The benefits of Integration as a Service line up well with companies’ expectations of a Cloud environment:
Data migration and cleansing. Often the first step in introducing a Cloud application into an organization includes migrating legacy information such as contacts, leads, opportunities and deal history. The effort of migrating and cleansing data should be in alignment with the rapid provisioning of a Cloud CRM solution. Integration as a Service enables a configuration approach to easily migrate this information in batch or real time without the need for dedicated specialists.

Optimize Cloud CRM

With Cloud Integration (Part 3)

Integration in days. Integration as a Service provides rapid provisioning that enables companies to integrate in days, instead of weeks or months. This aligns with the on-demand nature of Cloud CRM solutions, as users can access critical business information quickly.

Ease-of-use through configuration, not coding. Integration as a Service is designed to complete integrations without the need to write any code. Simply plug in the appliance or configure the cloud and begin designing the integrations. This mirrors the “no coding” experience of Cloud CRM solutions.

Low IT impact. Integration as a Service provides completely self-contained services delivered either through an on-premise appliance or through the cloud with nothing else for IT to add or buy. Both approaches do not require complex coordination or specialized IT skills for erp deployment. Ongoing management and maintenance of an appliance or cloud-based services imposes minimal to no requirements on IT.

Subscription pricing. Integration as a Service can be offered with monthly subscription pricing plans. By eliminating upfront costs, the Integration as a Service model delivers the same type of economic benefit that leads companies to choose Cloud CRM solutions.

Easy to change. Integration as a Service allows IT to change connectivity, revise transformations and modify workflows using point-and-click functions in a visual user interface. Easy changes enable integrations to better serve the evolving needs of the business.

Unlike traditional on-premise CRM applications, Cloud CRM solutions offer tremendous benefits including rapid implementations, ease-of-use, low IT requirements, subscription pricing and ease of change. As Cloud adoption increases, the need to integrate between such products and back-end applications is critical to rapidly realizing the full benefits of the solution.

Back-end systems that companies have made significant investments in over time provide key differentiation advantages. It is not practical to replicate all of this investment—in time and money—in a new application. It is far simpler to provide a way for Cloud CRM solutions to access the information in existing back-end systems and further leverage the investments made in those systems. It is clear that IT environments in the future will include a mix of Cloud and on-premise applications. Different companies will select various combinations of these systems to maintain true differentiation and be responsive to the needs of the business.
To realize the full benefit of a Cloud CRM solution, integration must be dramatically simplified. Companies need a solution that can run anywhere, connect applications anywhere, be managed from anywhere and require no specialist integration skills or IT infrastructure. These solutions must be easily configurable, flexible and scalable—which means no coding. And, the integration solution must implement projects within days, not weeks or months—like Cloud CRM, itself.

Written by :

Don Cooper