Tuesday’s Tip: SaaS - Integration Advice
Continued interest in software as a service (SaaS) stems from the pay as you go pricing, constant stream of innovation, rapid deployment options, and the ability to do an end run around IT. As the number of options proliferate, enterprises will increasingly lean on SaaS as the mission critical system. Thus, end users need an enterprise apps strategy for SaaS that addresses the “I” word - Integration. The requirements and leadership for integration will lead to the pragmatic realization that SaaS can no longer be ignored by the IT department. As organizations brace for the proliferation of SaaS procurements integration should focus on:
- Data mapping - as data moves from one system to another, data must be transformed accurately. More importantly, service and related meta data are cataloged into a repository for discovery by management tools and development tools.
- Business process orchestration - granularity of web services must be harmonized so that the overall process flow is seamless among various systems. Integration services actively manage service access, execution and quality of service.
- Quality of service - Like SOA, QoS metrics ensure that the information flow was delivered to the right system at the right time for the right person. Characteristics such as security, transactions, performance, style of service interaction, etc. are explicitly identified and specified for each service
A few key solutions providers to watch out for in the SaaS integration space include:
- Blue Wolf Group - a system integrator with an Integration as a Service (IaaS) offering
- Boomi - a SaaS integration layer services company
- Cast Iron Systems - a software based integration appliance (i.e. hardware)
- Informatica - a data integration provider with a multi-tenant, cross-enterprise data integration on-demand service
- Magic Software - a business and process integration provider
- Pervasive- a data integration provider with an Integration as a Service (IaaS) offering
- Snap Logic - an open source data integration tool provider
The bottom line.
The successful adoption of SaaS solutions will transform usage from purpose built point solutions to integration into mission critical processes. The result - SaaS integration will emerge as a key discipline in the overall enterprise app strategies of enterprises who seek to manage a portfolio of provisioned services.
Your POV.
Have you completed a successful SaaS to on-premise integration? How’d it go? Was it easier/harder than your on-premise integrations? Feel free to share with me your view points. You can post here or sending me a private email to rwang0@gmail.com.
Copyright © 2008 R Wang. All rights reserved.
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| Tags: , Apps Strategy, blue wolf, boomi, cast iron systems, informatica, integration, pervasive, R "Ray" Wang;, SaaS, snap logic, the "I" word, Tuesday's Tip, | Categories: Apps Strategy, Enterprise Software, Enterprise apps strategy, SaaS, Tuesday's Tip, enterprise applications, enterprise apps
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very nice article. you have delved deep into the “integration” aspect SaaS. We had recently done a similar article, listing out various other aspects of assessing a SaaS solution. The article titled “SaaS vendor Selection Manual” can be found here - http://www.hyperoffice.com/saas-reviews-for-smbs/
[...] SaaS integration becomes a requirement as customers seek hybrid deployment options. [...]
There is a big need for integration with or without SaaS. SaaS just raises the urgency.
[...] SaaS Integration vendors may be the next big area for M&A. As customers struggle for seamless hybrid integration, vendors are looking for the best integration tools. [...]
I have spoken with an early CODA2go customer how continues to use Sage Line50 for back end financial accounting while also using a combination of Salesforce.com/CODA2go for quote to cash processes. Loose couling but productivity gains mostly from the saas part.
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Hi Ray - thanks for the insight here. One missing point that many Asia Pacific-based organisations have to face with SaaS - particularly in relation to integration, is the huge amount of data back and forth across the pacific ocean that the applications can generate (as most SaaS applications tend to be hosted in the US). Many Asian economies have limited connections to North America - and the cost of data back and forth across the pacific ocean can be considerable. For this very reason Asian economies have led the way in capping data usage on broadband plans for home users, and businesses are also wary of these costs. In fact there are some examples where companies have found it cheaper to go with an on-premise version of software than a hosted one due to the high costs of data traffic. Integration adds further to these costs as this can greatly multiply the data that is sent back and forth across the pacific (i.e. every megabyte of traffic may end up travelling back and forth across the pacific multiple times and generate many more Mbs of traffic - all of which has a cost). Either way, the added costs of data traffic that SaaS and the integration of SaaS with existing apps, needs to be a consideration for companies in the AP region - and until the SaaS providers start to host the solutions locally, we can expect further push back from those economies in Asia where data still carries a significant cost burden.
Great insight Ray. Another point to consider when discussing the importance of integrations revolves around the discussion of apps suites vs. best of breed software apps. QuickArrow feels that companies should be able to run their business, on-demand, by picking and choosing the best SaaS applications and technologies. It is then on us to provide seamless integration to their other business critical applications including CRM, ERP, Financials, and HR.