Integration with MuleSoft Anypoint Platform

What is Integration?

By definition, the act of bringing together various smaller components of your IT into a single system function harmoniously as one is what we know as integration. The goal of the process is to stitch together often different and disparate sub-systems so that the data each component holds can become part of a larger and more comprehensive ‘single source of truth.’

• One approach that has worked for organizations for the longest time, and up to a certain extent is the implementation of ‘point-to-point integration’.
• This method requires developers to create custom-codes between several components within the business environment. The benefit of this approach is that it allows for quick and easy communication between a few applications, except it cannot be scaled and hence is not future proof.
• Point to point integration leads to the creation of a system that is not only fragile and tangled but also difficult to maintain — something commonly referred to as a ‘spaghetti architecture’.

How do we solve this problem ?

• When business requirements change or even the minor modifications can put a strain on the Spaghetti architecture, therefore, also limit business scalability and agility.
• It can be tricky to secure an integration tool for an enterprise that is not only cost-effective but also easy to manage and scalable.
• MuleSoft was founded in 2006, with the sole purpose of building architectures that are light, fast, lean, and low-maintenance, and doing away with the environmentally-unfriendly practice of only stitching applications together with custom codes and forgetting about it. Since the introduction of ‘Mule ESB’, the company has witnessed the emergence of SaaS and APIs on the cloud and on-premise.
• MuleSoft’s Anypoint platform later emerged as the only solution that would not only meet the challenges mentioned above but also serve its purpose beyond a simple integration tool to provide an end-to-end integration platform accessed via a single dashboard. Recently, It was acquired by Salesforce for $6.5 billion in 2018.

Key components of the MuleSoft platform include:

Anypoint Design Center — Development tools that make it easy to design APIs, implement integration flows, and build connectors.

Anypoint Management Center — A unified Web interface for managing all aspects of the platform, including API users, traffic, SLAs, underlying integration flows, and more.

Anypoint Exchange — A collaboration hub for searching for prebuilt, private and public reusable assets.

Mule Runtime Engine — Combines real-time application integration and orchestration with robust data integration capabilities.

Anypoint Connectors — Provides out-of-the-box assets and tools you need to connect faster and tools to develop your own.

Runtime Services — A comprehensive suite of platform services that provide enterprise-grade security, reliability, scalability, and high-availability.

Anypoint Platform Benefits

• Unlock legacy systems, rapidly connect legacy assets to SaaS technologies, and reduce integration costs — without disrupting existing business processes.
• Increase developer productivity and shrink development times through open technologies that promote reusability, modularity, and collaboration.
• Reduce time to resolution by managing all resources from a single pane of glass.
• Increase innovation and value creation across the enterprise through tools that enable faster development, testing, and implementation of APIs.
• Increase agility with a flexible architecture that evolves as your business does.
• Create happier customers and competitive advantages by delivering services and experiences.

Conclusion:

The collective power of Salesforce and MuleSoft means you can accelerate your digital transformation and give companies the ability to unlock data across systems, develop scalable integration framework, and ultimately create differentiated, connected experiences at a rapid pace. The big picture behind the MuleSoft deal is that Salesforce wants to connect to its legacy and on-premise rivals.