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SaaS integration challenges arise from outdated processes

Software as a Service (SaaS) integration challenges arise from a number of places—out-of-date legacy systems, vendor lock-in, inconsistent data records—but the biggest SaaS integration challenge may be processual, not technological.

We recently spoke with Ilan Sehayek, CTO of cloud integration software and services provider Jitterbit, about how cloud computing is changing the way applications are integrated. Sehayek suggests that Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) integration challenges arise because traditional integration processes cannot match pace with SaaS integration needs.

“These SaaS applications are being adopted and modified so fast that they cannot keep up,” said Sehayek.

Sehayek suggested that the common integration model is too slow because there are too many steps involved. “Integration was always when the business decided they needed to change something. Then you have an analyst sit down and determine the new way data goes back and forth” said Sehayek. “This gets translated into requirements for developers.”

And those steps only bring the requirements to the developer. After the developer meets the requirements, it goes back to analyst for testing and, often, back to the developer.

Such a model for integration takes money, resources, and time. “The challenge for [cloud application integration] today isn’t that it cannot be done, but that it takes too long, is too expensive, and it requires too many resources,” Sehayek said.

SaaS integration, cloud computing “all about simplification”

Sehayek, whose company recently released Jitterbit Connect for Salesforce, a tool designed to allow Salesforce application administrators to perform integration, says that a new methodology must arise. “You need to simplify the process—establish fast prototypes, a lot of recursion,” said Sehayek.

One way to achieve this, Sehayek believes, is to limit the involvement of the IT department. His company’s new product is designed to automate common processes and shield users from complexity. “We want to enable application administrators and technical business analysts that understand the business needs but are comfortable with technology—the powerful excel users, or those who may know mySQL, but who are not hardcore Java developers.” said Sehayek.

The empowerment of tech-savvy business users is a growing trend in application development and integration—consider the growing popularity of BPEL and BPMN as further evidence. Such empowerment can keep the technology focused on business needs and diminish the amount of time and resources needed in a SaaS integration scenario.

“I think cloud is all about simplification,” said Sehayek. “One of the key ingredients with cloud is that it simplifies who has to be involved to get an application up and running.”

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