Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) Definition

What is iPaaS?
Integration Platform as a Service, also commonly referred to as iPaaS, is a set of automated tools used to connect software applications deployed in different environments. This software technology is hosted on the cloud and is often used by large B2B enterprises that need to integrate on-premise with cloud applications and data. iPaaS works by connecting cloud applications and services and controlling integration flows. They can speed up product development by integrating existing tools and increase data volume by utilizing external sources.

According to Gartner, the accelerated growth for iPaaS in 2017 was 72%, up from 61% in 2016, making it the fastest-growing segment across enterprise software market (source: Gartner, Market Share Analysis: Integration Platform as a Service). Gartner states that “iPaaS’s financial benefits (including lower cost of entry due to the subscription-based pricing and lower IT operation costs), also play a role in iPaaS’s growing success. These characteristics are also appealing to midsize organizations that could not adopt the previous generation of integration platform software due to its high cost and complexity.” Learn all about the five benefits of iPaaS.

Leading iPaaS solutions are well-packaged solutions that empower tech-savvy business users to integrate their different applications easily. Companies use these tools to scale performance needs, add product functionality, and structure application integrations. Key features to look for include:

• A dashboard for managing cloud integrations
• Ability to govern and manage connections
• Connects data from multiple disparate systems
• Consolidates cloud solutions into a single platform

There are two categories of iPaaS solutions available; application integration and data integration. Application integration works at the API level, involving low volumes of messaging and enabling multiple SaaS applications to be woven together. While iPaaS for data enables organizations to develop, execute, monitor, and govern integration across data sources and targets, both in the cloud and on-premises.

The enterprise iPaaS market is growing at an increasing rate due to the need for users to integrate multi-cloud data and applications, with various on-premises assets. It’s expected that the iPaaS market will continue to achieve high growth rates over the next several years. According to Gartner, by 2021, enterprise iPaaS will be the largest market segment in application middleware, potentially consuming the traditional software delivery model along the way.