a 360 degree view of saas integration
DESCRIPTION
Overview of integration strategies faced today by both SaaS ISV's and consumers of SaaS. How is the integration problem dealt with today, and what trends are emerging going forward?TRANSCRIPT
A 360 Degree View of Integration:
Overcoming Glue Integration Challenges for ISVs and End
Users
Copyright © 2006 Boomi, Inc. All rights reserved. Boomi, Boomi On Demand, Visual Integration Platform, Atom and AtomSphere and their respective logos are the registered or common law trademarks or service marks of Boomi, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and service marks used in this publication are the property of their respective owners.
Rick Nucci, Co-founder & CTO
Agenda
Agenda
• Market/Technology Leader in Cloud Integration
• Founded in March 2000
• 400+ Clients, 11 Countries
• Backed by FirstMark Capital
AWARD WINNING TECHNOLOGY
-- SYS-CON “Top 100 Cloud Players”
Who is Boomi?
The Glue Between the Enterprise Cloud Ecosystem
What We Do
Connect Once – Integrate Everywhere™
Industry’s Largest Open Network
Agenda
Circa late 90’s
Circa early 2000’s
Source: BPM Institute
Obligatory “SOA Stack”
• This stuff is hard!
• Only accessible to highly specialized/expensive resources
• Re-create the wheel over and over
• Only largest companies participate
What was the problem?
• Closed systems + vendor priorities = API Optional
• Just write to the database!
• Application customization disconnected from API
• Wildly disparate integration standards, invocation models, programming styles
Roots of Integration Complexity
• Closed systems = no traction
• API not optional
• There is no database!
• Multitenancy architecture forces customizations to manifest in API
• We at least agree on a few things
• HTTPS, SOAP/WSDL, REST/WADL
Today: SaaS Connectivity
• ISV’s generally focus on product/platform features
• SI’s fill critical void of deep vertical knowledge
• SI’s fill critical void of PaaS development
• SI’s are transitioning:
• From: send army onsite for months
• To: 90%+ remote engagement, highly leveraged
Today: The New SI
• Who owns the integration problem?
• SaaS ISV – must solve during sales cycle
• Department purchasing SaaS: “I love your solution, show me how it connects to X”
Today: Big mentality shift
ISV’s have transitioned from
• “Here is the stack, good luck!”
To….
• Demo of pre-built integration
Ultimately to….
• Enable customers to try out the integration during trial
Today: Big mentality shift
Agenda
SaaS to Private Data Source
SAAS APPLICATION
TRADITIONAL LOCAL
NETWORK ENVIRONMENT
PUBLIC CLOUD COMPUTE
INFRASTRUCTURE (e.g. AMAZON
EC2)
SaaS to SaaS
YOUR SAAS APPLICATION
SAAS APPLICATION
SAAS APPLICATION
SAAS APPLICATION
INTERMEDIARY(INTEGRATION AS A
SERVICE)
-- IMPORTANT --
These are multitenant API’s. Each tenant using each SaaS app will customize it, and need those customizations for their integrations. This is not “code once per app”!
What happens across these systems?• Data Synchronization
• Keep customer consistent across applications• Business Process Automation
• Minimize human involvement in high volume, low value tasks
• Mashup• Present unified view of data across
applications on the fly• Data Aggregation
• Maintain central data store for BI/Analytics
Primary Integration Patterns
Agenda
Indicators• Department implements first SaaS application• Disconnected from corporate IT
Best Practices• Justify integration investment• Calculate departmental labor cost to manually
enter data and cleanup errors
Ensure integration solution is SaaS like the app• Complementary pricing?• Can you try it out online before buying?• How are upgrades handled?
Leverage pre-built integration if possible
Phase 1: Departmental Initiatives
Financials
CRM
HRIS
SAAS APPLICATIO
N
SAAS APPLICATIO
NSAAS APPLICATIO
NSAAS APPLICATIO
NSAAS APPLICATIO
N
PAAS APPLICATION
Web app
Phase 2: Shift to Enterprise
Spaghetti 2.0???
It’s not about “hosting” integration.
Financials
CRM
HRIS
SAAS APPLICAT
ION
PAAS APPLICAT
ION
SAAS APPLICAT
ION
SAAS APPLICAT
IONSAAS
APPLICATIONSAAS APPLICAT
ION
Web app
SAAS INTEGRATION PLATFORM
-- Centralized development, deployment, administration-- De-centralized runtime
Agenda
Phase 1: Your APIPhase 2: Productization
SaaS ISV Best Practice
Key Success Factors• Your API is part of your product
• Owned by product management• Integrated into SDLC processes
• Don’t charge extra for your API• “Oh, you wanted outlets for your electricity?”
• Think self service• Free, open access to API and documentation
as part of product evaluation• Your customers will come up with smarter
uses of your API than you will
Phase 1: Your API
Best Practices for API Design
The SaaS API Blueprint
Aggregation of API design across SaaS community
Blueprint Assumptions:• Application is B not
C • Application contains
master data e.g. Customer/Employee
• Application is some but not all steps in a business process
• Application is commonly customized by end user
• Leads to N * 5 call proliferation• Harder maintenance & readability, must remember
conventions over time! (“add” or “create”?)• Other ways to declare which operations and objects
supports
Objects, not Operations
YES!
Objects
Customer
Contact
Employee
Operations
browse(obj)
read(obj)
edit(obj)
add(obj)
delete(obj)
NO!
OperationsbrowseCustomer()
readCustomer()
editCustomer()
addCustomer()
deleteCustomer()
browseContact()
readContact()
editContact()
Etc.
• Put semantics in the API not the documentation• Provide API’s for
• Available Objects• Distinguish base vs. custom if supported
• Fields + Definition of a given Object• Occurrences, data types, possible values• Group custom fields into explicit section of
object• Operations supported for a given Object
• WSDL won’t have all the pieces… • If used, generate dynamically based on tenant
Meta data vs. Documentation
• Version your API• Your customers won’t upgrade when you do• Make version part of URL, e.g.
• http://myapp.com/api/3.0• Query by last modified date critical
• Very common approach to capturing changed data • Gate API with consistent batching mechanism• Avoid use of arbitrary name/value pairs
• Creates reliance on documentation
Other API Best Practices
YES!
<CustomFields> <Terms>365</Terms></CustomFields>
NO!
<CustomField name=“Terms”> <Value>365</Value></CustomField>
Phase 1: Your APIPhase 2: Productization
SaaS ISV Best Practice
• Patterns of re-use will emerge across customer implementations
• Implement discovery process• Cross re-usability and market potential
• QuickBooks, Salesforce, Great Plains = GOOD• SAP = BAD
• Package up most popular integrations• What aspect of the integration will be unique from
one customer to the next?• Login cred., custom fields, options, etc.
• Bundle into your application
Phase 2: Productization
Agenda
35
Thank You!Rick Nucci
Boomi801 Cassatt Rd. Suite 120
Berwyn, PA 19312
Boomi Inc. Confidential
Questions?