Updated on by Fraser Davidson
It would be very easy for us to recommend that our Embedded iPaaS platform should be used ‘everywhere’ or ‘every time you deliver or need an integration. And technically this is possible. You could use Cyclr to deliver all of your integrations.
However, when we are asked this by potential clients our recommendation is more finessed. It depends on whether you are a SaaS application developer yourself, or whether you are a sophisticated end-user using Cyclr to orchestrate entirely third-party applications (i.e. you are not developing a SaaS application yourself).
If you’re not a SaaS Company…
If you are using Cyclr to orchestrate third-party application integrations then the answer is as short as ‘you can use Cyclr for all of them. Our agile environment can be used everywhere and will give you full control of your integration ecosystem. As an end-user, we empower you to do more with your data and to migrate that data across all the applications you use. We also see this use case for Digital Marketing Agencies.
But what if you are a SaaS?
If, however, you are a SaaS company using Cyclr to deliver integrations to your own end-users then you may want to consider what we see as two different types of integration. We differentiate between ‘Application Critical’ and ‘Commercially Critical’.
Application Critical Integrations
Application Critical integrations are those that are absolutely fundamental to the performance and operation of your SaaS platform. Examples might be: Outlook Calendar integration for Booking Software, mapping integrations into Logistics Software, and real-time GPS Data into Vehicle Tracking software.
Here, these integrations are fundamental to the performance of your application itself, without this direct data/integration your IP is less valuable and the function of your application is reduced. In this scenario, an embedded iPaaS platform could deliver the integrations but you might question whether it should. In our opinion, you really should be considering self-coding Application Critical integrations into the heart of your application yourself.
Commercially Critical Integrations
The sweet spot for an embedded iPaaS platform is ‘Commercially Critical’ integrations. These are integrations that are important to your customer’s use of your platform, but not critical to the core function of your platform itself. Often these are the integration requests that arise during the sales process for your SaaS. “I love your platform but it would be great if it could also…”
Commercially critical integrations are more about moving outcomes in and out of your platform; creating automation that is dependent on external events, and providing alerting and KPIs….. the list is long.
Critical integrations enhance your client’s engagement with, and use of, your platform. This is because they provide additional features. As well as bind your end user more tightly into their use of your SaaS. This is the heartland for embedded iPaaS applications like Cyclr.
Is it that Simple?
Sadly there isn’t a rule book for this and the answer isn’t black and white. You may use an embedded iPaaS to prototype Application Critical integrations. It may also be so bootstrapped/resource-constrained that Application Critical integrations need to be delivered via embedded iPaaS. You may have such a volume of Application Critical integrations to handle that you have no choice. In all these scenarios we will work closely with you to deliver what you need – after all, we can do it.
But day to day our advice is; if you are a SaaS company, the primary use case for an embedded iPaaS platform is to deliver the integrations that are commercially important to your clients. The Commercially Critical integrations. For everyone else – knock yourselves out!
