Integration as a service (IaaS)

• Integration as a service, sometimes referred to as IaaS, is a cloud-based delivery model

that strives to connect on-premises data with data located in cloud-based applications.
• This paradigm facilitates real-time exchange of data and programs among enterprise-wide
systems and trading partners.
• In business-to-business (B2B) integration, integration as a service allows partners to
develop, maintain and manage custom integrations for diverse systems and applications in
the cloud.
• In this way, the enterprise can more effectively pursue process innovations without the
need to constantly modify and maintain diverse and often incompatible application
programs.
• Hence it is logical to take the integration middleware to clouds to simplify and streamline
the enterprise-to-enterprise (E2E), enterprise-to-cloud (E2C) and cloud-to-cloud (C2C)
integration.
THE EVOLUTION OF SaaS
• software as a service. This paradigm-shifting model of delivering software has
revolutionized the way businesses operate, from startups to multinational
corporations.
• SaaS paradigm is on fast track due to its innate powers and potentials. Executives,
entrepreneurs, and end-users are ecstatic about the tactic as well as strategic success
of the emerging and evolving SaaS paradigm.
• A number of positive and progressive developments started to grip this model.
Newer resources and activities are being consistently readied to be delivered as a
service.
• Among SaaS's main benefits was its capacity to make technology more accessible.
• Large organizations with huge IT budgets could now access the same high-quality
software that was previously only offered to small and medium-sized firms.
• This created a level playing field and made it possible for smaller businesses to
compete internationally.
The Modern SaaS Landscape
The evolution of SaaS has brought about profound changes in the way businesses operate,
manage data, and interact with their customers.
Improved Integration and Customization:
• SaaS providers now recognize the importance of seamlessly integrating their solutions
with other software systems that businesses use. This interoperability enhances the overall
efficiency and effectiveness of software ecosystems.
• SaaS providers offer greater customization options, enabling businesses to tailor software
to their specific needs.
IT as a Service (ITaaS)
It is the most recent and efficient delivery method in the decisive IT landscape.
‘IT as a service (ITaaS)’. This is accentuated due to the pervasive Internet. Also we are
bombarded with innumerable implementation technologies and methodologies.
• Clouds, as indicated above, is the most visible and viable infrastructure for realizing
ITaaS.
• Another influential and impressive factor is the maturity obtained in the consumption-
based metering and billing capability. HP even proclaims this evolving trend as
‘everything as a service’.
Integration as a service (IaaS)
• It is the budding and distinctive capability of clouds in fulfilling the business integration
requirements. Increasingly business applications are deployed in clouds to reap the
business and technical benefits.
• IaaS vendors will focus more on creating user-friendly tools with a flat learning curve.
This trend aligns with the current increase in preference for easy-to-use, low-code
(possibly no-code) solutions.
• Moving on from custom scripts, middleware, adapters, ETL (extract, transform, load)
tools, and ESBs (enterprise service bus) might take a minute, but it is inevitable. Users
will opt for more flexible IaaS alternatives to automate workflow integration across
several platforms.
• And AI will play a massive role in this. Future IaaS tools will use machine learning
algorithms to recommend integration configurations to guarantee the best results. AI
tools will also clean up your data and handle other redundant tasks involved in
integrations.
Clouds, being the Web-based infrastructures are the best fit for hosting scores of unified
and utility-like platforms
1. The Web is the largest digital information superhighway
2. The Web is the largest repository of all kinds of resources such as web pages,
applications comprising enterprise components, business services, beans, POJOs, blogs,
corporate data, etc.
3. The Web is turning out to be the open, cost-effective and generic business execution
platform (E-commerce, business, auction, etc. happen in the web for global users)
comprising a wider variety of containers, adaptors, drivers, connectors, etc.
4. The Web is the global-scale communication infrastructure (VoIP, Video conferencing, IP
TV etc,)
5.The Web is the next-generation discovery, Connectivity, and integration middleware
THE CHALLENGES OF SaaS PARADIGM
As with any new technology, SaaS and cloud concepts too suffer a number of limitations.
Hybrid IT Infrastructure

• More and more companies are aiming for a hybrid IT infrastructure that combines on-
premise software with SaaS applications. However, integrating SaaS with your existing IT
infrastructure can become the biggest hurdle.

• Though public cloud services bring a lot of benefits, failure to integrate SaaS tools with
existing IT tools and software can negate its benefits.

