Application Integration Through Integration Platform as a Service (ipaas) Evolving into the Connected Cloud Anthony Cervantes Principal (832) 298-3008 anthony.cervantes@parivedasolutions.com Pariveda Solutions, Inc. Houston, TX
Table of Contents Overview of Profiles of Integration Challenges How can ipaas help? Comparisons Risks Applying an ipaas Architecture Pariveda Approach Conclusion 2 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
ipaas offers a select group of customers a new architectural approach to integration that offers compelling benefits that address challenges associated with traditional integration needs IT departments are finding themselves facing significant integration challenges keeping up with business strategy demands on their systems Ventana Research conducted a study which showed that enterprises have placed high importance on cloud integration but have said that cost and implementation resources and skills availability are inhibiting factors 67% of respondents consider it important or very important to integrate cloud-based data with enterprise application data (Cloud-to-On-Premises) 2 69% said it s important to integrate enterprise application data with cloud-based applications.(on-premises-to-cloud) 2 82% said that a lack of implementation resources and skills is the most common obstacle to integrating cloud data, followed by implementation cost at 75% 2 Until recently many enterprises had four main options for integration: Data replication consistent data, high latency, limited capabilities Point-to-point low initial cost, high long term costs, not scalable, but capable at the micro level Traditional Middleware high initial cost, feature rich, scalable, high long term costs Consolidation removes need to integrate, functionality may be limited Some combination of each built for purpose An alternative approach has emerged as a viable solution Integration-Platform-as-a-Service (ipaas) 1, is the ability to deliver a complete integration stack from the cloud, including enabling development, execution and governance of integration flows connecting any combination of onpremises and cloud-based processes, services, applications and data ipaas capabilities include workflow, service containers, enterprise data gateways, developer tools and runtime monitoring Viewing ipaas as an architectural approach as opposed to a class of individual product, opens the door to opportunities once thought too risky, expensive, complex or lengthy to realize ROI Notes: 1) Passini, Mazzimo; Lheureux, Benolt J. Integration as a Service: Moving Integration into the Cloud. Gartner RAS Research Note G00210747. March 7, 2011 2) The Dilemma for Business and IT: Benchmark Research Ventana Research. August 2011 3 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
Companies that fit into four major profiles can benefit from the value proposition and risk/benefit profile offered by an ipaas architecture ipaas Architecture Candidate Profiles 4 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
When companies that fit into the four ipaas profiles evaluate their integration needs, the following factors should be considered Traditional On-Premises Middleware / ipaas Architecture Comparison Factor Traditional On-Premises Middleware ipaas Architecture Cost High initial investment in licensing and hardware Implementation costs are significant Expensive specialized skillsets required for implementation, design, development and support of the complete solution Subscription based, pay for what you use Setup and install is included in subscription Potentially shifts the work to a different, less expensive skillset that is more generally available Suggests less total manpower to implement and support Elastic Scalability While very scalable, regardless of scope, a required minimum investment in scalability will be required Given a cloud orientation, scalability needs are handled in a much more directly linear fashion Offers higher levels of elasticity making it easier to scale up or down In most cases, no new hardware is required Hardware Full server farm needed including disaster recovery With a transition to a more cloud based landscape, dependency on in-house infrastructure is reduced, particularly with cloud-to-cloud integrations Connectivity Point-to-Point connection between each cloud app and the on-premises middleware or proxy introduce complexity and potential security risks Requires cloud to-cloud integrations to come into the firewall for processing A single secure connection to the ipaas solution in cloud which serves as a conduit for all other integration points offering simplicity and reduced security risks All cloud-to-cloud integrations are processed outside the firewall and do not use on-premises resources 5 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
Looking at key metrics compared to traditional on-premises middleware vendors, an ipaas architecture offers a compelling value proposition Cumulative Total Cost of Ownership When comparing data gathered in a study by Bloor Research 5 across major on-premises middleware vendors, ipaas long term TCO and cost per end-point is significantly lower TCO includes year 1 setup Any on-going costs of maintaining hardware and software Maintenance fees for upgrades and support Relevant personnel License or subscription fees Assumed 12 planned integration processes per year and 7 connections/end-points used in total Time to Value by Approach (Illustrative) Traditional Middleware ipaas Example Comparison Costs per End-point 38% An ipaas architecture provides similar benefits in a shorter amount of time without a high upfront cost with less total resources Contributors to these findings include: A pay-for-what-you-use pricing model which leverages economies of scale Less code, more easier to use GUI-based configuration Shorter learning curve: avg. of 65% less time to learn 5 Potentially shifts the work to a different, less expensive skillset that is more generally available Use of OOTB adapters and prebuilt applications/accelerators Streamlined provisioning, near immediate Quicker implementation by offloading environment to vendor Platform support & maintenance is offloaded to the vendor Reusable connections back to main enterprise ipaas Example Traditional Middleware Average Traditional Middleware High Comparison Time-To-Value Traditional Middleware Low Notes: Weeks to Deploy Internal Staff External Consultants Total Resources 5) Howard, Philip. Comparative costs and uses of Data Integration Platforms: Research and Survey Results. Bloor Research. September 2010 6 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
