Summer School 2013 - What is iPaaS and why it is important
1. iPaaS
What is iPaaS and why it is important?
Afkham Azeez
Director, Architecture
WSO2
Sameera Perera
Senior Manager,
Cloud Technology Group
WSO2
2. SaaS: Your apps in the Cloud
• SaaS (Software as a Service) is...
o delivery model in which software and associated data are
centrally hosted on the cloud (source: Wikipedia)
Image courtesy of ddpavumba / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
3. SaaS: Step right up!
• Affordable!
• Scalable!
• Simplifies sign-up, bug
fixes and upgrades!
Cloud Images courtesy of Bartosz Kaszubowski, other image
courtesy of Stuard Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
4. The Great Integration Challenge of the
Cloud Era
• Enterprise apps must play nicely with each
other
o Relieve users from
Re-entering data to different
applications
Re-enter their credentials
o Share data, authorization
o Abide by enterprise policies
Images courtesy of Master isolated images, Vuono/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
5. 1. Cloud to Cloud
2. Cloud to On-premises
Integration Scenarios
Cloud Images courtesy of Bartosz Kaszubowski. Server image from OpenClipart.org
6. Here's my API... Call me maybe?
So, how does yours fit in with my
existing applications?
Well, we have this nice
SOAP/ReST API...
API (Applicaiton Programming Interface):
An interface through which an application can securely open up
programmatic access to it’s data and functionality, to third party developers.
7. Wait, I still have to write code!?
API from Vendor X
API from Vendor Y
All the work that nobody
mentioned
8. Data Mapping : Example
• All day events
• Multi-day events
Calendar
Calendar
11. iPaaS
• Stands for Integration Platform as a Service
• "... a suite of cloud services enabling
development, execution and governance of
integration flows connecting any combination
of on premises and cloud-based processes,
services, applications and data within
individual or across multiple organizations." -
Gartner Research
12. What's in an iPaaS?
protocol bridging, message transports,
transformation, routing, service virtualization,
Connectors (adapters), orchestration, partner
community management, managed file transfer,
registry/repository, development tools, artifacts
lifecycle management, policy management and
enforcement, federation, usage tracking and
management, monitoring, b2b integration, ETL, data
integration, data federation, SOA governance, SOA
enablement, federated SOA support, ...
13. What's in an iPaaS (significant bits)
• Connectors
o Connects to a specific Cloud or On-premises
service
o Configure, don't code.
iPaaS
14. What's in an iPaaS (significant bits)
• Data Mapping / Transformation
o When Connector X gives you lemons...
o Make Lemonade for Connector Y
Source: IBM CastIron
15. What's in an iPaaS (significant bits)
• Orchestration of Integration flow
Source: Dell Boomi
Source: Mulesoft
16. What's in an iPaaS (significant bits)
• Version controlling, Lifecycle management and
other dev tools
• The deployment environment
•Performance
•Availability
•Scalability
•Monitoring and Stats
17. Challenges to iPaaS adaptation
• Security and Privacy
o Data governance considerations
o Regulatory compliance requirements
• Vendor Lock-in
o 4GL/5GL tools
"super-quick" only works in demos
o Vendor-specific languages
o Runs only on vendor's run-time
18. The current iPaaS Landscape
Refer: http://www.slideshare.net/i8c/b2b-integration-in-the-cloud
24. Integration Versioning
Different versions of connectors
Corresponding to different versions of APIs
e.g. SAP version x & y, with SaleForce version a & b
Multiple independent versions in production
