This vendor-written tech primer has been edited by Network World to eliminate product promotion, but readers should note it will likely favor the submitter’s approach.
The first question with any IT initiative is do you buy on-premise software and manage it yourself or outsource the work to a service provider? The same is true when it comes to business-to-business (B2B) integration projects, whether you are looking to replace a legacy B2B system, consolidate multiple B2B solutions or automate a manual process.
If you have managed the B2B process yourself, you know integration is hard. In fact, the management overhead, infrastructure costs and overall complexity often leads companies to look for external service providers. Today, enterprises also have the option of leveraging a cloud-based integration solution delivered as a managed service, providing not only complete outsourcing, but the additional economic and technical benefits the cloud can bring.
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If you’re leaning in that direction, here are the top five decision-making criteria in the build vs. outsource debate for integration projects. While this list was developed with B2B integration in mind, it is applicable to nearly any IT challenge.
* Core competence: Does your internal IT team have the skills and expertise to build, implement and manage B2B integration? Chances are you have staff that is highly knowledgeable about applications, database administration and network security, but not necessarily integration. Evaluate the costs around training and ongoing management by your internal team. Remember that business integration can involve many other related technologies and processes, such as business process management, Internet protocols, APIs, EDI, ERP systems, etc. A successful integration project requires a deep understanding of the unique systems, processes, security needs and business rules of both your company and those in your multi-enterprise integration community.
* Time to market and value: How quickly do you need to implement the integration process? And how many customers, partners or suppliers need to be integrated within that timeframe? If you have more than six months and only a few companies to integrate, you may be able to manage it in-house. However, if the business requires fast integration and you have dozens or hundreds of companies to integrate, having an integration services firm handle the on-boarding, implementation, mapping and other areas may be the best solution. Second, how quickly do you need to show an ROI? Is your time to value also a matter of 90 days or six months? As an aside, this is also a key area to evaluate when looking at cloud vs. on-premise. If time to market and value are critical, a cloud solution gets you up and running in days or weeks versus months.
* Business impact: Is there revenue at stake with this integration? For example, do you need to integrate a set of customers that, if you don’t do it well or fast enough, your company could lose those customers or future revenue? If you don’t integrate a set of suppliers the right way, could a product be delayed? Make sure your IT team is fully aligned with all business requirements, and understands the full impact of the integration process to the business.
* Security and compliance: Evaluate your current security and compliance requirements, and whether or not they can be maintained if you outsource. What data would be involved in the integration process, and does protection of this data impact your compliance to key regulations? Can the vendor provide the right level of data protection and encryption you need? By doing the integration yourself, you will be able to fully control the security parameters; however, many vendors provide best-in-class security that you could leverage cost-effectively. In most cases with cloud-based integration providers, the entire system needs to operate at the highest level of security to avoid the “weakest link syndrome.” Incidentally, this highlights one of the advantages of the cloud, where you can have the benefits of world-class security without the cost of building and the maintaining such infrastructure. Look for vendors who’ve taken the time to invest in the highest levels of security and compliance, such as PCI DSS and SAS 70 Type II.
* Budget implications: Do you have a clear budget for integration? Is the line of business willing to share the cost of integration with you? If your capital expenditure budget is already completely allocated, outsourcing the integration to a qualified cloud vendor that enables you to leverage an operational expenditure may be your only choice. Outsourcing may also give you the option of only paying for what you need. You can start small and then grow your integration community over time, rather than paying for everything upfront. Scalability is critical for every business, so being able to scale your integration process should not be an exception.
Of course most IT departments prefer to control and manage all systems and business processes. At the same time, however, all IT leaders know they need to show clear, positive impact on the business, which requires flexibility and innovative approaches to challenges.
Once you’ve evaluated your budget, internal IT resources, time to market and value required, and the complexity of your integration needs, it may become clear that outsourcing is the right business decision. And if you decide to outsource, a cloud-based solution can provide strong technical and business value to solve many of today’s integration challenges.
Hubspan is a cloud-based business integration provider that helps organizations streamline business processes and exchange real-time information with their extended customer, partner and supplier communities.
