We rely on the cloud more than ever, whether it’s for personal storage of our photos, or to keep our personal documents safely stored away. That’s why more and more businesses are getting in on these integration platforms to help create a more seamless workflow. With an integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS), companies can build data integration between their cloud service and on-premises applications, while getting rid of any middleman to act as a connector. Let’s take a deeper look at what an iPaaS has to offer.
Understanding iPaaS
As you look into cloud integration, it’s important to understand iPaaS is a Software as a Service (SaaS). It’s an offering that inherits the characteristics of the cloud, accessible anywhere from using an Internet connection and browser. This allows for the proper computation of data sources to make systems work for you and your business. A robust iPaaS also provides a library of connectors that allow your applications to talk to each other, with some for specific apps like Salesforce and some with a communication protocol. These connectors effectively work to make a central system through application integration.
An iPaaS moves data between applications, taking in and pushing out data. This helps to transform any dataset for a specific function. iPaas maps out data flow to both your source and target applications, acting as a translator. This software not only creates seamless integration workflows for different environments but also monitors and manages those integrations. An iPaaS provides a web-based solution to allow any customer to executive integrations between their different systems. This allows them to exchange data at their own pace.
Practical Uses
An iPaaS is a vital component to make for different solutions in a digital transformation. It can help users to exchange data between applications in real-time, enhancing customer and employee experience. This also lays out the facts from artificial intelligence in plain sight for everyone from execs to shareholders to understand this important information. iPaaS also allows migrating data from legacy applications to modern, cloud-based systems that make for more transparency and easier access. This will bring in data from personal information to third-party providers for greater data management.
These software platforms also help to replicate data on a regular basis for analytics and archiving. This will uncover new insights to better customer service, or for a greater understanding of financial reporting. This can be formulated through multiple data sources within a warehouse, or raw data within a data lake. An iPaaS can also integrate external data from sensors into your business processes to get a real-time understanding of your business environment. This makes it easier to integrate smart devices to connect to networks outside of a corporate firewall.
Business Benefits
iPaas can become an unbelievable asset as an integration solution and software application. With this type of integration, you can rely on automation to help your data management team better focus on higher-value activities. Validated connectors that are already integrated with application-specific APIs help to maintain connectors, and ensure compatibility with key applications. This also allows a business to use an iPaaS provider to expand the integration capacity of a company. This reduces the burden on an IT department while changing integrations rapidly.
Perhaps the greatest benefit of iPaaS is bringing your business into the digital age while avoiding significant data loss. This software breaks down barriers between data silos, integrating them together at a high speed and efficiency. It makes the right information available for quick analytics, leading to quick decision-making. This not only helps people work smarter, but also more efficient than ever before, and with full transparency.
Caroline is doing her graduation in IT from the University of South California but keens to work as a freelance blogger. She loves to write on the latest information about IoT, technology, and business. She has innovative ideas and shares her experience with her readers.