I'm an Integration Developer and starting with a company that hasn't adopted SOA or a decopled tiered approach to the integration architecture. I would describe the current architecture as mainly as one-off custom "point-to-point" and tightly coupled integrations, mainly done with custom coding embedded in our ERP system and our ERP system's integration broker. We may be moving away from this ERP vendor, so for new integrations, we'd like to leverage a lot looser coupling and reusable, scalable approach.
Currently, our ERP system is on-premise, so we definitely need a hybrid solution that can work with on-premise and cloud for the future possibilities.
I've been mainly looking at Gartner Magic Quadrants for either "Enterprise Integration Architecture" and "Data Integration". There seems to be some overlap here in terms of capabilities. I also don't fully understand if we need an ESB type of solution or not.
The current short list of capabilities we have in mind are:
SOA architecture, data transformation, API management\monitoring, B2B, EDI, Master Data Mgmt, Rapid Development tools, Self-Service integration pieces.
Our basic needs are to allow for many external partners to be able to submit orders for promotional and wearable products into our system. We envision building SOA/API's to support these upcoming sales order integrations and then transforming\mapping as needed to get these orders into our ERP system seamlessly. The idea being we have a tiered, decoupled approach to the processing of these orders, so we can reuse as much as possible for each subsequent integration and to not have this embedded in the ERP system. We have a similar scenario for many upcoming vendor integrations, where we would build SOA/API's so vendors that supply the products and typically do a direct-ship of products, could let us know in real-time when the products have shipped so we can do the billing right away.
We are a small software development team and will only have one or two developers working on this platform as we use this new platform for new integration projects that happen in the future. We definitely need the solution to be scalable in terms of pricing as we only may be able to invest less than 25k in year 1 of this investment in integration platforms.
Here's the top 3 solutions I've found in my research that I think would meet our priorities and have good communities and technical support, but I'm not sure they have flexible enough pricing to scale with us and we start out small with this type of solution.
1. Mulesoft AnyPoint and Runtime.
2. Dell Boomi AtomSphere.
3. Jitterbit Harmony.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the best fit for our situation, from this list or other solutions.
Thanks,
Jon
From my point of view, the Microsoft Azure solution (APIM, ServiceBus, VPN GateWay etc.) will be the most suitable for the scenario described.
Hi,
If you are looking for a cost-effective solution you should look to the Google Cloud Platform. It offers a lot of possibilities and you only pay processing time.
We are using this platform to integrate data from SAP and other systems and are still discovering the possibilities of the platform. After 3 months of intensive development and testing with 4-5 people, the cost is not exceeding 250 Euro. Our knowledge when we started was nihil.
I don't thank you'll find a better engineered, well though out, and higher performing platform than Boomi. In conjunction with Boomi flow (formerly ManyWho) for BPM, Boomi can handle all of your integration needs. Probably the slickest offering on the market.
You have to clearly look at integration/data exchange patterns for real-time/ near real-time / batch between ERP and your client systems. An integration reference architecture identifying integration points is key. The tools highlighted don't sound they may check the box on everything. Key is rationalizing your patterns with the right fit for purpose stack
and conduct a few use case-based technology validations. I would say pick a client/clients for a pilot as well and keep evolving.
If you have a budget constraint, limit your validations to pilot clients, but use the reference architecture to guide integrations and validations.
I would suggest a lean DevOps with a CI/CD (Continuous integration/ Continuous delivery) construct to keep constantly delivering outcomes preferably with cloud. Only a cloud will give you the flexibility to start small and expand as you need.
This is the best answer I can give you given your situation. For more details, call me to discuss.
We are currently on-prem on Oracle ERP 11i and planning to migrate to Cloud Version. I have been looking at the middleware tools and finally want to go with Oracle PaaS technology with the Oracle Integration Cloud Services. I am not sure if Dell Boomi and Cast Iron could be leveraged to build complex integrations with the flexibility and scalability in mind. We have very many third-party integrations and wanted to embrace much reliable middleware that could be scalable in point of time. I wish to add, MFT services, API management, AI and ML to the existing as we move forward.
You could try SOACS or Apiary from Oracle. The licensing prices are available and can be checked into.
I would add SnapLogic into that mix but the three he listed along with SnapLogic are the top modern iPaaS platforms currently. Not sure what direction Salesforce will take Mulesoft.
