iPaaS Solutions

It is increasingly commonplace for businesses to consume IT resources through an as-a-Service model, with software, infrastructure, databases, and other parts of the ecosystem being handled by third-party solutions. This is a key part of digital transformation.

This extends to e-commerce businesses, which often comprise complex matrices of first-party and third-party solutions working as a coherent system. This integration is crucial for success.

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) has gained traction in e-commerce. The iPaaS market is expected to exceed $9 billion in revenue by 2025, with significant year-over-year growth anticipated. iPaaS may be the perfect integration tool for e-commerce platforms looking to streamline integrations and scale effectively.

Why Enterprise Businesses Should Consider iPaaS

Cloud-based iPaaS platforms simplify the integration of applications and systems in real-time, reducing operational costs and improving business agility. Cloud integrations can also be low-code or no-code, making them an attractive solution for many e-commerce companies.

Service providers tracked by Gartner include: TIBCO Cloud Integration, SAP, Zapier, Snaplogic, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, MuleSoft Anypoint, and Informatica, among others.

Improved Scalability

iPaaS is designed to meet the scalability and agility demands of modern businesses. With iPaaS, a company can add or remove applications and systems as required, without disrupting operations. It enables businesses to scale out and in based on changing needs, allowing organizations to be more agile and respond quickly to market changes.

Easy for All Users to Engage

Applications and systems can be integrated without the need for coding or specialized technical expertise, allowing IT teams to self-service and focus on other critical tasks. This reduces the need for specialized resources, offering the added benefit of reduced costs. Many vendors include pre-built integrations or connectors that serve as templates, simplifying setup. The ease of use for many of these integration services is comparable to drag-and-drop functionality.

Better Connectivity

iPaaS easily integrates with a variety of cloud platforms (public, private, or hybrid), including Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). This allows businesses to leverage multiple clouds without worrying about compatibility problems, security issues, or vendor lock-in, reducing data silos and improving enterprise integrations of SaaS applications.

API Management Built In

As a business grows, the number of APIs and microservices accumulates, making management more difficult. iPaaS streamlines this process, making it easier to track every API operating within an ecosystem. Software like IBM App Connect can serve as middleware to simplify application integration.

Deep Data Integration

iPaaS platforms offer data management capabilities that go beyond simple integration, allowing organizations to automate data transformations, filtering, and routing to ensure data quality.

What to Look For in an iPaaS Vendor

With many vendors available, finding the perfect match requires careful consideration. Key factors to evaluate include:

• Best in Class Security: Data security is vital. Vendors should offer encryption, backups, and redundancy features for continuous availability. Compliance with regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA is also essential.
• Extensive API Management: The ability to manage connected, yet disparate, APIs is a primary reason to use iPaaS. Ensure the vendor supports all systems the company runs.
• Easy to Use Workflow Tools: An iPaaS solution should simplify processes. It should be easy to integrate the new platform and maximize its value quickly, including optimizing new and existing workflows.
• Guaranteed Data Delivery: Data must flow freely and consistently. A successful iPaaS platform ensures data moves seamlessly between systems, providing necessary inputs.
• Data Governance: Data must be fit for business use. Implementing guardrails to ensure data quality improves the entire e-commerce platform.
• Life Cycle Management: Consider how the platform handles the entire lifecycle of integrations.

Even with a seamless integration experience, issues can arise. Companies need responsive and reliable technical support, excellent customer service, a dedicated technical team, and resources for troubleshooting and debugging. It's also essential to understand the level of maintenance and updates offered, and whether they require manual intervention or are automatic.

Business Units Helped by iPaaS Solutions

• IT: Efficiently manage data flows, automate workflow and system monitoring, and transfer data to improve accuracy and efficiency of application delivery.
• Marketing: Enable tracking of campaign effectiveness across channels and determination of sales effort success.
• Sales: Provide a system to view a client's entire buying experience and offer valuable contextual information about customers, leading to deeper insights.
• HR: Streamline HR processes by integrating applicant tracking, payroll, employee onboarding, and performance management, reducing manual hours.
• Finance: Automate major data tasks like processing invoices and payments across multiple financial systems, reducing manual hours and errors.

Key Enterprise-Level iPaaS Providers

• Jitterbit: A cloud-based integration platform for connecting applications, data sources, and systems. Companies use it to integrate CRMs, ERPs, marketing automation platforms, e-commerce platforms, and databases.
• Workato: A cloud-based automation tool that creates automated workflows between applications and services, allowing integration of thousands of applications and seamless data exchange.
• Celigo: An iPaaS provider that connects and automates various applications such as Salesforce, NetSuite, Shopify, and Amazon Marketplace.
• Boomi: A cloud-based iPaaS solution that streamlines integration, helping disparate applications and data work together harmoniously, saving time, improving visibility, and enhancing productivity.

The Final Word

iPaaS offers numerous benefits to e-commerce companies and business users, including improved security, faster transactions, multiple payment options, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Using an iPaaS solution equips a company to keep pace with business speed and maximize the value of cloud services.

FAQs about iPaaS Solutions

What is iPaaS used for?

Common use cases include connecting apps, automating workflows and business processes, and making IT ecosystems more flexible to respond quickly to changing business needs. It orchestrates integration flows, configures cloud applications, and serves as an end-to-end solution in a single platform.

What is the difference between an iPaaS and a PaaS?

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) allows users to develop, run, and manage applications without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. iPaaS, on the other hand, is designed to streamline the integration of disparate applications, systems, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, data sources, and platforms.

Does iPaaS require investment in on-premise hardware?

No. All hardware is provided by the platform and is the responsibility of the vendor.