Is your iPaaS holding you back on your cloud journey? 

The cloud. The super scalable, automated, unlimited possibilities of the cloud. 

Cue blue skies. And an inviting alpine lake calling you with its crystal-clear waters. Followed by menacing darkness on the horizon, and the first crack of lightning. 

Still ready to jump in?

You know the pressure to accelerate your cloud journey, starting with an iPaaS. Everyone else is doing it to save money, deliver new services and revenue faster, and improve customer experience in one simple leap. But the complexity of reimplementing apps, migrating data, and retraining IT is more than a minor hurdle.

FOMO, unrealistic expectations, and declining customer service  

What’s holding you back is all the uncertainty. You need to act, but don’t know when, or how. Is it too late? Or too soon? Is it too risky?

Here’s what you’re probably experiencing:

• Constant pressure on your IT teams. Expectations that literally can’t be fulfilled with your current resources, coupled with knowing you need to meet those expectations somehow, is a perfect recipe for anxiety.
• Fear of missing out. All your competitors are rolling out new apps and services. And if you can’t match or ideally, surpass—them, your organization will fall further and further behind.
• Declining customer satisfaction. Once it’s lost, it’s gone. And that’s in the good times. When markets get turbulent, customer satisfaction becomes a matter of business survival. But not before they come for your job. And let’s be frank, 40 percent of current Fortune 500 firms won’t exist in 10 years. Will yours be one of them? (And will you still be there to find out?)

It’s quicksand that can slow your cloud journey even when things go right. And it can drown your IT staff if things go just a little bit wrong. And things do go wrong: Cleo reports a 40% increase in companies losing $1 million annually due to poor integration in 2021. 

And while the benefits of the cloud are definitely real, the risks tend to be glossed over. But don’t worry, many in the market tell you, just get an iPaaS. Problem. Solved.

Not quite.

Can that iPaaS do APIs and B2B? If not, you may have fallen for the iPaaS industry trap.

It may be counterintuitive that something as promising and powerful as the cloud can make you feel so much stress. But your concern is based on concrete risks—carrying serious consequences.

The most significant is the trap of doing everything the way you’ve always done it before. You need to think bigger, because even though whatever you’re doing is working for now, the ever-growing demand on your IT resources just to maintain the status quo is leading you to a strategic impasse.

Here’s what you’re up against:

SaaS app proliferation

You’ve seen that SaaS apps are multiplying everywhere. And since they aren’t integrated with your backend systems— data silos and strategic business visibility issues are multiplying even faster. None of this is sustainable, and you know it. But what you don’t know is which trigger is going to cause this whole thing to grind to a halt. Or when. 

So while a SaaS app can be a quick, short-term fix for a specific business goal, it also leaves behind a trail of IT requirements from maintenance to integration with existing workflows and processes. This adds to the IT backlog and further slows the initiatives needed for growth. Until, well, there’s no room for growth at all. Game. Over.

New technologies require new expertise

You’ve watched from the sidelines as one competitor after another completes their cloud journey. Here a modern interface. There an omni-channel experience. Here a cool new service. There—one of your customers. Then another. Then…

API-led, self-service apps, and the ability to quickly create and evolve customer-facing tools are simply table stakes now when you go head-to-head with your competitors.

And Hybrid integration is a great way forward, but not if you wait too long. And not if you jump at the wrong solution. If it’s not a multi-use case, multi-cloud, multi-persona, multi-deployment powerhouse that can integrate everything and give your customer something to smile about, you might as well sit on the sidelines and become a spectator. The bottom line is your customers expect a modern, connected and easy experience but the digital transformation required to meet those expectations is increasingly complex and more difficult to navigate with constantly changing needs. A misstep today can have a lasting impact on your ability to compete in the future. You need to make smarter decisions faster to create experiences that your customers, partners and employees expect so that you can compete in this world of fast, always-evolving change.

No future-proof integration/cloud migration strategy

Transforming a business takes time, effort, and resources. And you don’t want to waste the valuable IT assets and architecture you’ve already heavily invested in.

The decisions you need to make about strategy can be confusing.