SnapLogic is more of an enterprise scale solution and may be too expensive. I currently building the platform he references for my firm using an ecosystem approach as this area is complex and no one technology can cover all of it. We are focused on a microservices approach to delivering specific capabilities in each of the areas referenced below.
As considering the definitive cost factor, the only ESB (that I would use in that cost level) that has equal licensing costs comes from JBoss (or RedHat, if the commercial support is needed).
I have had now few projects where the RH’s Fuse has been used and it has been adequate to all customer requirements.
Personally, I have not any experience of the Jitterbit Harmony, so that also could solve your needs.
I’m not sure that would the Mule standard version fulfill all your needs, as usually, you have soon to get it’s Enterprise version to solve your needs/regs. But, otherwise, the Mule is very powerful also.
To my knowledge, the Mule Enterprise and Dell Boom do have a much higher price tag.
Thanks,
Art
IBM APP connect provides an integration hub for complex integrations inside
enterprise.
It offers cloud solution as well and is suitable to be the glue application
for no matter on-premise or cloud applications.
If a client needs to expose their API to external partners, I would like to
suggest another IBM product named APIC which is an API gateway similar to
Mulesoft AnyPoint listed below.
I would recommend to use Mulesoft AnyPoint and Runtime for your scenarios mentioned below
And also explore & follow API-Led Connectivity integration architecture, design & implementation approach during API Lifecycle (that can scale & reusable) and wish you also look into examples in MuleSoft Exchange to speed up the development process.
Search in MuleSoft Exchange for “Catalyst Accelerator for Retail” to look into reference API-led Connectivity implementation templates & RAML Specs.
From Cost perspective, please reach out to MuleSoft Sales team for negotiated prices.
Thanks!
Bharath
HI, Jon
I'm sorry I can not help you since I do not know any of the tools technically. I think it is very important, in addition to the tool, to be clear about the functional architecture that you want to define. I mean the services that you want to define (expose) and the granularity of each of them.
· If the functionality you expose must "coordinate" several services of your ERP, you will need an ESB.
· If the functionalities are very granular you will not need an ESB.
· If the functionalities are complex but are resolved by the ERP, you will not need the ESB either
·, In summary, you will need an ESB when your internal architecture is composed of microservices that you must coordinate to expose a functionality.
·
Whenever you can, I would start trying to expose services that are resolved directly by the ERP, thus avoiding the need for an ESB
Hi Jon,
I am not sure if you have received your preferred response so far. But, if you are not satisfied, I would suggest you to check Magic xpi Integration Platform.
Magic xpi is fast, no-code and scalable ESB solution. You won't find us listed in Magic quadrant, but we can fit your mentioned budget along with the expected quality solution. For further information you can drop me an email on rupesh_bhat@magicsoftware.com and I will connect you to the appropriate person in your region as per your availability.
Cheers,
Rupesh
I work for a company called Intentsys and we are an independent partner specialising in Mulesoft, Workato and Dell Boomi. Any one of these platforms would do the job for you but if you want an unbiased view please contact me directly at my email address chris@intentsys.net
Yes, we see a lot of this kind of scenario.
I’d advise this customer to take a look at Red Hat JBoss Fuse for ESB/integration: it’s a lightweight integration and ESB using Tomcat and A-MQ, pricing is annual support subscription only, based on the number of CPU cores. It scales on-prem and to the cloud, especially if moving to a container-based, micro-services architecture. This is Red Hat’s OpenShift Container Platform (OCP). APIs can be built and managed, integrated using Red Hat 3scale. All very affordable, consumption-based pricing, using hardened, enterprise-grade open source software.
Let me know if you need more. We’re doing a lot of Red Hat down under and I can put your customer in touch with the right Red Hatter to discuss further, wherever they are based.
Hi Jon,
I have worked on all of these 3 platforms and here are my view points:
- mulesoft : this one is really robust and now have been bought by
Salesforce ( and being launched as Salesforce integration cloud) so if you
have Salesforce as one of the system in your ecosystem then this might be a
choice (but the fact is that stand-alone any point or Salesforce Mulesoft
might be on the expensive side for your case and I highly doubt the
integration points you are talking about could be achieved under 25 k using
Mule)
- Dell boomi and Jitterbit are both equally capable of achieving the result
you are looking at! Both even stable and scalable and perfect for SME, even
I have few Large enterprise clients using them too
- or you might have another option, may not be under your budget but a good
strategy to have Amazon kinesis and Bucket which allows you to creat a data
lake and transform the streams into respective destination. I don’t want to
confuse you with this option but making sure you also have this as a
consideration ( but I had suggested few of my clients with amazon along
with ESB too to cater to highly transient data flow streams )
Hopefully it helps you!
