With an increasing number of businesses embracing cloud-based software and applications to supplement their traditional on-premises solutions, there’s also a growing need to connect all of these systems – wherever they reside. That explains the rapid expansion of connectivity tools, such as integration platforms as a service (iPaaS).
Companies typically have numerous applications for managing their businesses, including finances, logistics, customer service, and ecommerce. However, these applications may or may not work together in an efficient way.
With iPaaS, companies are better equipped to integrate the applications that power their day-to-day business in a way that makes them more efficient and future-proofs their operations. But that’s only the beginning of the benefits offered by platforms like Boomi’s.
“My warning to anyone who gets Boomi is your CIO starts asking, ‘Can Boomi fix this, too? Is there a play for Boomi?’” said Greg Jordan, director of enterprise integrations for Ergon, in a webinar. “It can. It’s a very flexible tool.”
So, what else do these platforms bring to the table?
Business Benefits of an iPaaS
We’ve collected a list of some of the most important benefits of working with an iPaaS provider to demonstrate why this technology has become critical for today’s increasingly hybrid business models.
Cost Effective Integration Management
With an iPaaS, businesses do not need to constantly rely on developers to create custom code for their integration solutions. Instead, they pay a subscription for the level of service they need. There’s also no need to purchase any additional hardware or software for integrating the applications.
Strong Customer Experiences
iPaaS solutions allow for better collaboration and communications with customers, as well as more consistency and efficiency in their brand interactions, creating a better overall experience for them. Modern customers expect a B2C experience from B2B companies. A 360-degree view of the customer has never been more valuable.
Scalability
iPaaS services are easy to scale with your business needs. As your business expands, you won’t have to worry about creating new custom integrations in-house. So long as you choose applications that are available on the network, you can keep growing your integration platform in conjunction with your company.
One example is how Boise State University keeps finding new ways to use the Boomi platform to improve speed and flexibility.
“Someone at Boise State invented the word ‘Boomify,’” said Brian Merrick, enterprise integration architect. “So when a project comes up, we say, ‘Can we Boomify it?’ Boomi has become the central focus of everything we do, and it’s incredible how quickly you can turn things around.”
Low Code
Boomi is one example of an iPaaS that offers low-code solutions. This means users don’t need an in-depth knowledge of coding to achieve great results with the service. Instead, users can select from a list of common integration elements and use drag-and-drop functionality to build integrations without requiring developer time for repetitive, low-complexity tasks.
Improved Productivity
iPaaS provides enterprises with increased productivity during integration flow development.
Because iPaaS solutions are so user-friendly and intuitive, businesses can easily speed up their integration processes in a cost-effective manner. For instance, MOD Pizza uses faster integration speed to get new employees up and running on Day One.
“With Boomi, we’re saving 30 hours a week,” Tara Gambill, senior director of enterprise systems for MOD Pizza. “It’s not just the ability to enable fast, seamless employee onboarding. We’re also getting increased data accuracy and reliability. That allows our staff to spend more time on more impactful work.
Regular Updates
iPaaS solutions provide regular updates to reduce maintenance costs and tasks, improve the reliability of your integrated infrastructure, and ensure your business stays on the technological cutting edge with its operations. These updates occur on a regular basis and can be set to happen automatically. With Boomi, for example, they happen 11 times a year – without the customer doing anything.
Support for Emerging Technologies
iPaaS is beneficial for businesses using new and emerging technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing, and blockchain. Because cloud-native iPaaS can connect with pre-built integrations or API endpoints hosted on-premises or in the cloud, these platforms offer the flexibility enterprise organizations need to achieve their goals.
Intelligent Decision-Making
iPaaS helps enterprises extract more information from their data. They can keep track of real-time, trusted data about their operations and quickly make strong business decisions that are in the company’s best interests. This is critical in a constantly changing business environment where decision-makers must react quickly and decisively to changes that can occur with short notice.
Enhanced Security
One of the most common concerns enterprises have with cloud-based integration is the security that exists between their cloud and on-premises applications. iPaaS is capable of securely transferring data, reducing the potential for security breaches with features like fraud detection, reporting, intruder alerts, and regular security updates.
A Reliable, Scalable, Modern iPaaS
As organizations continue to look for ways to take advantage of the cloud, iPaaS solutions will continue to grow in importance. Boomi offers a reliable iPaaS that deliver all the above benefits in a single-instance, multi-tenant architecture.
Learn what to look for in an intelligent iPaaS with Five Must-Have Capabilities in a Modern iPaaS.