For instance, microservices and APIs each offer exciting ways to gather new data, and use the data you already have, to do new things. But to do this requires expertise in containers, cloud security, operational challenges like failover, and more. Not likely without a fully automated DevOps lifecycle. And not possible without a future-proof integration and cloud migration strategy.  

Here’s the good news: for every doubt that’s been gnawing at you as you consider this or that iPaaS, there’s a concrete answer if you know what to look for. And that means there are concrete solutions on the market that can solve your problems.

Hybrid integration. Effective automations. Smart data pipelines for data integration. Robust B2B capabilities. And API security and innovation that locks down what’s important and lights a fuse under new lines of revenue.

All of this is possible if you focus on solutions that:

1. Prevent data from being disconnected or going inaccessible

You need easy and reliable connectivity for all of your data sources—wherever they live, and whatever they do. That means data in SaaS apps, legacy and mainframe apps, custom apps, and any flavor of cloud you can dream up.

Integrating and automating everything—from applications to IoT devices and beyond—will make your business processes more efficient. It will also make your enterprise more agile than any startup. An iPaaS can expedite business processes and workflows by synchronizing data and automating integrations, eliminating data silos, and allowing for better visibility and easy access to your data.

The upshot is that you gain better insights so you can make better business decisions.  But the right iPaaS is built for both business users and IT. That means easing the IT backlog rather than adding to it. And unleashing those expensive, rock-star developers on innovation rather than burning their time (and your money) on boring tasks that don’t exactly have them loving their job.

2. Make IT & business co-innovation partners

As low-cost competitors move into the market, you need to react quickly with new services and apps to delight your customers and prevent customer churn. If you’re constantly relying on the same team for this, your IT backlog ends up growing indefinitely. But the best iPaaS and hybrid integration solutions chart a profitable path forward by democratizing integration.

Developers and integration specialists will be able to build high-performing, advanced services in Java and FLOW logic. Business users, application teams, and SaaS superusers will be able to create automated workflows using advanced services and prebuilt connectors in a drag & drop user interface.

That’s why you should look for solutions that let your developers go deep with full control—while also giving your non-technical users the ability to create and maintain integrations without having to know code. When everyone can contribute, you get more services, happier customers, a shrinking IT backlog, and a serious competitive edge.

3.Unlock and capture value from ALL of your data, in any format and in any location

Data analysis is crucial in today’s market; it helps companies improve processes, provide superior customer service, and compete. And data is everywhere, from internal applications like SAP to external services that add context like traffic and weather. Today the lines between application integration and data integration are merging, as companies strive to ingest and analyze vast quantities of information. There is so much data, in different formats and locations, that managing it is difficult and time-consuming. That is why businesses need a robust and comprehensive platform that covers all aspects of integration - application, data, API, IoT and process. A platform that can also build and run the smart data pipelines needed to power data integration across hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, and that is fully prepared to power your modern data ecosystem for analytics, AI/ML, and smart applications.

The most comprehensive, future-proof iPaaS will enable companies to utilize and take action on all of their data as it moves between on-premises applications, data streams, SaaS applications, legacy data stores and cloud data platforms.

4.Support incremental and strategic Digital transformations

Resist letting the fear of missing out push your organization towards rushing into a digital transformation that leaves your core systems behind. Or heedlessly implementing point-to-point SaaS integrations for short-term gain at the cost of increasing fragmentation.

The best hybrid integration solutions will let you create reusable access points for valuable customer data. And the right iPaaS will let you move to the cloud strategically, and incrementally, so that you can modernize at the right pace, and drive innovation without breaking your core business advantages.

An iPaaS should provide a unified, hybrid integration platform that runs in the cloud as well as on-premises. It should come with hundreds of connectors to packaged and legacy apps, as well as SaaS apps, mainframes, and IoT devices. You should be able to connect to and get value out of your existing systems.

Moving incrementally puts you in charge of your timing as you reduce the expense and effort of on-prem systems in a sustainable, strategically smart way. With a roadmap in place, your organization can transition to the more reliable cost model of subscription-based systems, and shift to accessible user interfaces that empower business users to “self-serve,” rather than be dependent on IT.

