Enterprise Integration Summit

Integration Powers Digital Transformation for APIs, Apps, Data & Cloud

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December 9, 2021

A Virtual Summit

Software AG recently released the latest updates to its webMethods.io multi-function iPaaS, integration as a service platform for the connected enterprise. This release offers a focus on automation and data-driven insights.

The webMethods.io platform supports enterprise connectivity and hybrid environments through features for APIs, integration and microservices. Further, the latest iPaaS adds DataHub, a new element that promotes deep and real-time data insights. 

The webMethod.io suite delivers automation across many services to simplify and speed up complex integration tasks, Subhash Ramachandran, Software AG’s senior vice president for product management, told IDN. He shared details on the new automation support features, which include:  

• Easy-to-Use Workflow Automation. “The webMethods.io iPaaS is an easy-to-use workflow automation tool with complex orchestration and mapping capabilities,” Ramachandran told IDN. The advantage is webMethods is designed to support on-prem and cloud integrations efficiently, he added. “Unlike cloud-only vendors, webMethods is able to incorporate on-premises systems in workflows with a fairly unique architecture. We have the ability to run Integration Server in reverse invoke mode, which is a highly secure way to integrate with on-premises apps as well as a full spectrum of on-premises and cloud connectors.”   
• Automation for API Management and B2B Integration. Software AG’s webMethods.io iPaaS approach also lets users “seamlessly turn your integration workflows into APIs and link your workflows to partner and supplier transactions,” he added. “When it comes to B2B integration, webMethods delivers end-to-end automation for B2B transactions, including the ‘last mile’ integration to back-end systems.”
• Automated Cloud-Facing Tools for Native Apps and Hybrid Integration. “With the advent of the cloud, there are more tools than ever before for developing, testing, delivering, and managing software. For large deployments, it’s almost impossible to operate without automated DevOps,“ Ramachandran said. “With webMethods, you have full support for all major test suites, software repositories, cloud tooling like Docker, Kubernetes, and OpenShift, enabling you to plug your webMethods products easily into an automated CI/CI pipeline.
• Automated File Transfer. “You can automate file transfers as well; scheduling and monitoring critical files coming from a long list of supported applications, protocols and technologies,” he added. Users can even “remotely control automated file transfers on external systems from a central MFT (managed file transfer) server,” Ramachandran said. 

Software AG’s DataHub Leverages Integration for Insights, Analytics 

With the new webMethods DataHub, users can access near real-time data insights using analytics to make live business decisions. Users not only reduce their time to access data.

DataHub captures valuable data flowing through webMethods Integration Server and makes it available in a data lake. Once there, business analysts and data scientists can use their preferred BI tool to mine for business-changing insights. This new offering also eliminates batch downloading and serves up data faster without involving complex IT approvals and coding.

Thanks to DataHub’s core integration capabilities, users can choose leading industry BI tools such as Microsoft Power BI, Tableau and others.

“webMethods DataHub is new strategy for getting operational insights faster and with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than traditional ETL,” according to Software AG’s senior manager of product marketing Anne Marie Bond.  

Here is where the beauty of webMethod’s iPaaS-driven approach pays dividends for companies looking for easy and faster ways to obtain deep insights into their onboard data.

Bond explained it this way: “With webMethods already connected to your systems of record, you’re most of the way there. webMethods hybrid integrations automatically store data in a common format that can be easily mapped to a common model if desired, and you can add just about any other data source with prebuilt connectors.”

Bond gores into perspective for users in a recent blog post:

What if you could take advantage of that stable, low-risk platform already processing your integrations and APIs and extract the pieces of data you’re interested in analyzing? 

 

Today there are more modern methods to access that information through a combination of APIs, integration, in-memory, and data lake technologies. 

 

The webMethods DataHub is an integrated toolset for accessing, transforming, and analyzing data passing through the webMethods Integration Server. You don’t need to make changes to any existing APIs or services; just configure the requested fields on a business-analyst-friendly UI and they immediately start getting collected in a fast in-memory store.

 

Then point the webMethods DataHub at the data lake you’d like to use – common data lakes are all supported. Your selected items are offloaded and put into a data lake on your timeframe. Once the data is in a data lake, business analysts and data scientists can use their choice of BI tools to access a sophisticated SQL interface, provided by Dremio. Without the complicated coding, data processing, and batching of ETL systems, this entire process happens fast – as fast as 5 minutes. And that opens up new possibilities for what you can do.

With all this integration-fueled capability for transforming data into insights, Bond shared some example use cases for certain sectors, including:  

• Insurance companies can tailor offerings to their customers by analyzing customer data and rapidly updating products.
• Retailers can gain better insights – by leveraging and combining the data from different systems – and use them for competitive ads.
• Energy companies can see benefits by monitoring energy consumption to react more quickly to surprises.

Other Updates to Software AG’s webMethods Integration Platform 

Beyond webMethod’s features for automation and data insights, it sports these additions:

• webMethods.io MFT: Software AG also adds managed file transfer capabilities to existing integration, B2B, API and IoT capabilities to webMethods.io. 
• webMethods Developer Portal: This is a new lightweight, embeddable portal, making it easy for companies to create an API marketplace for external developers. The portal is fully API-enabled and can be branded with a company’s look and feel. The portal also supports full headless capabilities, which lets businesses create a collaborative space for developers.
• Connector Development Ecosystem: A new Connector Development Program to support ISVs, OEM partners, resellers and customers who wish to partner with Software AG to build, test, certify and publish connectors to webMethods.io. This makes more connectors and integrations available on-demand for webMethods.io users.

Software AG’s chief product officer Dr. Stefan Sigg summarized the latest offering and on-going vision for the webMethods.io platform. “Companies are becoming more connected today, through both choice and necessity. The complexity that comes along with this is a real challenge. Through webMethods, we’re helping companies to overcome those challenges so that they can focus on innovation and great customer experiences.”