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Contributed on July 18, 2017

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Got APIs? Why You Still Need an Integration Platform

Blog: The Tibco Blog

Pervasive Integration—integration being driven out of the datacenter to the front office to connect cloud to ground, cloud to cloud, ground to mobile, and mobile to everything—is needed in every aspect of a business… Because every aspect needs data—to make well-informed decisions based on real-time and at-rest data, connect end-to-end business processes, onboard partners and build ecosystems, join the API economy, delight customers, innovate faster, avoid risk, exploit opportunity—and countless other possibilities afforded through digital transformation and connected intelligence.

APIs are front and center for accessing data and business functions, and the list of technologies, practices, and patterns for implementing API-led integration is a long one. But now fresh off the press at Gartner, Inc., VP and Gartner Fellow Massimo Pezzini has written How Pervasive Integration Enables Your API Initiatives (and Vice Versa), published July 2017, stating “Such widespread availability of APIs has created the myth that interoperability between applications is now plug-and-play” and to clearly explain the symbiosis between APIs and integration platforms.

Massimo writes: “When implementing a mini- or microservice, in most cases developers need to use a minimal amount of integration technology (for example, a database adapter to access a back-end DBMS). However, when it comes to implementing a composite macroservice, the need for integration techniques could be substantial to develop and manage the associated ‘integration logic’.”

Composite services are being used by businesses to combine multiple mini or microservices into a single composite API, making them easier to consume. When these services connect to legacy systems or packaged applications, data held in those systems may need transformation to be understood by receiving systems. Routing and orchestration to process an API call and coordinate data flow and execution among back-end systems may (probably will) still be needed. These functions are cake for integration platforms, and Massimo also explains the time savings and other benefits of using one, so definitely read his report.

And consider one of TIBCO’s customers, AccorHotels, who is cited in the Gartner report. AccorHotels is a digital pioneer and world leader in travel and lifestyle, operating in 95 countries under 20 brands. It offers unique experiences at more than 5,000 hotels and resorts and more than 2,500 exceptional private residences.

AccorHotels’ VP of Enterprise Architecture Erwan Vezin explains the role of the company’s digital hub. “We are keeping our silos, but removing the functional overlapping. TIBCO is here to help us orchestrate the right services on each silo to get the maximum value from each of them. For example, whenever we request access to customer data from our silos, we are using TIBCO to expose it all as a single object that is pushed to the front application. It’s been developed once and can be re-used by everyone.”

Today, all client applications exchange information through AccorHotels’ cloud-ready TIBCO integration platform, making nearly 5 million calls per day to the system. For architectural information on this digital hub, Gartner clients can access the report here.