On-demand integration helps drive business

In the past, custom code has been an integration solution for many businesses, yet the cost and time associated of such a solution impedes business. Point-to-point code is very complex, intertwined, fragile, making it very difficult to scale as business inevitably changes. As the number of applications and services between partners, suppliers, and employees increases, the number point-to-point integrations increases as well, making it all the more difficult to implement and manage streamlined business processes. This quickly creates an overly complex web of point-to-point integrations referred to as "spaghetti architecture."

Moreover, when changes occur with business processes or Application Programming Interfaces (API), they must be implemented across the ecosystem. With such a fragile and intertwined point-to-point environment, even the most minor changes can render a system of application unavailable. In addition, with point-to-point integration being highly dependent on experienced developers, it is difficult to find and retain such talent. And when the developers leave the company, they take with them the knowledge of managing such a complex ecosystem.

Additionally, with the increasing preference to use of “best of breed” applications to power their processes, businesses must maintain continuous connectivity from a unified platform to ensure their business processes are not impacted when and if an application is replaced with another.

MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform, with out-of-the-box connectivity, allows businesses to implement integration on-demand. On-demand integration focuses on the needs of businesses, ensuring ease and connectivity at a reasonable price. Moreover, an on-demand solution is lightweight, as it is hosted in the cloud and is accessible through a web browser rather than as a downloadable solution.

On-demand integration through CloudHub offers businesses numerous benefits to help drive new business. CloudHub is an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) that allows businesses to create and offer repeatable integrations without custom code. Because CloudHub is hosted in the cloud, building, deploying and managing integrations is possible without investing in additional IT infrastructure. Employing CloudHub allows SaaS providers to overcome objections in their sales cycle and focus on their core business rather than on integration. In addition, a library of connectors and integration applications offer pre-built connectivity, allowing data to be shared among partners, suppliers, customers, and employees seamlessly.

Organizations employ CloudHub for essential benefits:

• API connectivity: Create, publish, and manage APIs easily to help propel the growth of the business. CloudHub makes it easy for organizations to expose as well as consume APIs, allowing businesses to get ahead. Moreover, SOA Governance with Anypoint Service Registry ensures APIs, endpoints, services, and policies are aligned with regulations and follow best practices.
• Easy to use: Packaged integration apps and prebuilt Anypoint Connectors make it easy to configure connectivity for specific business needs across the enterprise out-of-the-box, without complex code. The simple drag and drop interface of the cloud connector toolkit makes it easy to quickly address business needs.
• Cost effective: With subscription pricing that lets businesses pay for what they use, CloudHub is cost effective. An easy to use cloud connector toolkit eliminates the need to hire new, experienced developers because anyone with a tech background can easily create cloud connectors. Moreover, because CloudHub provides a future-proof integration solution, organizations can easily scale according to business demands without having to undergo a complete infrastructure overhaul.
• Scalability and flexibility: Delivering on-demand integration through CloudHub not only creates connectivity across the enterprise, it also offers flexibility and scalability. Unlike point-to-point integration, which constricts business agility, on-demand integration runs on a multi-tenant platform that makes it easy for companies to scale integrations as the demands on business grow. CloudHub gives businesses the flexibility to quickly connect to SaaS and on-premises applications and the flexibility to adjust third party endpoints without having to re-engineer the integrations between applications.
• Visibility and control: CloudHub provides tools to make it easy for developers to monitor integration performance, giving them complete visibility through operational dashboards. Moreover, with the chaos of spaghetti architecture eliminated, developers can avoid the headaches and costs of maintenance associated with cluttered point-to-point integrations. With visibility and control, developers can be more productive.

MuleSoft offers a robust solution to take on the challenges of SaaS and enterprise integration in the cloud. As enterprises move more applications and services to the cloud, on-demand integration becomes critical in order to ensure seamless connectivity throughout all aspects of the business.

Interested in offering integration as a part of your SaaS offering? Sign up for CloudHub and contact an expert to see how CloudHub can help drive new business.