The question is not whether an organization’s systems and business processes should be kept on premises or in the cloud, but rather what mix of enterprise and cloud-based apps should be in place to promote business-oriented outcomes best. However, in order to successfully integrate on-premise and cloud applications, a corporation must have the right cloud integration technologies in place.
And this is where a cloud integration platform may help. The cloud opens a world of possibilities, but many businesses have discovered that integrating it with legacy software is far more challenging than they imagined. Fortunately, cloud integration services are improving, with specialized cloud integration platforms that incorporate as-a-service capabilities tailored to solve specific hybrid integration difficulties.
A Cloud Integration Explained
Cloud integration is a set of tools and technologies that allow real-time data and process exchange between diverse applications, systems, repositories, and IT environments. At its most basic level, cloud integration entails bringing together several cloud environments—either in a hybrid deployment or as numerous public clouds—so that they may function as a single, unified IT infrastructure for an organization.
The data and integrated cloud services can then be accessible by numerous devices across a network or the internet once they have been joined.
The Rising Demand for Cloud Integration
According to a 2018 report by Research and Markets, the market for hybrid cloud integration platforms is predicted to develop at a 14 percent compound yearly growth rate between 2018 and 2023. The factors that drive this behavior are numerous and diverse. Some businesses want to employ integrated resources to support real-time apps and services, while others want to boost automation capabilities for back-office and customer-facing platforms. Also, integrated clouds better support mobile apps and give a broader range of deployment and scalability choices.
What is a Cloud Integration Platform?
In the application, integration, and middleware technology sector, a cloud integration platform is frequently referred to as: integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS). A cloud integration vendor generally sells an enterprise solution that combines local data, files, and on-premise applications with cloud-hosted data and systems. Importantly, a cloud integration platform offers automated tools for connecting software applications, regardless of their deployment environment.
Cloud integration systems also offer a single portal for managing, governing, and integrating cloud-based applications, as well as tools for connecting cloud applications and services and controlling integration flow. A cloud integration platform can be used for a variety of purposes, including scalability, product functionality, data security, trading partner (B2B/EDI), and application integration.
Types of Cloud Integration
An IT team can deploy cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-on-premises, or a hybrid of the two types of integrations. Either of these entails data and applications, but they may also include services and systems.
The following are some of the most prevalent forms used by businesses:
Cloud Data Integration: Entails a link that is entirely data-related. Allows data to flow seamlessly between multiple repositories. During integration, data is processed, transferred, and transformed in batches or in real-time.
Cloud Application Integration: Brings together a variety of apps and guarantees that they remain interoperable and functional. It calls for app exchange requests, orders, and other procedures to initiate business actions.
Four Benefits of Cloud Integration
Data integration across cloud systems, as well as between cloud and on-premises systems, can provide numerous significant benefits:
- Synchronizing data: The process of ensuring that IT systems and applications that work with the same data or entities have a consistent view of the data and receive regular or real-time updates.
- Automate workflows: Integration can help automate organizational activities that involve manual data copying or entering, as well as standardize how data should be treated as it moves from one application to another.
- Remove redundant data: IT systems frequently store the same data several times for the benefit of different applications or organizational processes. Integration reduces utilization costs and synchronization efforts by eliminating duplications using a shared data repository.
- Flexibility and scalability: System integration gives operational employees many opportunities to improve procedures and develop new systems that can bring additional value to internal and external clients.
How Industry Leaders Leverage Cloud Integration Technology
The cloud integration platform business is booming; in fact the application integration technology market will increase at a rate of slightly over 34% year over year, an indication that the AIM field is booming. It is no wonder that businesses are searching for methods to take advantage of this in a variety of ways.
1. Business-to-Business Data Exchange
An enterprise can host its integration technology in the cloud rather than behind its firewall by using an iPaaS platform. This allows for seamless data management by enabling companies to get data in real-time—far faster than before—at the appropriate time and in the right place.
2. Offerings for Embedded Integration
Embedded integration technologies is another advanced cloud integration technique. When it comes to ensuring smooth data migration and integration between their services and clients, SaaS firms frequently struggle to find a means for their in-house private cloud technology to interact across corporate boundaries natively. The B2B tools and features that connect customer systems and build a secure data gateway are incorporated directly into a SaaS architecture with embedded integration capabilities. This results in a far more seamless client experience, with faster and more accurate data exchanges.
3. Collaboration and Cooperation
Because B2B ecosystems are growing faster than ever before, it is critical to be able to engage with a new partner or customer without delay. In a perfect world onboarding should take only a few hours. Cloud integration platform solutions, on the other hand, make this process more efficient than ever before. Using a cloud integration platform allows you to save time and resources and enabling faster time to value, regardless of what type of business processes and systems your partners and customers have.
4. Configuration
There will also be a point when you, your partners, or your customers will need to enable some form of change in your offerings. And, as a result, changes to your integration solutions will be required. A great cloud integration platform gives you complete control over your whole portfolio and allows you to make changes on the fly.
5. Save Money
Set up, management, and deployment of any type of integration is easier and significantly less expensive than recruiting additional full-time personnel to oversee an internal solution or to outsource everything to an IT specialist. Traditional integration requires that you make specific connections to third-party applications one at a time; costs escalate and systems become convoluted.
The Top Four Cloud Integration Platforms in 2021
The following is a look at some of the most popular integration platforms. All of these facilitate the integration of cloud-based applications and systems with domain-specific capabilities in the areas of ecosystem enablement, IoT, and mobility.
MuleSoftAnypoint: Provides a consolidated platform for managing all application programming interfaces (APIs) and integrations. It comes with several tools for creating, managing, and testing APIs. Data is protected, and access privileges are managed by edge gateways and encryption.
Boomi: Combines apps, data, and processes into a single platform. It provides data quality control, application integration, B2B network management, and the creation of workflows—with minimal code.
Informatica: Called the Intelligent Data Management Cloud, this platform allows you to take binary information and manipulate it creatively for a variety of business purposes and valuable insights. It is the only platform dedicated to managing all of your data—any type, pattern, complexity, or workload—across all of your locations, and it is powered by AI.
Jitterbit: Integrate SaaS, cloud, and on-premises apps with ease. Incorporate intelligence into any business operation in real time. Create new APIs from any existing enterprise application or data in a matter of minutes. To launch unique new solutions, combine them with external APIs.
Choose PreludeSys as Your Integration Partner
We provide industry-leading cloud integration services as a trusted cloud-based service provider. Gain complete visibility into your data as you scale cloud solutions and improve the ROI of your IT investment with the help of our cloud evangelists.
PreludeSys has partnered with all of the aforementioned cloud-service providers and will choose the one that best suits your needs. We take an unbiased approach to cloud integration that is genuinely beneficial for your enterprise.
Request a strategic consultation for your organization today to understand how you can receive maximum ROI through your integration.
If you have any other queries feel free to get in touch with us.
