Four advantages of running your integration software from a cloud

‟It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change”. This statement, attributed to Charles Darwin, can also apply to the modern, digital world. Now that a company’s systems are digitally networked, and companies are networked with each other, an integration platform really does give you value that translates into a competitive advantage. This advantage can be further leveraged by deploying your integration software from a managed cloud, meaning you don’t have to run your own data centre. Just like the old adage “You take care of your business, we’ll take care of the rest”. However, that’s not all. It’s in some of the challenges confronting companies today that cloud deployment really helps you rise above the rest.

Cloud advantage 1: Availability of skilled workers

When considering the best strategy for their IT landscape, companies are being increasingly confronted by the effects of demographic trends. The economy is already suffering from a shortage of skilled workers in many areas, and this will only increase in coming years. It is already a challenge for many companies to find, retain or replace qualified staff. As a result, many companies simply don’t have the expertise and know-how on hand to operate a mission-critical integration platform in house.

Figure 1: EDI skills are becoming a rare commodity

This issue of securing highly-skilled IT staff is only going to become more pressing. This means that, sooner rather than later, companies are going to have to answer the core question of how to secure their integration processes and ensure that they are always able to keep up with the increasing demands of the worlds of work and commerce.

In addition to this development in the labour market, companies are also being confronted by new technology and IT security demands. Growing complexity and constant change are demanding a high degree of flexibility and adaptability from companies. Cloud systems offer just that, meaning that now, any company not deploying from a cloud will, in the long term, be at a competitive disadvantage.

Cloud advantage 2: Security

Recently, many companies have fallen victim to cyber-attacks in which their corporate data has been encrypted by ransomware and similar. These companies have been forced to look more closely at their security. Cloud-based systems come with a variety of measures and functions which provide high security:

Technical-organizational measures (TOMs) to protect personal data
Firewalls and antivirus software, updated to the latest version
24/7 monitoring for all components
Release management of the most up-to-date security patches
Secure, regularly reviewed software development
Established business continuity and disaster recovery processes
Regular penetration tests and audits from external parties
Cyber insurance

Data processing is also secured by encryption algorithms as follows:

Encryption of both connections and
Secure transport protocols to external systems
Recommended encryption algorithms such as AES/256

Finally, we mustn’t forget how important it is that people support these security measures. Part of this involves providing regular training to increase employees‘ awareness of IT, information and data security issues. Furthermore, it’s important that employees can only access approved software, and that this is through terminals without administrator rights.

Clearly allocating areas of responsibility to a number of people, such as in the below image, is also very important to help recognize and address potential dangers.

Figure 2: Areas of responsibility in cloud security

Cloud advantage 3: System and service availability

Security is not the only advantage you would gain from deploying from a cloud. Another enormous benefit is high availability. Modern cloud systems have an active-active setup for all their components, which essentially means that there are several instances running simultaneously. If one instance should fail, or need to be taken offline for maintenance, another instance silently takes over without the user noticing any interruption or delay in service. This, of course, reduces downtime to a minimum and maximizes service availability to customers and employees. A typical cloud system has an availability of 99.99%. Further security is provided by a defined disaster recovery process, which ensures that should a system fail, it could be restored within a defined period of time.

The various components in the cloud services are operated and maintained by trained professionals. There is also 24/7 monitoring and error resolution from three shifts of specialists working around the clock, which for companies with global integration needs in particular, is a significant advantage.

Cloud advantage 4: Scalability

For companies who experience peaks throughout the year, scalability is another point in favour of using cloud services. These automatically provide the right amount of IT resources to perform to agreed metrics, even with higher traffic than usual. These metrics may include file processing time or load profile (maximum file volume per hour). This means that cloud services can be used to create tailored integration solutions for smaller companies all the way to global concerns.

In addition to the technical scalability described above, financial scalability is an important factor in a company’s decision to use cloud services. Cloud services have a plannable monthly pay per use model with no high initial outlay. This means you don’t need to worry about return on investment.

The advantages in short

These days, it’s fair to say that any company deploying its integration software on-premises is actually at a competitive disadvantage. Considering the various issues detailed above, in-house operation is more expensive than from a managed cloud, if you are striving for the same high standards.

The following image summarizes the aspects discussed in this article, and clearly shows the advantages of deploying from the cloud.