Monitoring an integration solution becomes challenging when it’s a distributed solution with several components running in Azure, Hybrid or on-premise environment. The proper tools can help an enterprise face these challenges and set up a fit-for-purpose solution. In this session, Azure Technology Consultant and Microsoft MVP Steef-Jan Wiggers presents the various challenges, tools and a solution approach to mitigate the challenges.
8. Hybrid
integration
By 2018, 20% of large organizations will
use their hybrid integration platforms to
integrate other platforms, to enable
timely reaction to business moments.
75% of large organizations will
establish a hybrid integration
platform, by 2020.
12. Different paths to shift towards cloud!
On premise
integration
Cloud IaaS
integration
Hybrid
integration
Cloud serverless
integration
A natural evolution, not a revolution!
13. IaaS integration! What’s in it for you?
On premise integration Why ?
Strategy
IaaS integration
Reduce TCO
Availability Security
14. • Order to cash
On premise Integration
EDI Order
XML Order
BizTalk Server
XML Order
Decartes
EDI to XML
XML Order
EDI Invoice XML InoviceXML InoviceXML Inovice
Dynamic AX
16. Hybrid integration! What’s in it for you?
On premise integration Why ? Hybrid integration
Logic Apps
API Mgmt
Flexibility Agility
Innovation Future Proof
17. Hybride Integration
Self-Service Portal
API Management
Outbound Inbound
WebAPI WebAPI
VIP
Web Job
Azure cache
(REDIS)
To Redis
Storage (Azure)
Web Job
Dashboard
Administrator/
Developer Portal
Datastore
Nuon
(Windows) Service (Windows) Service
Inbound
Web Job
Azure cache
(REDIS)
• Push customer data
18. Serverless integration! What’s in it for you?
IaaS integration Why ? Serverless integration
Logic Apps
API Mgmt
Service Bus Azure
FunctionsLess devops Lower costs
Instant scale Business value
19. Serverless Integration
• Sync eLearning data with Dynamics CRM Online
LMS365 API Custom API
Service Bus
Queue
Dynamics CRM
OnlineWebJobs Logic App
23. AppSvc Hybrid
Connections
Networking: relay solutions
Azure Relay
Hybrid Cnncts
On Premises
Data Gateway
Firewall-friendly
On premises API
Web Socket
Active / Active
Firewall-friendly
Client installation
Application Level
No High Availability
Firewall-friendly
Client installation
TCP Tunnel (port)
Active / Active
29. The hybrid integration platform
Integration
Functions Logic Apps API Apps
Messaging
Service Bus Event Grid
Connectivity
Networking Azure Relay
On premises Azure infrastructure
Governance&security
API Mgmt
Active
Directory
KeyVault
Administration
Resource
Manager
Automation
Portal
Monitoring
App Insights OMS Power BI
30. Support Model
Service Desk
1st Tier Support
2nd Tier Support Technician
Business Analyst
Functional
Technical
3rd Tier Support Technician
Issue
Identify/Analyze/Resolve/Route
Analyze/Resolve
Analyze/Resolve
Analyze/Resolve
BizTalk Administrator
Deploy, Monitor, Troubleshoot
Issue
32. • Integration landscape is shifting
• Integration solutions are more distributed
• Monitoring challenges
• Insight is key
• Support is about people, process and tooling
Summary
Introduce myself, and what I do these days. Work at customers, write, experiment and do talks!
What Codit does. Integration in broad sense.
Agenda of the talk
Integration
Before we dive into the evolution of integration, let’s have a look at the application landscape from yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s organizations. Previously, all applications, which were mostly server products, were running in on premise data centers. If we face today’s reality, we see that the majority of the enterprises have a hybrid application landscape: the core applications are still running on premises, but they are already using some SaaS applications in the cloud such as Office365, SharePoint Online or Salesforce. Often, there are also trading partners which they interact with. When looking ahead at the future, cloud-based applications will take over our businesses and also Internet of Things will take a prominent place for certain organizations. Young start-ups have typically already a full cloud-based application landscape, whereas many traditional organizations carry a huge legacy with them. These organizations require a smooth digital transformation, without being disruptive.
Shift from where enterprises stand and move to the cloud. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow spans decades.
Why investment in integration is necessary. Agility is key.
It should be clear that shifting towards the cloud should be a natural evolution, not a revolution. It should be done without disrupting your running business. There are multiple ways to grow as an organization and integration platform gradually towards the cloud. Some organizations perform first a lift and shift towards the cloud and then gradually move towards serverless. Others keep their slowly moving core applications on premises, but add more agility by extending their integration platform through a hybrid setup.
Why should you consider a lift and shift towards Azure Infrastructure as a Service? One reason could be to obtain better availability for your server infrastructure, which can span multiple Azure data centers. Improving your security could be another reason to move to Azure IaaS. Can you secure your data center better than Microsoft does? One example is the power of Azure Security Center, which identifies security threats, which gives you an investigation path when security incidents occur and allow you to take automated actions. In many scenarios, but don’t take it for granted, it allows you to reduce the total cost of ownership. As a last point, it’s important to mention that a lift-and-shift of the integration layer, is mostly part of the global strategy of an organization.
Hybrid to save cost.
Hybrid integration. Why should you consider expanding your on premises integration layer towards the cloud? An important reason is to be more flexible in your application landscape. Almost all modern SaaS applications offer an API layer, trough which you can easily connect your on premise systems, so you can choose a best of breed application. It also allows you to be more agile towards the business and release faster. We often see a two-paced integration: a rather slow moving core on premises and rapidly evolving cloud integration to support the business: e.g. launch quite fast a new sales / marketing campaign. Thanks to a hybrid setup, you can be more innovative than ever before. Don’t forget you have the complete Azure offering at your finger tips. Think about chatbots, sentiment analysis, speech-to-text service, face recognition, machine learning and predictive analysis and integration with Internet of Things. Be creative and innovative! Last but not least, a hybrid setup ensures you are set for the future and ready to tackle the upcoming challenges.
What are to reasons to move to a completely serverless integration hub? By doing this, you can enormously reduce the efforts you put in operations: no more server patching, backups etc… Together with a consumption based billing model, this often results in lower costs, for sure for small and medium-sized organization. Serverless technology scales enormously, which avoids dimensioning servers the right way. Thanks to all these advantages, you can really focus on what matters, and that’s creating value with more innovative integrations than before!
Governance: role based access control, separate subscriptions for prod <> non-prod, read-only access on production
Firewall: dealing with public internet, so good configuration of network security groups
Identity: service principals and managed identities in Active Directory
Access Keys: solid ALM cycle and preferably stored in Azure KeyVault
This is reflected in the following diagram. On premises we have the known integration technologies running, in Azure we can leverage the standard compute and storage options. Networks enables smooth connectivity between on premises and the cloud. Messaging solutions like Service Bus and Event Grid allow great decoupling of application. At the center, we have Logic Apps that orchestrates all integrations that can be extended by Azure Functions and API Apps. From a security and governance perspective, there’s great integration with Azure API Management. Both users and services are given an identity by Azure AD, while we store passwords and keys encrypted in Azure Key Vault. To enable smooth administration and operations, we use VSTS Release Management to rollout the solutions throughout the DTAP street in a consistent manner. A role-based monitoring experienced is offered by App Insights for developers, OMS for operations and Power BI reports for business users.
