It’s difficult to figure out which iPaaS solution is right for your organization. This guide will dive into key features and compare three of the most popular iPaaS systems on the market in 2024.
Whether they’re implementing the latest AI-based solution or investing in a new CRM platform, companies know that the right SaaS can help them stay ahead of the competition. It’s no surprise then that, by some estimates, the average corporate SaaS portfolio ballooned to over 370 apps in 2023.
Unfortunately, many businesses are finding it difficult to manually orchestrate these applications’ numerous, disconnected workflows and to network their data silos together.
Thankfully, there’s a solution: iPaaS, or Integration Platform as a Service. iPaaS is a cloud-based service that enables organizations to connect and automate SaaS workflows, platforms, and processes through a single, centralized management system.
Still, it can be difficult to know which iPaaS solution is right for your organization. With so many to choose from, this guide will dive into the best iPaaS tools and their key features, pointing out what to look for when choosing one and comparing three of the most popular iPaaS systems on the market.
What are the key features of iPaaS?
Above all, iPaaS software allows companies to limit SaaS costs, automate application processes, and synchronize business system transactions.
Every iPaaS platform is hosted and managed by an iPaaS service provider. Because these providers handle hardware updates and security, iPaaS platforms do not require technical support or maintenance. This lowers companies’ technical footprints and operational costs.
What’s more is that iPaaS platforms feature a range of system integrations such as pre-built connectors to popular applications. In addition to improving SaaS reliability, these integrations make it possible for businesses to scale by automating cross-application processes and synchronizing transactions between business systems in real-time.
How should you choose an iPaaS?
But remember: these benefits are only possible when you choose the right iPaaS. Here at Boston SoftDesign, we recommend that you consider three key factors when choosing an iPaaS to streamline your company’s operations:
- Your strategic goals. Before you choose an iPaaS, it’s important to establish your business goals and expectations. Once you’ve identified the problems that you’re trying to solve, you can evaluate the features and costs of different iPaaS solutions.
- Your in-house experience, skills, and capacity. While it’s critical to understand the technical education that a given iPaaS platform will require (so that you can estimate adoption and maintenance costs), it’s equally important to know your teams’ experience, skills, and capacity to ensure that any system that you adapt will be an asset rather than a burden.
- The current scale of your IT processes. Having a clear understanding of your organization’s IT processes will allow an iPaaS provider to design automation systems that meet your specific needs. At Boston SoftDesign, we offer business analysis for companies who are unsure what those processes are or how well they’re functioning.
How do the top iPaaS solutions compare?
Given the hundreds of iPaaS solutions currently on the market, however, where should one start?
To narrow your search, it’s useful to begin by taking a look at the Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Integration Platform as a Service. Published yearly, this tool provides customers with a straightforward breakdown of different iPaaS providers by classifying them as leaders, visionaries, niche players, or challengers:
- Leaders successfully execute their iPaaS vision and are well positioned for the future
- Visionaries have an understanding of the iPaaS market but are not quite meeting their goals
- Niche players focus on small segments of the iPaaS market
- Challengers execute well but do not fully understand the direction of the iPaaS market
To make your search even easier, we’ve assessed three of these iPaaS leaders in depth: MuleSoft (Salesforce), Boomi, and Workato.
1. MuleSoft (Salesforce)
MuleSoft is a popular cloud integration platform that connects SaaS and enterprise applications of all kinds. The company has become a market leader largely thanks to its powerful iPaaS code, which developers revere for its flexibility. Recently acquired by Salesforce, MuleSoft’s iPaaS tool is currently the only integration solution available on its parent company’s UI.
One case study in particular demonstrates the strength of MuleSoft’s iPaaS. When Bayer Crop Science reached out for help establishing a scalable, cross-organizational integration strategy to increase speed-to-market (STM), MuleSoft’s framework enabled them to increase their STM five-fold.
Overall, MuleSoft is an ideal solution for companies with high capacity and well-defined software development lifecycle practices for their software development.
MuleSoft pros:
- Powerful and flexible code
- Seamless integration with existing SDLC and CI/CD pipelines
- Pre-built templates and connectors
- Strong API management capabilities, including reusable assets
MuleSoft cons:
- Requires an experienced development team for implementation and support
- Limited low-code/no-code capabilities
- Low-code and no-code capabilities are focused on the Salesforce ecosystem
2. Boomi
With more than 20 years of experience, Boomi is one of the oldest UI-driven players in the iPaaS space.
Boomi began as an on-premise integration platform before pivoting to SaaS cloud solutions. While its offering has been critiqued for having limited dashboard and tracking capabilities, Boomi maintains a dedicated customer base thanks to its unified user experience and market traction.
One such customer is HappyOrNot (think the smiley face terminals that you’ve seen in a doctor’s office or airport bathroom), who has praised Boomi for helping it to speed up their financial closing time by seven days. More specifically, by using Boomi’s iPaaS to integrate NetSuite and Salesforce, HappyOrNot increased their overall efficiency and ability to scale with a renewed, automated approach to data management.
Boomi pros:
- UI-driven, less need for code development
- Comprehensive support documentation for faster team training
- Quicker time-to-value than competitors such as MuleSoft
Boomi cons:
- Limited monitoring capabilities, requires developers to plan integration well in advance to ensure easier ongoing maintenance
- Somewhat outdated UI, including weak dashboarding and reporting modules
3. Workato
Workato is a cloud-native platform whose iPaaS approach requires zero operational footprint. In many ways, the appearance of Workato’s system is paving the way for the entire market.
Workato’s ability to build automation at any scale, create robust and smart data pipelines (powered by ETL/ELT), and tailor native features for orchestration make it a reliable iPaaS choice for any organization.
For example, the global entertainment provider WWE chose to partner with Workato to replace Salesforce Commerce Cloud with Shopify. With Shopify slated to go live in only ten weeks, there simply wasn’t time to customize the system or train up staff. Thanks to Workato’s ease of use, however, WWE employees were able to begin using the platform immediately—and in turn meet their deadline.
Workato pros:
- SaaS native, adapts to and scales with your business
- Regularly adds new features
- Advanced logging and self-healing with RecipeOps
- Lowest operational footprint for ongoing support
- Fastest time-to-value
Workato cons:
- Requires pre-existing governance to ensure that developers are following best practices and standards
- Simplistic pricing model necessitates more planning (despite being scalable)
BSD takes the guesswork out of iPaaS adoption
At the end of the day, making the right iPaaS choice depends on your company’s specific needs. If your organization is looking to organize and centralize its SaaS portfolio, integrate the customer journey across multiple applications, and free up siloed data, Boston SoftDesign can act as a trusted advisor throughout the entire process. By understanding and assessing the key iPaaS players together, we can help you to identify the iPaaS solution that you need to reach your unique goals.
In addition to having over 25 years of IT experience and certifications in Workato and Boomi, Boston SoftDesign offers system-integration services that streamline and centralize data flows as well as training and tools for self-serve iPaaS integration services. We have worked with countless companies to simplify iPaaS integration. Avid Technology, for example, turned to Boston SoftDesign for help replacing its legacy ESB solution with Workato, which enabled the organization to support rapid growth by automating its complex business processes.
