Integration Is the Application
Ok – that statement may be a little over the top but I make it in the same spirit as Sun’s vision for so many years that “the network is the computer.” Using that analogy, I absolutely believe that integration is the application in the SaaS paradigm.
I was speaking with the CEO of one of our partner companies last week. He was excited because they had an interesting prospect for their SaaS application and were very close to closing the deal. The prospect liked the functionality of the application and felt it was a good fit for their business. So, the CEO said, all we need to do is integrate them with a few things and we’re all set…
Well the few things turned out to be the prospect’s website, several online trading marketplaces, an on prem point-of-sale system, an on prem financial system, and an online third-party shipping system. Oh and of course the partner’s SaaS application. And please deliver all of that without adding any appreciable cost to my solution such that I get priced out of the deal. Sure – no problem!
In the SaaS world of APIs, web services, and interoperability, it is increasingly common to see highly specialized applications focused on solving a specific business requirement but with very deep and rich functionality. That’s the beauty of a service oriented approach. However, this approach relies heavily on the ability to integrate with other highly specialized apps to deliver a complete and holistic solution to the end customer.
We get calls almost weekly from SaaS ISVs who have built really ingenious and innovative applications for the Web assuming there would be a way to solve their integration needs. They need to get data from multiple disparate data sources both in the cloud and behind the firewall to make their application “sing” and find that traditional on premise integration software packages or hardware appliances have become a sales and implementation hurdle as well as a long term scaling issue.
Integration, and the ability to deliver integration as a service, is quickly becoming a competitive imperative. It’s not enough to just offer APIs to your customers. Increasingly consumers of software as a service also want to buy integration as a service as well. They want a complete and integrated solution that works “out of the box,” can be deployed rapidly, and begins delivering value immediately. When you buy appliances for your house, they come with cords and plugs – you don’t need to be an electrician to use them. Integration is the application…
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