In order to do hybrid integration right, a hybrid integration platform isn’t optional. A hybrid integration platform like webMethods can reduce the cost of developing, testing, deploying and maintaining the ever-expanding definition of hybrid integrations. These platforms are built to connect cloud and on-premise data and applications. They have the ability to plug into the major cloud providers and tools with minimal configuration, as well as accessing on-prem applications.
A hybrid integration platform can drastically reduce the amount of time a dev team needs to spend on trying to get all applications to work together. They often will offer out-of-the-box connectors that will allow you to configure integrations instead of coding them, which frees up time to focus on more important work.
Key capabilities and how to choose
When looking at hybrid integration platform offerings, you will find a range of how robust and flexible the offerings are. While you will want to find a solution that meets
your specific requirements, there are a few good places to start.
First, think about what you need the platform to do. Depending on the nature of your business, you may need all of the capabilities that hybrid integration platforms offer. The most robust hybrid integration solutions offer:
- A stable, secure, scalable way to link and orchestrate on-prem and cloud applications. This is table stakes.
- Built-in connectors to help relieve the burden on the dev team to hard-code connections.
- Integration “recipes” that can be reused and modified for common hybrid integration scenarios.
- The ability to create API-led integrations so that data and services can be accessed in a standard way.
- The ability to deploy applications anywhere--on premises, in a public or private cloud, or across multiple environments--so you can choose the least expensive solution that meets your needs
- A support team to reduce tears. (You may miss this, for example, in open-source solutions.)
Second, take a deeper look at the supported apps, hosting environments and partners for each vendor. If the ones that you use most heavily aren’t supported, that isn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, but it does mean you will need to invest in time and resources to supplement the platform capabilities. You can learn more about Connectors here.