• In order to facilitate this cloud integration, SaaS providers and your IT staff need to work
closely together
Integration Issues
• Inadequate integration can result in a variety of issues such as accounting or sales data not
syncing with the CRM.
• Since users keep making changes and uploading files in different systems, things can go
wrong if the data isn’t updated properly across all systems.
• For example, billing errors can occur and the system might start sending invoices to the
wrong recipients.
Integration Cost
• Integration requires highly skilled professionals who might not be part of every IT team.
This can raise the implementation cost as SaaS integration cost can be quite high.
• Businesses may need to hire external resources such as Integration as a Service
companies. The best strategy to cut integration costs is to select a solution that offers
seamless integration with all the systems a business is using and preferably comes with an
open API.
Access Control
• Access control is another challenge businesses face when transitioning into the cloud. That’s
mainly because the monitoring settings and access control does not always carry forward
smoothly from traditional software to a SaaS solution.
• Admins need to have complete control over who can access what, but they might be unaware of
access at times, especially during the transition phase.
Data Security
• This is one of the biggest challenge businesses face when transitioning to cloud-based services.
Research shows that nearly 60% people use the same password for most of their accounts, while
many use passwords that are too easy to guess such as 123456. This means if a provider gets
hacked, chances are good that the hackers will also gain access to other accounts of a customer.
• This makes security a serious challenge all businesses have to overcome to safeguard their
valuable data. Different security measures businesses can take in this regard include using 2-
factor authentication (at least for employees who have access to sensitive data) and encryption of
both data storage and transmission.
APPROACHING THE SaaS INTEGRATION ENIGMA
• Integration as a Service (IaaS) is all about the migration of the functionality of a typical
enterprise application integration (EAI) hub / enterprise service bus (ESB) into the cloud
for providing for smooth data transport between any enterprise and SaaS applications.
• Users subscribe to IaaS as they would do for any other SaaS application. Cloud
middleware is the next logical evolution of traditional middleware solutions. That is, cloud
middleware will be made available as a service.
• Due to varying integration requirements and scenarios, there are a number of middleware
technologies and products such as JMS compliant message queues and integration
backbones such as EAI, ESB, EII, EDB, CEP, etc. For performance sake, clusters, fabrics,
grids, and federations of hubs, brokers, and buses are being leveraged.
Why SaaS Integration is hard?
• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) integration can be challenging due to various reasons. Here
are a few explanations:
1. Complexity of integration: Integrating SaaS applications with existing on-premise or
cloud-based systems can be a complex process. Each SaaS application may have its own
unique APIs, data formats, security models, and integration mechanisms. This can make it
difficult for organizations to integrate their SaaS applications with other systems.
2. Lack of standardization: There is no standardization in the SaaS industry regarding APIs,
data formats, and integration protocols. Each SaaS vendor may have its own approach to
integration, which can lead to interoperability challenges.
3. Security concerns: Integrating SaaS applications can pose security risks, such as exposing
sensitive data to unauthorized access. Integrating different SaaS applications can increase the
attack surface, making it harder to secure.
4.Vendor lock-in: SaaS vendors may use proprietary data formats and APIs that can make it
difficult to migrate to a different SaaS vendor. This can lead to vendor lock-in, which can
increase costs and limit flexibility.
5. Integration with legacy systems: Many organizations have legacy systems that were not
designed to work with modern SaaS applications. Integrating these legacy systems with SaaS
applications can be a complex and time-consuming process.
6. Cost: Integrating SaaS applications can be expensive, requiring significant investment in
integration middleware, specialized skills, and ongoing maintenance.
NEW INTEGRATION SCENARIOS
Cloud Integration Scenarios
Within a Public Cloud
Two different applications are hosted in a cloud. The role of the cloud integration
middleware (say cloud-based ESB or internet service bus (ISB)) is to seamlessly enable
these applications to talk to each other.
The possible sub-scenarios include these applications can be owned by two different
companies. They may live in a single physical server but run on different virtual machines
Homogeneous Clouds
The applications to be integrated are posited in two geographically separated cloud
