Cloud Integration in 2011: Mule iON Unites Data Silos Across On-Premise, Cloud 
MuleSoft, the folks behind the open source Mule ESB, is bringing integration as a service to the cloud. Mule iON goes beyond ESB in the cloud, providing an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) to enterprise architects, SaaS providers and SIs. IDN’s Cloud Integration in 2011 series takes a look at Mule iON with MuleSoft CTO and founder Ross Mason.
MuleSoft, the folks behind the open source Mule ESB, is bringing integration as a service to the cloud. Mule iON goes beyond ESB in the cloud, providing an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) to enterprise architects, SaaS providers and SIs. IDN’s Cloud Integration in 2011 series takes a look at Mule iON with MuleSoft CTO and founder Ross Mason.
Mule iON (integration on demand) is architected as a full iPaaS platform and includes service orchestration between multiple services, real-time event-driven integration, robust exception strategies and complex message routing. Moreover, Mule iON can scale to support data integration and transformations across thousands of endpoints. IDN spoke with MuleSoft CTO and founder, Ross Mason, to find out more about how cloud and SaaS adoption is changing the way IT thinks about integration.
“The problem with cloud is that it creates another data silo,” Mason told IDN. In many enterprises, applications such as ERP, CRM and so on are often large data silos behind the firewall. And today, SaaS and cloud storage solutions present organizations with just another data silo, he explained. “At some point you want to get data out of the cloud, and share it with other enterprise resources. Mule iON breaks down these cloud silos,” he said.
Architecturally, Mule iON’s iPaaS approach is designed expressly to make it easier to tie applications and data together across on-premise silos and multiple clouds, Ross added. As a result, Mule iON aims to make it easier for SaaS vendors and SIs to on-board customers, and build domain-specific integration applications, where needed, he added.
Under the covers, Mule iON brings together technologies that will help all stakeholders in a cloud integration lifecycle, Ross said. In specific Mule iON comes with:
- A library of out-of-the-box cloud connectors</i> to integrate with popular SaaS offerings, cloud services, and social media platforms
- For custom designs, allows devs to use familiar tools and workstyles</i> to build and configure integration-style applications. Mule iON also works with MuleSoft’s just-released Mule Studio graphical dev kit
- For runtime, offers management tools</i> to understand the performance of applications, monitor them and provide auditing and alerts
Mule iON supports these cloud integration use cases:
- SaaS to On-Premise Systems to integrate data from SaaS applications (e.g., Salesforce.com) with on-premise systems, including databases, file systems or via FTP, lowering the barriers to adoption for SaaS and cloud
- Cloud to Cloud Data Synchronization to synchronize data between popular SaaS vendors, breaking down data silos in the cloud
- On-Premise Event Streaming to SaaS Application to update events originating from on-premise applications to SaaS or social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Yammer, Chatter).
- Exposure of On-Premise Data through SaaS Portals to expose enterprise data via a REST API to consuming applications, unlocking valuable business data from systems for external use.
Mule iON iPaaS Architecture Shows
Shift in IT’s View of Cloud Integration
Mule iON’s architecture represents a shift in how IT thinks about applications and integration, Ross told IDN.
“Today, there is a shift away from the old way of thinking, where you build the application first and then think about integration later, he said. “Today, almost every SaaS vendor has to think about getting data in and out of their application right up front as part of that application. So, they are making APIs to get at data easier as one of the core parts of their application, not an afterthought.”
“At some point you want to get data out of the cloud, and share it with other enterprise resources. Mule iON breaks down these cloud silos.”
Ross Mason
CTO, Founder
MuleSoft
This kind of thinking, Ross said, led Mule iON to go beyond APIs and connectors for integration, especially to and from the cloud. “APIs are useful, but we see that SaaS providers and SIs will need many of the same quality features now found in [on-premise] enterprise integration to ensure reliability and manageability,” Ross told IDN.
This shift is a key reason why Mule iON supports orchestration, events exception handling, message routing and scalability, Ross explained
One SaaS provider and early Mule iON beta user put many of these features to good use for its customers and business model. PeopleMatter is a SaaS-based talent management provider and serves the service industry. It needed a way to more easily integrate customers’ existing multiple point solutions (including HR, point-of-sale, payroll, etc.) into in the PeopleMatter platform. With Mule iON, PeopleMatter could deliver multi-point integrations across the cloud and on-premise, and keep those services highly available.
“One our biggest challenges in on-boarding of customers is the integration of our service with our customers' existing systems," said Ken Haigh, COO of PeopleMatter. “Mule iON helps make it simple to deliver this integration, allowing our customers to focus on delivering the best service to their end customers rather than managing IT.”
