Table of Contents
- Summary
- iPaaS Primer
- Report Methodology
- Decision Criteria Analysis
- Evaluation Metrics
- Key Criteria: Impact Analysis
- Analyst’s Take
- Methodology
- About GigaOm
- Copyright
1. Summary
Integration platform as a service (iPaaS) solutions help organizations connect diverse applications, services, application programming interfaces (APIs), and data sources across on-premises and cloud environments. These solutions were born out of the need to integrate software as a service (SaaS) applications and tackle the increasing heterogeneity of enterprise application portfolios and data sources. The most common iPaaS use cases are on-premises-to-SaaS, SaaS-to-SaaS, and on-premises-to-on-premises integration.
Traditional integration approaches—including enterprise service bus (ESB)/service-oriented architecture (SOA), enterprise application integration (EAI), and custom-code development—proved to be ill-suited for meeting modern hybrid integration scenarios in an agile manner. Given the increasing need for organizations to do more with less, integration centers of excellence (COEs) have embraced agile approaches to integration, and it is no longer uncommon to see line-of-business (LoB)-led iPaaS adoption.
In certain cases, iPaaS is used as a means to deliver packaged integration for a vendor’s own SaaS applications or those provided by a specific set of independent software vendors (ISVs). For the purposes of this report, we are not considering those iPaaS solutions in which integration capabilities are limited to cloud services brokerage (CSB)/integration brokerage arrangements.
The GigaOm Key Criteria and Radar reports provide an overview of the iPaaS solutions market, identify capabilities (table stakes, key criteria, and emerging technology) and evaluation metrics (non-functional purchase requirements) for selecting an iPaaS solution, and detail vendors and products that excel. These reports give prospective buyers an overview of the top vendors in this sector and help decision-makers evaluate solutions and decide where to invest.
How to Read this Report
This GigaOm report is one of a series of documents that helps IT organizations assess competing solutions in the context of well-defined features and criteria. For a fuller understanding, consider reviewing the following reports:
Key Criteria report: A detailed market sector analysis that assesses the impact that key product features and criteria have on top-line solution characteristics—such as scalability, performance, and TCO—that drive purchase decisions.
GigaOm Radar report: A forward-looking analysis that plots the relative value and progression of vendor solutions along multiple axes based on strategy and execution. The Radar report includes a breakdown of each vendor’s offering in the sector.
Solution Profile: An in-depth vendor analysis that builds on the framework developed in the Key Criteria and Radar reports to assess a company’s engagement within a technology sector. This analysis includes forward-looking guidance around both strategy and product.