GigaOm Radar for Integration Platform as a Servicev2.0

1. Summary

Integration platform as a service (iPaaS) solutions have evolved to a great degree over the last decade and are now firmly established as a key approach to software as a service (SaaS) integration and, increasingly, for a range of hybrid integration use cases as well.

iPaaS solutions provide a centralized console for scheduling, monitoring, and managing integrations. Only multitenant, scalable, cloud-based integration solutions that provide the necessary tools and dedicated resources for faster development of integration flows—and offer the requisite data security and governance for such integrations—are iPaaS solutions. Developer productivity tools, such as a drag-and-drop approach to integration-flow development and prebuilt connectors and templates, are foundational components of the iPaaS value proposition. In terms of data security, key capabilities include transport layer and application- and network-level security and support for implementation and administration of governance policies.

Over the past few years, several iPaaS vendors have extended the capabilities of their solutions to include support for application programming interface (API) management, master data management (MDM), B2B/electronic data interchange (EDI) integration, and mobile app/back-end integration (hybrid integration use cases). This is not surprising given the flexibility to consume these solutions as a cloud service (PaaS) and their ease of use, which provide greater business agility and a proposition to lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

As organizations are increasingly tasked to do more with less, integration centers of excellence (COEs) have embraced agile approaches to integration, and it is not uncommon to see line of business (LoB)-led iPaaS adoption.

iPaaS is firmly established as a significant approach to cloud integration, and there are two reasons for its growth. First, iPaaS adoption in many enterprises is driven by LoB, and once IT is conversant with the features and functionality of the solution, the use of iPaaS is extended to other integration use cases. Second, several iPaaS vendors have expanded the features and capabilities of their solutions to cater to the needs of MDM, B2B/EDI integration, and API management.

It is increasingly important for iPaaS vendors to target new user personas and a broader set of integration use cases (such as B2B/EDI integration, API lifecycle management, data integration and data management, and mobile application and back-end integration). In this context, there are two noteworthy developments: self-service integration capabilities that enable non-technical users (citizen integrators), and machine learning (ML) capabilities that simplify development of integration flows and connect various applications and/or data sources.

iPaaS vendors drive significant innovation targeting mid-market organizations (with revenue less than $1 billion) who focus on developing low-code integration capabilities even for B2B/EDI and event-driven integration use cases. Integration marketplaces have rapidly evolved to offer hundreds, if not thousands, of prebuilt recipes and templates and, increasingly, components for automation of standard processes (for example, order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes). Such vendors are democratizing integration, and the lines are blurring between application integration, data integration, and workflow and process automation. Mid-market organizations can leverage a mix of hybrid integration capabilities at a lower cost of ownership using such iPaaS solutions.

This GigaOm Radar report highlights key iPaaS vendors and equips IT decision-makers with the information needed to select the best fit for their business and use case requirements. In the corresponding GigaOm report “Key Criteria for Evaluating iPaaS Solutions,” we describe in more detail the key features and metrics that are used to evaluate vendors in this market.