Cloud Integration platform
Many enterprises slowly move to cloud computing at their own pace. You do not need to bring all of your IT systems to the cloud. Some sensitive data or legacy applications data can stay within the organization, named as on-premise data. The organization maintains the on-premise data.
The private cloud is the one which is maintained by a third party cloud vendor within the organization. The community cloud runs across organizations and maintained by another party.
Hybrid integration refers to the communication link between your on-premise and your cloud data over your integration platform. The following figure-1 shows high level understanding of the platform. Cloud can be either public or private category.
As per the industry analysts, many firms use this hybrid integration approach. This is to take advantage of the cloud computing space as well as to keep privacy and control over the sensitive data.
Figure-1, Hybrid Integration platform
How does integration happen in a cloud integration platform?
There are several integration patterns, as shown in the Figure-2.
Figure -2 , Types of integration
Figure-2 shows the basis of a hybrid integration platform
According to a new report from Gartner, "By 2019 ... over 85% of new packaged customer service and support software will be delivered on a cloud-based model, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) will emerge as an essential selection factor for customer relationship management (CRM) customer engagement centers.”
Service-level Integration (SOA)
Figure -3, Cloud computing Services
Figure-3 shows the relationship between multiple service levels of management in cloud integration platform.
Cloud is a cost effective solution for the enterprise. In addition, it provides Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
IaaS is the most basic service of a cloud service, which caters for IT infrastructure, servers, virtual machines, storage, networks and operating systems.
PaaS is an on-demand environment for development, testing, delivery and managing the applications. Developers can quickly create web or mobile applications without worrying about the set up. It also inherently uses IaaS.
SaaS cloud providers host and manage the software applications and underlying infrastructure and maintenance. Integration-as-a-Service is needed.
The level to which cloud computing is to be used will be dependant on the sensitivity of the data being stored and on regulatory compliance.
Regulatory Compliance & Security: Some enterprises need to maintain the data on-premise for compliance. Some organizations keep this data on-premise due to security concern. So it is necessary to have a plan of maintaining non-sensitive data in the cloud and sensitive data on-premise. To take advantage of cloud computing it is necessary to connect with cloud.
Best practices of SaaS Integration
SaaS application should be:
References from
Figure 4, SaaS delivery
Figure-4 shows how releases are rolled out in SaaS. Agile methods, tools, and technologies are utilized.
Figure-5, Elastic Scaling.
Figure 5 shows elastic scaling, one of the very best features of the cloud.
References:
Figure-6, Enterprise Integrator.
Figure-6 shows how WSO2 Enterprise integrator version 6 works. It comes as a single package with all of these modules and profiles included for enterprise Integration platform.
ESB connectors are readymade ESB extensions that allow the developer to focus only on the respective business logic. There are more than 150 connectors to connect with SaaS applications, legacy services, on-premise systems, and third-party cloud APIs available in the WSO2 store for cloud integration platform.
WSO2 API Cloud is a public hosted version of open source WSO2 API Manager. It enables enterprises to quickly share their business capabilities with their customers and partners across the globe.
You need to implement a complete identity management solution that ensures secure access to your SaaS apps and safeguards sensitive data that reside in them. You can leverage WSO2 Identity Server capabilities to address the security needs when adopting a SaaS solution and preserve your industry security standards. More information is at WSO2 Library
Why should you integrate your SaaS technologies?
The business world is undergoing a revolution. With the proliferation of technology across our lives and work, industries around the world are realising that the tried and trusted methods that have kept them moving forward might no longer suffice. Consumers today are connected, informed, and unprecedentedly technologically savvy, and as a result, the companies they deal with are expected to be the same.
Digital transformation — the process by which organizations modernize themselves to incorporate new digital technologies throughout their entire business — is becoming necessary to survive.
Modern clients want instant service and support from the brands they deal with. They want brands that make themselves available to the client in a way that suits the client, not in a way that suits the organization. And they want this experience to be offered seamlessly across every channel. In order for an organization to meet these needs and wants of the consumer, it is absolutely necessary for companies to be innovative and to stay abreast of digital updates and changes. With this in mind, decision makers in businesses are emphasizing the need for digital transformation within their organizations.
With the rise of tools such as CRM, ERP, SRP and others, it has become necessary to integrate these tools in order to have a complete view of your customers data and to provide them with the level of service they expect. Using an ESB will ensure all of your tools talk to each other and give you the power to understand your customers and drive your business forwards.
f you know you need to implement an ESB for your organisation, but don't know where to begin or if you just need advice, contact our consultants to discuss your options. We are experts in the area of ESB integration and have worked with many clients to help them succeed.