Ovum says iPaaS is not yet the ‘silver bullet’ for SaaS integration

Melbourne, 19 July 2012 – Although the value proposition of integration-platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) solutions is attractive, the solutions are not yet mature enough to be used for a wide range of complex integration requirements, according to Ovum. Despite evolving at a fast pace and offering many benefits above other integration approaches, iPaaS is not yet the ‘silver bullet’ for SaaS integration as touted by other analyst firms, and only through careful planning will organisations achieve seamless integration, says the global analyst firm.

Ovum forecasts that global spend on integration solutions will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3 percent between 2011 and 2016, reaching US$14.4bn by the end of 2016. A significant part of this spend will be for SaaS integration solutions, uptake of which is being driven by the increasing complexity of enterprise application portfolios and tight IT budgets. New research* from Ovum suggests that while traditional integration approaches including service-oriented architecture (SOA), custom-code development, and integration outsourcing are ill-suited to the needs of complex integration requirements, cloud-based integration approaches are not the perfect solution either.

“While traditional integration approaches may enable interaction between SaaS and other on-premise and SaaS applications, the associated expenditure and implementation times are not always in line with IT budgets and project plans” says Saurabh Sharma, senior analyst in Ovum’s Software team. “But while cloud-based integration solutions do align well and provide many sought-after benefits, the solutions are not yet completely mature and offer less functionality than what is provided by traditional integration solutions”.

Organizations should exercise caution when selecting a suitable approach to SaaS integration as integration-related expenses are a significant part of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for SaaS solutions. “Only a well-planned approach will ensure that SaaS integration projects are completed on-time, within the allocated IT budgets and, more importantly, deliver the desired end-to-end functionality,” concludes Sharma.