5. Enable enterprise-class scaling

The temptation to go low-end is a dead end. Some businesses choose an iPaaS-in-name-only, rationalizing the purchase by telling themselves, “we’ll only ever need this for very simple use cases.”

But even the most simple use cases eventually grow. And all of them inevitably get hit by a data spike that overwhelms the cheap solution. If a platform isn’t designed for enterprise scalability right from the start, it’s going to fail you right when you need it most. And that’s when the pain is going to be greatest. The situation gets even worse when iPaaS connectors aren’t maintained across releases, and you’re forced to redirect your IT team to redevelop, retest, and redeploy all related services. Every. Single. Time. A. Connector. Is. Updated.

The best solutions focus on an API-led, hybrid integration approach.  It starts with a multi-function iPaaS that can securely connect to on-premise applications and data sources, and will scale automatically to fit your organization’s growing integration needs. After all, one of the big benefits of the cloud is scalability. Better-than-expected success should never be your downfall.  

Can any solution simply labeled an “iPaaS” solve your conundrum?

No. Because it depends on more than a name.

Only a truly enterprise-class, API-led solution that brings the full power of hybrid integration can do what you want. It’s how you take your business from fragmented to connected by seeking out a solution that doesn’t just get you to the cloud—but also connects to systems on-premises without having to undergo a major restructuring.

An iPaaS worthy of the label has to do much more than just internal integration. It should help you create integration services and APIs. It should make it easy for you to publish and share applications with other teams. And it should make integrating with businesses and partners a breeze.

Look beyond the label, so that you can: 

• Integrate anything easily and securely 
  Apps. Data. Files. Devices. Partners. All of it, by anyone. That means empowering both business and IT users to automate business processes. Expanding IT capacity to build new products and services. Freeing up your tech wizards to focus on sophisticated projects. And cleaning out that IT backlog so you can finally focus on innovation.
  
  
• Deliver better customer service
  Exceptional visibility into customer data is what lets you understand what’s happening right now—not in two weeks. It’s also what helps you make better decisions in order to: quickly deliver new customer-centric services, respond to and enhance customer satisfaction, and simplify partner and supplier interactions.
  
  
• Simplify digital transformation
  The way forward should be strategic and incremental. Modernization isn’t about bragging rights. It’s getting the timing right to improve your business and optimize profitability. Success means connecting to both cloud and on-prem systems, avoiding redundancy and losses during the transition, and preparing your business for whatever the future brings.  

Then meet webMethods.io iPaaS, the only all-in-one, enterprise-class, more-than-just-an-integration platform that does data and application integration, APIs, and B2B. Like a pro.

webMethods.io iPaaS empowers you to quickly and seamlessly integrate all of your applications, processes and data, in any format and in any location, in the cloud. You’ll simplify integration activities by using one unified platform for API management, hybrid integration and B2B integration initiatives. You’ll be able to swiftly turn integrations into APIs, or create APIs first and build the integrations later, all with total end-to-end visibility into each and every transaction. Accelerate your operational processes and streamline your integrations with trading partners while quickly and securely exchanging B2B documents in the cloud.

webMethods.io iPaaS is an award winning, analyst recognized leader and the only API, B2B, data and hybrid integration combination in the market, making it the industry’s most capable integration platform. webMethods.io iPaaS offers hundreds of prebuilt connectors and recipes for faster development and unmatched visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. You can even build and run your smart data pipelines for data integration across hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, enabling you get value out of ALL of your data with analytics and AI. With flexible pricing for different needs, and 20+ years of experience in designing and building complex, mission-critical systems, webMethods.io iPaaS is uniquely positioned to take your business to the next level.

See how it can transform your business with strategic intent—incrementally. And learn how to add new cloud capabilities as you need them, while maintaining your core systems without having to rip and replace.  

Adapt for speed by keeping your stable legacy systems and modernizing or creating new ones for competitive advantage. Mobile and cloud apps on demand are easy when it starts with your rock-solid legacy systems. And true innovation continues when you can expose existing data and applications with APIs to create modern interfaces.

Try webMethods.io today in your own environment to see how easy it is to get connected.

Our demo is free. So get in touch with an expert for a peek at your profitable hybrid integration, future.