Regards
Bibhu
Hi,
Since you have mentioned reading up on Gartner’s report, have you also take a look at Informatica and the solution we provide? Key points:
1. Informatica solution is a zero-coding solution where building mappings for integration are done by wizards or dragon-and-drop functionality.
2. You mention having a lot of Point-to-point connections and it sounds like there is a giant spider web of integration jobs. Informatica Data Integration Hub can solve this challenge by integrating all of your data through a single system, regardless of its location, size or format. Modernize your analytics and application integration with data hub-based distribution of trustworthy data to all applications in parallel.
3. Informatica Cloud has the capability to integrate with on-premise or cloud applications. A hybrid cloud solution allows the company to deploy a service or application quickly, scale it smoothly as demand changes, locate it optimally, and still keep sensitive data more secure and private. Here is a story of Matrix Service utilizing Informatica for their hybrid data management strategy. www.informatica.com
4. Regarding your list of capabilities you have in mind, Informatica has best-of-breed products and solution that are not only for IT and developers to use but also business user-friendly.
Contact info: now.informatica.com One of our BDMs will respond within 24 hours.
Hi Jon,
Workato is another option. There are options out there that can position you for success going forward. If you'd like to discuss further and, even better, just start trying out Workato, don't hesitate to register for an account and they will help you get a real integration recipe built out at a new level of speed. www.workato.com You can start building "recipes" (automation workflows) right away.
Or email me directly at ashley@workato.com.
Good luck and hope to hear from you!
Cheers,
Ashley
Should also consider Snaplogic.
My approach shifted from searching a technology-based solution to a data standard solution. Try contacting ECCMA on ISO 8000 Data Quality. Their data solution is software neutral, liberating you from being tied up to a particular ERP... you can Google it.
Talend platform can help with this.
since integration is key in this aspect, you need to be able to a) connect with ease and without limitation and b) scale your platform as the requirements grows without being limited by costs and excessive systems requirements, and finally C) improving productivity through the reuse of what you've already created.
Talend offers a modular approach to their platform, you scale this depending on your requirement so you only pay for what you need.
The modules available are form open source to enterprise Data integration, data quality, ESB, MDM, real time big data, metadata manager, API manager RESTLET, self service applications: Data preparation and data stewardship.
connectivity is a major point since 900+ connectors are available out of the box and more are available from the open source community, alongside API and JDBC type approach.
ease of use:
Visual UI that uses a drag and drop approach, Source systems on the left, target systems on the right- from there you practically draw your integration job.
Talend admin Console:
a single console to govern all talend modules, allows for scheduling, automation, access to shared repository, monitoring and managing deployments etc. developer cooperations, code reusability, impact analysis, governance rules, etc
Code Reusability: Talend offers a native code generator, where development can start off in (eg. Java and when required can later be generated in Spark, Mapreduce, or storm or any other code.
this element is also available with regards to the repository since you can access code already created( as long as governance rules permit)
commercial factor: talend price is based on the number of talend developers: so in your case, you'll only need to think about one or two developer licenses.
in fact with less than 25k , you can have an annual subscription of a hybrid talend cloud integration platform, giving access to Data Integration, Data quality, Bigdata with multiple remote and cloud engines included.
There is no charge for the amount of data you use, and all connectors and support is out of the box.
Infact, if you wanted, you can actually start integrating your systems using the open source tool: Talend Open studio for data integration and when you're ready, you can upgrade and migrate to enterprise without losing any of the work you've done on the open source tool.
Hi Jon,
I can help out. We at best can use a conference call to discuss this if you agree. My contact details are:
- info@nero-advies.nl;
- +31 6 28 570 870
I am lcoated in the Netherlands and the CET timezone.
I have over 5 years'of experience and knowledge in detail on iPaaS, API Management, API Gateways and ESBs and are currently advising and implementing it at top 5 global brands and local Dutch market leaders.
Cheers,
Markus.