infrastructures.
The integration middleware can be in cloud 1 or 2 or in a separate cloud. There is a need for
data and protocol transformation and they get done by the ISB.
homogeneous cloud platforms are built on a standardized set of technologies, often from
a single vendor, providing a more consistent and integrated experience across the entire
cloud environment.”
The approach is more or less compatible to enterprise application integration procedure.
Heterogeneous Clouds
One application is in public cloud and the other application is private cloud
Heterogeneous cloud platforms consist of a mix of different technologies, vendors, and
deployment models, offering greater flexibility and choice to users
• A heterogeneous cloud, on the other hand, integrates public and private components from more
than one vendor, either at:
Different levels, such as a management tool from one vendor driving a hypervisor from
another
The same level, where a single management tool drives multiple hypervisors
• For example, you’d choose a public cloud provider, like Azure, GCP, or AWS, and then pair it
with a private offering like those from VMware, CloudStack, or OpenStack.
THE INTEGRATION METHODOLOGIES
Excluding the custom integration through hand-coding, there are three types for cloud
integration
1. Traditional Enterprise Integration Tools can be empowered with special connectors to
access Cloud-located Applications
absolutely right! Traditional enterprise integration tools can be equipped with special
connectors to access cloud-located applications. This approach bridges the gap between older
on-premise systems and modern cloud services, enabling a more unified IT landscape.
As indicated earlier, there are several popular and pioneering enterprise integration methods
and platforms such as EAI/ESB,
Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) and Enterprise Service Bus (ESB): These are
traditional tools designed for on-premise system integration.
Challenge: They often lack built-in capabilities to directly connect with cloud applications
due to differing protocols and security standards.
2. Traditional Enterprise Integration Tools are hosted in the Cloud
There's a clarification needed regarding traditional enterprise integration tools and the cloud. While
some EAI and ESB tools are now offered as cloud-based services (iPaaS - Integration Platform as a
Service), traditionally these tools have been deployed on-premises.
Traditional On-Premise Tools:
• Deployment: These tools are installed and run on your own servers within your data center.
• Benefits:
– Offer greater control over security and data privacy.
– May be suitable for organizations with strict compliance requirements.
• Drawbacks:
– Higher upfront costs for hardware and software licenses.
– Requires dedicated IT staff for installation, maintenance, and updates.
It is a good fit for cloud-to-cloud (C2C) integration, but requires a secure VPN tunnel to access
on-premise corporate data. An example of a hosted integration technology is Informatica Power
Center Cloud Edition on Amazon EC2.
3 . Integration-as-a-Service (IaaS) or On-Demand Integration Offerings
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS), which falls under the umbrella of cloud-based services.
Here's a breakdown of iPaaS and how it compares to on-demand integration offerings:
Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS):
• Cloud-based integration platform: An iPaaS is a suite of tools and services delivered on-demand
over the internet. It provides a platform for building, deploying, and managing integrations
between applications and data sources.
• Benefits:
– Faster deployment and scalability: Easier to set up and scale up/down resources as needed
compared to on-premise tools.
– Reduced IT burden: Vendor manages infrastructure and updates, freeing up your IT staff for
other tasks.
– Subscription-based pricing: Often more cost-effective than upfront licensing costs of
traditional tools.
– Pre-built connectors: Many iPaaS platforms offer pre-built connectors to popular applications,
simplifying integration.
On-Demand Integration Offerings:
• Broader category: This encompasses various services that provide integration
capabilities on-demand. It can include:
– Managed Integration Services (MIS): A service where a provider manages the entire
integration process for you.
– Cloud-based API Management Tools: Platforms specifically designed for managing
APIs used for integrations.
– Custom Integration Development: Development of custom integration solutions
tailored to specific needs.
• Flexibility: Offers more flexibility in terms of service options and customization
compared to a single iPaaS platform.
Characteristics of Integration Solutions and Products.
Integration solutions and products bridge the gap between different applications and systems,
allowing them to communicate and exchange data seamlessly
Data connectivity: Ability to connect to various data sources, both on-premise and cloud-based. This
includes databases, applications, APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), and legacy systems.

