Gartner

The business value of Microsoft Azure Logic Apps

gindafieldLeave a comment

I’ve written a paper on the business value of Microsoft Azure Logic Apps for Integration. Mainly useful for CIO’s and IT managers considering Azure PaaS services for their Integration needs.

It describes the components of Microsoft Azure, and then drills down into aPaaS and iPaaS to position Logic Apps, API Apps and API Management. Furthermore it describes common integration needs in complex application landscapes such as keeping data in sync, creating composite apps, involving supply and demand chains and integrating apps and portals.

Next it describes the real business value, so that you can explain it to your business stakeholders as well. This includes creating value add on top of commodity SaaS apps, leveraging investments in legacy applications (your Systems of Record), decreasing time-to-market, channel renewal, agility: basically digital transformation using Gartner’s pace-layer application model.

Lastly it describes the different integration themes that Logic Apps can help you with.

Enjoy!

Please share as you like.

Cheers, Gijs

My take on the Gartner iPaaS MQ 2016

gindafieldLeave a comment

Yesterday, Gartner released its Magic Quadrant (MQ) on Enterprise Integration Platform as a Service 2016.

The strategic planning assumption this is based on reads “By 2019, iPaaS will be the integration platform of choice for new integration projects overtaking the annual revenue growth of traditional application integration suites on the way”.

I think they’re right.

Microsoft did not make the Leaders quadrant this time. This is mainly because of the fact that the 2016 MQ is based on cloud services that are generally available (GA) and the only service available from Microsoft today in this regard is Microsoft Azure BizTalk Services (MABS). Which is of course far from complete as we all know. And it is based on an architecture which has been rendered obsolete by now, with the arrival of Azure App Service.

The relatively good news is that Microsoft did make it to the Visionaries quadrant, but they still need to let IBM, Oracle and SAP in front of them. That’s not so good.

My take on all this is

  • Gartner correctly positioned Microsoft in this years MQ for iPaaS based on what’s actually available;
  • We should quickly forget about MABS and start looking forward (Microsoft can’t afford to make another architecture and delivery screw-up like with MABS);
  • Microsoft needs to quickly release to the public a stable first version App Service. I really hope Q2 will indeed be GA time for App Service with Logic Apps and that it functionally delivers on its promise;
  • Microsoft needs to strongly position App Service as an Application Platform as a Service but at the same time strongly position Logic Apps with API Apps and the Enterprise Integration Pack (or whatever it will be called at GA time) as the Enterprise Integration Platform as a Service. Customers see them as two different things (although I think that will change in the future, see my earlier post on this).

I strongly believe in App Service, now let’s make sure that Microsoft and System Integrators nail the Ability to Execute as quickly as possible and kick some Mule, Dell Boomi, Informatica and SnapLogic @ss. The strong Azure (Integration) community should use its forces not only to make sure that the world knows about Azure and how to use it, but should also keep on providing the best real-world feedback to the product teams so that they continually make the right choices with regard to backlog prioritizing. I want this to be in the upper right corner in the iPaaS MQ for 2017 and it should be, with all the efforts put into it right now.

We all know CIO’s take Gartner seriously, so Microsoft (and System Integrators) should take Gartner seriously as well.

Cheers, Gijs