What Is an Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) and How Can It Impact Your Organization?

As the lexicon of business automation solutions expands, it’s easy to lose track of the latest innovations. But iPaaS is one term worth committing to memory—as companies continue investing in digital transformation, the potential impact of an iPaaS continues to grow.

What does an iPaaS do?

Integration platform as a service (iPaaS) is a suite of cloud services that helps an organization automate and simplify integration tasks and connect applications and data in any environment.

Though the specific integrations may vary by solution, the purpose of iPaaS solutions is to connect disparate applications, services, and data sources, allowing information to flow between them.

As a result, an iPaaS solutions serve as the central hub for an organization’s processes and data.

Some key benefits of iPaaS solutions include:

• Ensuring data is standardized, regardless of the source.
• Significantly accelerating and simplifying integrations.
• Enhancing the usability of legacy systems and the data they generate.
• Enabling cross-functionality between on-premises and cloud systems.
• Reducing IT department workload by empowering business users with low-code features.
• Automating multistep workflows between solutions from a central hub.

iPaaS vs. PaaS vs. SaaS

On the growing list of as-a-service solutions, PaaS and SaaS are two of the most closely related to iPaaS, but there are important distinctions to note:

• PaaS (platform as a service) solutions (for example, Azure) allow organizations to manage the application development lifecycle, while an iPaaS solution allows organizations to integrate applications.
• SaaS (software as a service) solutions (for example, Salesforce) give users access to cloud-based applications, but an iPaaS solution provides a platform for integrating various applications and data sources, including SaaS solutions.

Essentially, PaaS enables cloud-based application development, SaaS enables access to cloud-based applications, and iPaaS streamlines the integration of various applications and data sources.

How does an iPaaS work?

In the simplest terms, iPaaS solutions take actions based on data generated from defined triggers using “if this, then that” (IFTTT) logic. These real-time, event-driven triggers set off an immediate action. For example, if you receive an email marked as urgent, then an iPaaS solution might create a follow-up reminder on your calendar for the next day.

While that underlying framework of trigger and action is always at play, iPaaS capabilities extend far beyond simple use cases. If you capture data about an address change from the US Postal Service, for example, then an iPaaS solution can create a record in your CRM to alert relevant team members about an opportunity to sell a mortgage or homeowner’s insurance. This same “if this, then that” logic can be applied across any mix of applications in your organization.

These solutions typically come with a selection of pre-built connectors, greatly lightening the burden of integrating disparate systems that don’t necessarily “speak the same language.” And because an iPaaS is often equipped with a very simple user interface, it empowers citizen developers to build integrations that previously required significantly more time and expertise.

Not only can these citizen developers build integrations, but they can also trace workflows through the system. iPaaS solutions provide visibility into integration workflow change history and execution, allowing business users to view information on the triggering object and all subsequent steps in the workflow without support from IT.

Though iPaaS connects on-premises and cloud systems, it will always run as a fully managed cloud solution, meaning no maintenance for IT teams.

Determining if an iPaaS is right for you

The value of iPaaS solutions lies in their ability to connect applications and data across the organization, meaning the number of disparate systems in your organization, the amount of work associated with standardizing data, and the time and effort currently required for integrations should all be factors in your consideration process.

One key benefit of iPaaS solutions is their enablement of citizen developers, so any organization that prioritizes empowering business units to do more with automation is likely to see a significant boost from an iPaaS solution.

Additionally, these solutions may prove particularly valuable for organizations with hybrid operating environments, legacy systems, or a growing body of disparate systems used by various business functions.

Regardless of whether iPaaS feels like the right investment for your organization now, it’s ultimately important to recognize that as technology becomes a more ubiquitous part of all facets of business, integration will become an increasingly vital enabler of value.