Supernova Award Category
The Problem
We were using a combination of homegrown and open-source integration tools for automating transactions with customers. The technology was costly and hard to use, so we had to assign platform engineers to do the integrations. The integrations took several months to build and heavy customization meant almost everything was a one-off with little or no re-use.
Even worse, assigning our engineers to integrations took their time away from business-critical work on our core platform to add functionality and new services. Our competition began using APIs and other more modern technologies and was gaining momentum. We knew we needed to update our technology strategy to maintain our competitive edge.
The Solution
The problem identified itself over time. We were assigning high value engineering resources to solve a set of integrations that kept compounding. We needed a more modern approach to data and application integration that would be faster and easier – ultimately letting us focus on our core business.
After looking at various vendors in the market, we chose SnapLogic for its integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS). It gave us a single platform for batch, real-time and Big Data integration. The SnapLogic Elastic Integration platform offered high availability and resiliency, and we were able to outsource our integrations to the SnapLogic Services Team.
The results
Moving to an iPaaS instead of hand-building point-to-point integrations instantly transformed our technology strategy, allowing us to more directly support business and revenue goals. Custom integrations took several months to build. With the iPaaS approach we shortened the time it took to integrate data and applications from months to weeks, and therefore drastically reduced the time it took to onboard new customers.
Metrics
The transformation provided by the SnapLogic iPaaS was outstanding. Onboarding of new clients could now be done in a matter of days. It was an instant efficiency improvement. Another key return was the ability to put 12 engineers back into higher-value tasks that ensure we stay competitive and deliver premium customer service.
The most important ROI from standardizing on SnapLogic was faster time to revenue.
The Technology
SnapLogic Elastic Integration Cloud and SnapLogic Managed Services.
Disruptive Factor
Telling a team of platform engineers we were taking something off of their plate was a tough sell. As with many technology projects, once these engineers realized they were able to shift to work perceived to be of higer value to customers and with more visibility, resistance fell away.
Shining Moment
It was making our integration strategy - something that we honestly hadn't thought much about - a value-add rather than just a costly manual exercise.