Semantic Mediation refers to the ability to account for the differences between application semantics
between two or more systems. When two different and distributed systems are linked, the differences
between their own yet distinct semantics have to be covered.

Data Mediation converts data from a source data format into destination data format. Coupled with
semantic mediation, data mediation or data transformation is the process of converting data from one
native format on the source system, to another data format for the target system.
Data Migration is the process of transferring data between storage types, formats, or
systems. Data migration means that the data in the old system is mapped to the new systems,
typically leveraging data extraction and data loading technologies.

Data Security means the ability to insure that information extracted from the source systems
has to securely be placed into target systems.

Data Integrity means data is complete and consistent. Thus, integrity has to be guaranteed
when data is getting mapped and maintained during integration operations, such as data
synchronization between on-premise and SaaS-based systems.
Data Integration Engineering Lifecycle
• The Data Integration Engineering Lifecycle (DIEL) is a structured approach to managing
data across its entire lifecycle, from acquisition to analysis.
• It provides a framework for ensuring that data is consistently collected, transformed,
integrated, and delivered to those who need it.
Mr. David Linthicum, a world-renowned integration expert, are understanding, definition,
design, implementation, and testing
The DIEL consists of several key stages:
Understanding the existing problem domain means defining the metadata that is native within the
source system (say Salesforce.com) and the target system (say an on-premise inventory system). By
doing this, there is a complete semantic understanding of both source and target systems. If there are
more systems for integration, the same practice has to be enacted
Definition refers to the process of taking the information culled during the previous step and
defining it at a high level including what the information represents, ownership, and physical
attributes.
This contributes a better perceptive of the data being dealt with beyond the simple metadata. This
insures that the integration process proceeds in the right direction.
Design
This defines how the data is to be extracted from one system or systems, transformed so it appears to
be native, and then updated in the target system or systems.
This is increasingly done using visual-mapping technology there is a need to consider both security
and governance and also consider these concepts within the design of the data integration solution.
Implementation refers to actually implementing the data integration solution within the selected
technology.

This means connecting the source and the target systems, implementing the integration flows as
designed in the previous step, and then other steps required getting the data integration solution up-
and-running

Testing refers to assuring that the integration is properly designed and implemented and that the
data synchronizes properly between the involved systems. This means looking at known test data
within the source system and monitoring how the information flows to the target system.

It review the overall performance, durability, security, modifiability and sustainability of the
integrated systems
SaaS INTEGRATION PRODUCTS AND PLATFORMS
• Cloud-centric integration solutions are being developed and demonstrated for showcasing
their capabilities for integrating enterprise and cloud applications.
• Composition and collaboration will become critical and crucial for the mass adoption of
clouds

