptation and how to govern customizations to ensure future upgradability, maintaining transparence of total cost of ownership.
- Data migration and extraction tools and processes.
- Embedded business analytics and industry best practices.
- Openness level, ability to automate and integrate with other platforms, using the relevant APIs and protocols.
Two decades ago, the Prostep iViP (integrated virtual product) Association initiated discussions across an industrial consortium to develop standard approaches to end-to-end process, system and data integration—under the banner “Code of PLM Openness.” The initiative focuses on data exchange standards and value streams. Configurable connectivity is a critical enabler to robust integration use cases for data sharing and re-use across enterprise platforms.
Now, data connectivity implies logical data model mapping, translation, transformation, packaging and transmission through the relevant middleware and distribution queues. iPaaS comes into perspective as the accelerator for digital integration, bringing together technical agility and business empowerment when it comes to integration and data migration business scenarios.
In September 2021, Gartner ranked 17 vendors in their Magic Quadrant for iPaaS, namely: Boomi, Celigo, Huawei, IBM, Informatica, Integromat, Jitterbit, Microsoft, MuleSoft, Oracle, SAP, SnapLogic, Software AG, Talend, TIBCO Software, Tray.io and Workato. As reported, the exhaustive selection criteria included cloud services, technical abilities for high-availability, security, SLAs, data quality and sharing features, API-based integration, connectivity administrative features, including service contract implementation tools, such as batch execution, triggers, batch and other message management capabilities.
From a business value perspective, iPaaS is not only about automation or integration. iPaaS is about business outcomes and the ability to cover a wide range of use cases and configurability towards enhanced or new operations and business models. Expected business outcomes from iPaaS include a combination of benefits:
- Balancing integration stability and control across core systems of record and enterprise digital platforms.
- Providing low code/no code configurability providing access to new data interpretation opportunities, fostering rapid data transformation and effective consumption.
- Bridging modern platforms and legacy applications (mitigating bi-modal IT challenges in managing obsolescence, facilitating cloud transitions with overlay strategies, allowing for transient data coexistence and associated risk mitigations).
- Shifting from point solutions to service-driven value streams.
- Transforming integration IT infrastructure and service models.
- Driving data connectivity, cross-functional analytics across multiple data sources, towards better decision-making and end-to-end quality improvement.
- Protecting organizations against technological churn, technical debt and eroding business value.
- Reducing dependency on hard-to-hire skills and talents, transitioning to service level support models.
- Keeping current with seamless upgrades and evolutions, realizing value from ongoing maintenance and enhancements.
- Leveraging AI and ML capabilities in interpreting data through centralized and decentralized consumption model.
Having said that, iPaaS is for sure no silver bullet when it comes to making integration simpler and easier to maintain. Nevertheless, it provides opportunities for greater control and rationalization—pending a clear and consistent enterprise architecture coordination and governance between user-driven RPAs and enterprise level platform integrations.
Finally, enterprise platform vendors (PLM, ERP, MES, CRM, and more) can use iPaaS approaches as a positive selling point when positioning their competitive advantage to prospects. It is important for them to align to third-party iPaaS solutions and standards, making the necessary APIs available in the relevant format for effective integration (e.g., REST APIs, GraphQL, etc.). Software editors can also drive new opportunities in making their legacy applications compatible with such API advances to facilitate backward and upward integration, as well as enabling seamless data coexistence towards cloud-based platforms and building effective digital threads.
What are your thoughts?