Why IBM’s Cloud Pak for Integration is the Future-Proof Choice for Enterprise Integration.
( originally posted on LinkedIn )
Debunking myths
Is your integration platform future-proof? Microsoft BizTalk may have been an important player in the past, but newer and better technology has taken over. While competitors like MuleSoft and Boomi have been acquired, IBM has taken a different approach. With their Cloud Paks, IBM has created a cloud-agnostic platform that can run on any public cloud or data center, giving you the freedom to choose your cloud vendor without being tied to a specific integration tool. With re-architected components and enterprise-ready tools like Event Streams, IBM offers a powerful solution for large companies with a global presence. Don’t misguide your customers — check the facts and see if your platform can stand up against IBM’s.
Today I read a white paper from a Norwegian compan, the title of the white paper is “Integrationsplatform” I have translate the paragraph in the middle of page 5 -
“Microsoft BizTalk has been an important contributor, but is now long outdated and has gradually been replaced by newer and better technology. BizTalk is no longer part of Microsoft’s strategic focus, and the same applies to similar platforms from Microsoft’s competitors such as Mulesoft, Boomi, and IBM.”
The source,
Really ? I can’t speak for MuleSoft as I don’t know them. Boomi however used to be a Dell company and was sold a couple of years ago for around $4 billion. There are not that many who spend $4 billion to buy software companies like Boomi. Twitter for $44 billion is a totally different article.
IBM I know well. I am a two year IBM Champion for Automation. Automation includes IBMs Integration tools amongst others. You can read about what a champion is here: https://www.credly.com/users/thor-ingham/badges
IBM unlike Microsoft did not sunset their current tools when they made their cloud agnostic cloud pak strategies. Cloud Paks come in different flavors there is a Cloud Pak for Integration and a Cloud Pak for Data. To mention two.You can find more about them all here https://www.ibm.com/cloud-paks
What IBM did is brilliant. They decided to build a platform that one can run on any public cloud or data center. You need to have RedHat Linux and OpenShift installed that’s it. Think about it. And you did not have to platform your assets when moving to the latest version unless you wanted to use a new feature, which would count as a change.
Today you might be doing 30% of your workload on AWS and 70% on premise within your firewall. One day someone decides that they want a new service offered by Azure to be part of their solution. Now you need to be able to validate, enrich, transform and call operations on 3 different product stacks. For many it is at best naive to think you will be a single cloud customer for ever. Integration platforms should be free to run wherever in my opinion. Not be tied to the ERP, CRM or even cloud vendor of choice you have made for now. At least make an informed decision based on truth first.
With IBM you do this using one set of tools across any data center. If you just need an queue to bridge the locations you can install MQ without openshift. The same holds true for ACE and API management. They all work standalone. The cloud pak also provides Event Streams which is Apache Kafka made enterprise ready. The whole suit can be certified for a lot of regulated industries. Some of the components are offered as SaaS on AWS today and I suspect another cloud soon.
Before any one says OpenShift is difficult you could use Azure RedHat OpenShift as a service if you want.
I haven’t even started to talk about how each component has been re architected to run a cloud native containers. They work and are very much part of their strategy because it’s the same containers IBM use for their SaaS packaging.
For the large companies with a global presence you can’t rely on AWS or Azure alone you need som me Alibaba and a sprinkle of local data centers here and there where neither of the public cloud vendors have a presence.
Check facts and don’t misguide your customers. I play fairly. To prove it, I would be happy to facilitate an evaluation of any platform against IBM. Be that technically or financially. There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to choosing a platform to support an enterprise wide integration strategy, one place to start is https://fogplug.com/episode/episode-2-help-i-have-been-tasked-with-making-integration-a-core-part-of-our-strategy
I am sure Azure integration services are great ! I would be happy to build their services on Azure if they are chosen for the right reasons.
If you’re interested in learning more about Avella’s innovative cloud integration platform and how it can benefit your business, I encourage you to reach out to Ole Morten Boldevin at boldevin@avella.no or Thor Ingham, the author and CTO of Avella, at thor.ingham@avella. We are both experts in the field and would be happy to answer any questions you may have and provide you with more information about our approach to integration. Here’s a hint, it doesn’t start with technology that is the easy part. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to revolutionize your business’s integration capabilities with Avella.
Want to listen to some more facts about integration while taking a run or during your daily commute check out
http://www.fogplug.com