Blog post written by Bas van Hengstum. Bas is a former blogger on Blogpodium and is an Integration Architect at Accenture Netherlands with a great interest for Cloud Computing.
Cloud Computing enjoys an increasing popularity, and more types of services arise in the Cloud. Traditionally there was a relatively short list of Cloud services consisting of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (Paas) and Software (or: Application) as a Service (Saas). Nowadays we start running out of acronyms, as services such as Process as a Service (PRaaS), Storage as a Service (also SaaS), Integration as a Service (also IaaS) and Enterprise Service Bus as a Service (ESBaaS) have been added. This trend of having every thinkable service in the Cloud has even evolved into Everything as a Service (EaaS, XaaS or *aaS).
With my background in Integration Architecture, I wrote this article to provide insight in the world of Integration as a Service and to introduce an Integration-as-a-Service Offerings Model.
When to use Integration as a Service?
In an IT landscape that only consists of internal legacy applications (integration scenario I), using Integration as a Service usually doesn’t fit. As long as there are no reasons to move applications into the Cloud (e.g. due to the rigid nature of these applications), there’s also no reason to move the integration layer into the Cloud.
When internal Cloud applications are part of the IT landscape (integration scenario II), integration is required between the existing legacy applications and the internal Cloud applications. It depends on the characteristics of the data exchange whether the integration solution needs to be Cloud based or not. If the Cloud applications are heavily dependent on integration, in a sense that the Cloud application requires a lot of interfaced data when it is on its performance peak, opting for a Cloud based Integration Hub might be feasible.
For intra-enterprise cloud-to-cloud integration (scenario III), i.e. integration between cloud applications that are part of the own enterprise but reside on different Cloud platforms, the choice for an Integration as a Service solution is a logical step. Main reason for this is that the decision criteria for using Cloud applications also apply to the integration layer in between them, such as the need to quickly scale the solution up or down. Choosing for this approach will result in the entire end-to-end solution being Cloud based.
For B2B Integration (scenario IV) Integration as a Service can be a strategic option. Gartner research (see footnote)shows that the number of B2B transactions is growing and that B2B-oriented Integration as a Service is well-established. There are various niche players for several industries in the market who tend to offer standardized integration solutions with additional business services that are focusing on a specific industry.
The Integration-as-a-Service Offerings Model
The market of Integration as a Service shows an interesting mix of providers. Some providers strictly provide Integration without additional business functionality; others tend towards industry specific Software as a Service solutions on top of Integration as a Service.
This article introduces an Integration-as-a-Service Offerings Model that consists of four types of providers:
Integration Platform providers (Category 1) offer the fundamentals of integration on a Cloud based platform. From a technical point of view it can offer any functionality, but it has to be custom developed as there are no or limited re-useable items available for mappings, advanced error handling framework, etc. ESB as a Service is part of this category.
Integration Service providers (Category 2) offer mature integration services (rather than the “do it yourself” offerings of Category 1), with some industrialized solutions. However, they don’t focus on one specific industry nor offer advanced niche solutions.
Integration Solution providers (Category 3) offer a ‘between the ends’ solution and can even be positioned as independent organizations for B2B integration. Their added value is the offering of industry specific (business) functionality, rather than only providing the exchange of information. These solutions tend to look like Software as a Service applications that integrate very well.
Integration Product providers (Category 4) offer a specific integration product for a niche marked or private network. The provider focuses on the business specific functionality rather than on the technology. The niche product with relatively low volumes is based on high volume providers in Category 1, 2 or 3. The product is usually marketed as a business solution rather than a Cloud based integration product, as the selling point is the offered business functionality rather than the fact that the offering is Cloud based. Because of this type of marketing, it’s hard to identify such providers.
Applying the Model to the integration scenarios
The table below indicates how the Model maps to the different integration scenarios presented earlier in this article:
It pays off when a provider with a higher Category of the Integration-as-a-Service Offerings Model can be used. Exception is Category 4, as this category is particularly strong in B2B rather than integration within the organization itself.
Advantages of using an as high as possible Category Offering include the standardization of message events and formats as well as the availability of out-of-the-box functionality for error handling and business/industry functionality.
Conclusion
Integration as a Service is one of the many as-a-Service’s that are part of the Cloud Computing paradigm.
This article introduced an Integration-as-a-Service Offerings Model that depicts four types of offerings:
1. Integration Platform providers, who provide the fundamentals of integration on a Cloud based platform. They don’t offer industry specific solutions.
2. Integration Service providers, who provide mature integration services that are not targeted at one specific industry.
3. Integration Solution providers, who provide ‘between the ends’ solutions that are tailored for one specific industry. These offerings tend to Software as a Service due to the amount of business functionality.
4. Integration Product providers, who offer specific integration products for niche markets. They are often not recognizable as Cloud offerings and make use of third party Category 1, 2 or 3 offerings.
This model helps to determine what type of Integration-as-a-Service Offering would best fit on a specific integration scenario consisting of legacy applications, Cloud applications and B2B information exchange.
References:
Gartner research: “Predicts 2009: Platforms and Integration Middleware Move Into the Cloud” (December 2008) and “Predicts 2010: Application Infrastructure for Cloud Computing” (November 2009)
Providers: Amazon Simple Queue Service, Linxter, Windows Azure AppFrabric Service Bus, Boomi, Hubspan, F4F Agriculture, GXS Trading Grid
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