Jitterbit, Boomi Software, Bungee Connect, OpSource Connect, The Pervasive DataCloud,
Bluewolf, Online MQ, CloudMQ, Linxter.
Jitterbit:
• Jitterbit is a fully graphical integration solution that provides users a versatile platform
suite of productivity tools to reduce the integration efforts sharply.
• Jitterbit can be used standalone or with existing EAI infrastructures Help us quickly
design, implement, test, deploy, and manage the integration projects
Two major components :
• Jitterbit Integration Environment
An intuitive point-and-click graphical UI that enables to quickly configure, test, deploy and
manage integration projects on the Jitterbit server.
• Jitterbit Integration Server
A powerful and scalable run-time engine that processes all the integration operations, fully
configurable and manageable from the Jitterbit application.
Jitterbit is making integration easier, faster, and more affordable than ever before. Using
Jitterbit, one can connect force.com with a wide variety of on-premise systems including
ERP, databases, flat files and custom applications.
Boomi Software
• Boomi, also known as Boomi AtomSphere, is a cloud-based integration platform as a service
(iPaaS) offered by Dell Technologies.
• It allows organizations to connect applications, data sources, and devices across cloud and on-
premises environments, enabling seamless data and application integration.
• Boomi provides a visual interface for designing integration processes, making it accessible to
both technical and non-technical users.
Connectivity: Supports a wide range of connectors for integrating various applications and
data sources, including SaaS applications, on-premises systems, databases, and more.
Integration: Facilitates the creation of integration workflows (integration processes)
through a drag-and-drop interface, allowing users to map data transformations and
automate workflows.
Master Data Hub: Offers capabilities for managing master data across applications,
ensuring consistency and accuracy of critical business data.
API Management: Provides tools for managing APIs, including designing, publishing,
securing, and analyzing APIs to enable digital transformation initiatives.
Linxter
• Linxter is a cloud messaging framework for connecting all kinds of applications, devices,
and systems.
• Linxter is a behind-the-scenes, message oriented and cloud-based middleware technology
and smoothly automates the complex tasks that developers face when creating
communication-based products and services. (Internet-enabled)
• Anything that is connected to the Internet can connect to each other through the Linxter’s
dynamic communication channels.
• These channels move data between any number of endpoints and the data can be
reconfigured on the fly, simplifying the creation of communication-based products and
services.
• Linxter is being hosted in clouds, messaging is being provided as a service to hundreds of
distributed and enterprise applications using the much-maligned multi-tenancy property.
• “Messaging middleware as a service (MMaaS)” is the grand derivative of the SaaS
paradigm. Thus integration as a service (IaaS) is being accomplished through this
messaging service.
SaaS INTEGRATION SERVICES
• Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is a software distribution model in which customers pay a
subscription fee to access software hosted online by a cloud provider from any internet-enabled
device.
• SaaS providers put their SaaS product on a cloud service like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and
allow users to access it via the internet using their login credentials.
• Context-aware applications covering all kinds of constituents and participants (self surroundings
and situation-aware devices, sensors, robots, instruments, media players, consumer electronics,
information appliances, etc.),
• In a particular environment (home, hotel, hospital, office, station, stadium etc.), enterprise
systems, integration middleware, cloud services and knowledge engines can be built and
sustained.
Informatica On-Demand
Informatica offers a number of on-demand SaaS services that can help businesses manage
their data in the cloud.
There are a few key benefits to leveraging this maturing technology
• Rapid development and deployment with zero maintenance of the integration technology.
• Automatically upgraded and continuously enhanced by vendor
• Informatica Cloud Data Integration (ICDI): This service allows businesses to integrate
data from a variety of sources, both on-premises and in the cloud. It includes tools for
data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL), as well as real-time and batch data
integration.
• Customer 360 SaaS: This is an all-in-one data management solution that includes data
quality, master data management, and data governance capabilities. It is designed to be
easy to use for business analysts and data stewards, with self-service mastering, guided
workflows, and a user-friendly interface.
Microsoft Internet Service Bus (ISB)
The Microsoft Internet Service Bus (ISB) was an early concept introduced by Microsoft to
facilitate secure and reliable messaging and communication between applications and
services over the internet. It was part of Microsoft's cloud services strategy, aiming to
simplify the integration of disparate systems and enable interoperability across different
platforms.
.NET Service Bus. The .NET Service Bus provides a hosted, secure, and broadly accessible
infrastructure for pervasive communication, large scale event distribution, naming, and
service publishing.
Relay Services
Relay service is a service residing in the cloud whose job is to assist the connectivity and
relaying the calls to the service. Relay Service solution require both the client and the
service intranets to allow connections to the cloud.
BUSINESSES-TO-BUSINESS INTEGRATION (B2Bi) SERVICES
• Mashups are the adept combination of different and distributed resources including content, data
or application functionality.
• Mashup platform is a Web based tool that allows the creation of Mashups by piping resources
into Gadgets and wiring Gadgets together.
• The Identity Management users have to identify themselves against the user-access control
service. This service is connected to a user management service, which controls the users and
their settings.
• The routing engine takes care of processing the inputs received from the Mashup platforms and
forwarding them to the right recipient. The routing is based on rules, which can be configured
through an API.
• The translation engine has an interface which allows connecting other external translation
engines to add support for additional protocol and data standards.
• The message queue is responsible for storing and forwarding the messages controlled by the
routing engine. Beneath the message queue, a persistent storage, also connected via an API to
allow exchangeability, is available to store large data.
• The error handling and monitoring service allows tracking the message-flow to detect errors and
to collect statistical data.
A FRAMEWORK OF SENSOR—CLOUD INTEGRATION
Stream Monitoring and Processing Component (SMPC)
A Stream Monitoring and Processing Component (SMPC) is a software module designed to
continuously ingest, process, and analyze streaming data. This data typically comes from
various sources, including sensors, IoT devices, social media feeds, financial market data,
and more.
• So the SMPC component running on the cloud monitors the event streams and invokes
correct analysis method
Registry component (RC). Different SaaS applications register to pub-sub broker for various
sensor data required by the community user.
Analyzer component (AC). When sensor data or events come to the pub-sub broker, analyzer
component determines which applications they are belongs to and whether they need
periodic or emergency deliver.
A Disseminator Component (DC) is responsible for distributing processed information or
data to relevant recipients or systems. it disseminates sensor data or events to subscribed
users using the event matching algorithm. It can utilize cloud’s parallel execution framework
for fast event delivery.(Alerting systems, Reporting systems, Marketing automation)
Mediator. The (resource) mediator is a policy-driven entity within a virtual organization VO to
ensure that the participating entities are able to adapt to changing circumstances and are able to
achieve their objectives in a dynamic and uncertain environment.
Once a VO is established, the mediator controls which resources to be used of the collaborating
CLPs, how this decision is taken, and which policies are being used.
A mediator holds the initial policies for VO creation and works in conjunction with its local
Collaborating Agent (CA) to discover external resources and to negotiate with other Cloud Provider
(CLP)s.
Policy Repository (PR). The PR virtualizes all of the policies within the VO. It includes the mediator
policies, VO creation policies along with any policies for resources delegated to the VO as a result
of a collaborating arrangement.
These policies form a set of rules to administer, manage, and control access to VO resources. They
provide a way to manage the components in the face of complex technologies.
Collaborating Agent (CA). The CA is a policy-driven resource discovery module for VO creation
and is used as a conduit by the mediator to exchange policy and resource information with other
CLPs.
It is used by a primary CLP to discover the collaborating CLPs’ (external) resources.