Managed Integrations vs iPaaS

You are looking for a solution for integrations within your application landscape, but you are not sure whether you want to work with a partner or whether it would be better to get started yourself with an integration platform. To make this decision easier, we have outlined the considerations between Managed Integrations and iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) in this blog.

Managed Integrations

Do you want to be fully taken care of and are you looking for a partner to help you execute and manage integrations? If so, Managed Integrations can be a good solution. With Managed Integrations, you engage an integration partner who designs, implements, and monitors your integrations from start to finish.

A clear advantage of Managed Integrations is that you need less in-house integration knowledge, which helps you avoid capacity issues. You also have to make fewer decisions about how integrations are implemented, allowing you to focus on your organization’s core activities.

Your integration partner takes care of everything, which creates a certain level of dependency. Managing applications requires both integration knowledge and an understanding of your business. This means your integration partner will need to acquire domain knowledge in order to properly design and manage your integration landscape. As a result, the combined business and integration knowledge will reside outside your organization. In practice, this creates a form of vendor lock-in. If you become less satisfied with your partner in the future, it can be difficult to switch to another integration partner.

To reduce this risk, we recommend that you also build knowledge internally about the application solution provided by the partner and avoid handing over the entire process. Stay involved and aim for a true collaboration, rather than outsourcing everything completely.

When choosing Managed Integrations, it is important to consider how much control you want to retain. The more control you want to keep, the less logical Managed Integrations becomes. If your main goal is to be relieved of operational concerns and focus on your core business instead of integrations, then Managed Integrations is a logical choice.

iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service)

Do you prefer to stay in control, but lack the knowledge or capacity to develop integrations yourself? In that case, iPaaS can be a good solution. iPaaS is a license-based integration platform in the cloud. It provides a complete toolset in one central place, allowing you to build, manage, and deploy integrations yourself.

Depending on the chosen integration platform, you can deploy integrations in the platform’s cloud. In some cases, it is also possible to package integrations and run them locally, either on premises or in your own cloud environment.

If you want your integrations to run entirely on premises, a cloud solution is not always ideal. Sending data from on-premises systems to the cloud and back introduces latency. In many cases, security considerations are also a key reason for keeping integrations on premises. If you still choose iPaaS in combination with on-premises data storage or applications, your data will still leave your environment. This means you will need to impose additional security requirements to ensure your data remains protected.

If you are looking for a cloud-based solution and want to design and manage your integration landscape yourself, iPaaS is a good choice.

Choosing Between Managed Integrations and iPaaS

If you want to remain in control but lack the knowledge or capacity to set up an integration platform yourself, a combination of Managed Integrations and iPaaS is also an option. Especially when dealing with complex integrations, an integration partner with experience and expertise can be extremely valuable. In this scenario, the integration partner helps you set up integrations within a cloud-based integration platform, while you retain control by choosing the iPaaS and managing it together with the partner.

Are you curious about the best solution for your integration challenge? We are happy to help. Schedule a no-obligation consultation to explore which integration solution best fits your organization.