An ipaas architecture is an emerging but practical integration approach that provides benefits similar to other cloud service offerings but with an associated risk profile With any new technology or approach, there are risks to be considered before embarking on adoption As with other cloud offerings, control is shifted to the cloud provider and primary control for resolution of technical outages and issues is shifted outside the enterprise Reliability is at risk when handing control over to the vendor Not all ipaas providers are created equality and not all capabilities currently exist across all providers Leveraging an ipaas architecture is a relatively new approach, and adopters will take on the risk that initial market maturity is still emerging However, it is worth noting though that major players in IT are investing heavily, including offerings from IBM, TIBCO, Oracle, Microsoft, Dell, and Informatica An ipaas architecture may not be a good fit if a mature on-premises middleware solution already exist or if there are requirements for low latency transactions or high security scenarios This approach, while able to reduce TCO and time to value, costs associated with requirements gathering, data mapping, process design, technical design, orchestration development, and testing are all still necessary regardless Finding the right vendor to meet current and future enterprise needs suggests due diligence and POCs Each provider is going to offer slightly different capabilities and approaches to achieving integration As with most cloud-based solutions, an prudent use of ipaas is to start as small and scale-up Notes: 1) Passini, Mazzimo; Lheureux, Benolt J. Integration as a Service: Moving Integration into the Cloud. Gartner RAS Research Note G00210747. March 7, 2011 4) Marian, Matei. ipaas: Different Ways of Thinking. Procedia Economics and Finance 3. Published by Elsevier Ltd. 2012. 1093 1098. 7 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
An ipaas architecture is an highly elastic and scalable design for integration needs that anticipates common use cases ipaas Architecture Many ipaas offerings, similar to platform as a service offerings, provide a truly cloud based platform to develop, run, manage, monitor and govern integrations to multiple endpoint types This provides centralized visibility and control of integrations both cloud and on-premises ipaas takes the same canonical pattern used by on-premises middleware solutions and applies it at a macro level to extend the enterprise reach beyond the 4 walls The ultimate solution is less complex when compared to what equates to a point-to-point-like solution for anything off-premises Employing a application integration strategy which utilizes ipaas as a means to loosely couple disparate systems, either temporarily or as a permanent solution, allows companies to benefit from the cloud even if they don t have many/any cloud implementations 8 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
Pariveda has a proven methodology that identifies opportunities to invest in what can become market differentiators for enterprises Integration Assessment Assess Strategize Plan Proof of Concept Interview Key Stakeholders Business / Operations / IT Gather high-level requirements Define Business Goals and Objectives Identify process inefficiencies Pinpoint application synergies Gain clear understanding of business and technology drivers Define risk profile Integration Maturity Assessment Examine enterprise architecture Determine current Cloud Adoption Profile Assess integration feasibility and establish potential ROI Capture existing governance model Refine Scope / Prioritize Path of application integration Identify target systems Establish Application Integration Strategy Reconcile against existing EAI and Data Integration strategies Define Integration Decision Framework Define Governance Model Planning governance Development governance Operation governance Policy governance Make Recommendations Establish guiding principals Execute ilities vendor evaluation Identify POC use case candidate(s) Form Roadmap Create an actionable plan to guide the implementation of the long and short term strategy Define discrete projects Methodology recommendation Outline sponsorship plan Construct Proof of Concept Subscribe to provider for POC instance Identify necessary integration touch points Establish monitoring mechanism Compile results Execute Roadmap (Phased Approach) Enable additional business processes through further integrations Assess Deliverables Strategize Deliverables Plan Deliverables POC Deliverables Business Requirements Document Integration Maturity Assessment ROI Analysis Integration Inventory Application Integration Strategy Integration Decision Framework Conceptual Design Logical Architecture Vendor Recommendation Application Integration Roadmap Proof of Concept Integration Between Applications Project plan for Roadmap execution 9 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.
Pariveda can offer companies who fit common integration use profiles, and benefit from the ipaas architecture value-proposition, a compelling assessment and solution Moving management of enterprise integration to the cloud provides certain companies the ability to achieve the benefits of integration with specific benefits over other integration architectures Lower total cost of ownership Elastic scalability Reduced complexity Simplified security Improved time to value This is accomplished by a flexible cloud based platform which lends itself to growth beyond the firewall as the systems landscape shifts As it is a cloud solution and an emerging architectural approach, ipaas has an important and well-known risk profile that still offers many companies a positive return Utilizing Pariveda s methodology for assessing, creating and implementing an application integration strategy, which could include, ipaas can help ensure their system investments yield maximum ROI 10 Pariveda Solutions. Confidential & Proprietary.