What is the value proposition of SaaS integration?

Software as a Service (SaaS) Integrators integrate an enterprise service with Software as a Service provider or integrate two or more SaaS providers. The SaaS based integration is billed based on consumption unlike a typical enterprise in-house integration which follow chargeback models. The value proposition of SaaS integration is in reduced complexity in accessing information, cost savings and increased reusability of the data. SaaS integrators focus on integration through configuration rather than, coding.

Who are the players?

CastIron, XAWare, Boomi, Jitterbit and Hubspan are the players in this space. From their product white papers and features, all of them seem to have some similar capabilities such as:

1.       Support for XML data formats

2.       Leverage visual integration pattern

3.       Mediation services

4.       Data transformation services

However the delivery format from CastIron is through a hardware appliance and is different from other vendors in this space.

More analysis to come later.