Integration as a Cloud Pilot Project
October 27, 2010
It seems IT executives are still a bit skittish over moving their applications to the cloud, a hesitation based largely on lingering concerns about security and compliance concerns.
Smartly, they’re using small projects as a way to test the waters, according to a recent InfoWorld article. Interestingly enough, the “starter” project mentioned in the piece is hosted integration.
RAE Systems CIO Lien Chen says the company originally looked at moving its core ERP software to the cloud, but balked over security concerns. Instead, it decided to integrate an on-premise Oracle ERP system with Salesforce.com’s CRM software – and use Informatica’s Cloud Data Integration service, which was updated in September, to handle the actual integration.
Chen explains the financial savings made it an easy decision. Informatica’s integration-as-a-service offering simply cost less than using Oracle’s integration software or an on-premise appliance, particularly when you factor in consulting services for those solutions.
I found that intriguing, because in the past, integration concerns has been one of the top reasons given by cloud-leery IT leaders. Recent surveys suggest that’s changing, but you do have to wonder: Is it more of a concern if IT is the one who has to handle the integration? I don’t know, but I think if the company in the article is any indicator, it could be a good sign for integration sold as a service.
There are actually only a handful of vendors offering integration via the cloud, including Informatica, Jitterbit, Boomi,CastIron (recently acquired by IBM) and Pervasive. There are also vendors who do offer more traditional, on-premise software- or appliance-based solutions for integrating between the cloud and on-premise, several of which are discussed in this recent TechTarget on cloud-to-enterprise data integration.
Hubspan also offers a cloud-based solution that focuses on integration of business-to-business processes.