Enterprise Application Integration Platform
Selection criteria:
- User management
- All in one – features – API (doc, pub, market, approval wf, key generation), MQ, Kafka, MQTT,
- Security – access management, SSO, API system auth, role mapping
- Logging & monitoring
- Code management – cvs, api – ci/cd
- reusability – marketplace, global error handling, recipes
- UX – browser & desktop IDE, low code (low click)
- Extensibility – custom connector, scripts (js, groovy, or custom)
- Commercial – cost factor (cpu, message, connection etc)
- Additional cost – execution agents, api gateway, authentication (i.e. idp, broker etc)
- Test support – unit test, CI/CD
- Upgrade path
- On-prem vs iPaaS vs Hybrid
- Migration path – other iPaaS or existing integration
- Environmental restrictions, AZ, redundancies, failover, WAF, DDoS etc
- Restrictions – pen-test, retry, data retention
- Traceability – e.g. based on order # through platform
- Multiple versions co-exists
- Scaling – vertical (up/down)/horizontal (out/in) (auto/manual)
- Pro code vs low code
- hybrid,distributed run time
- security layer
- management layer
The following assessment is based on my earlier work around March-April 2020. Some features and functionalities might have been changed since.
| Dell Boomi | Mulesoft | Oracle OIC | Jitterbit | |
| Overall Assessment | Good for not too technical users | Good for technical users, flexible and well suited for DevOps | Not mature enough, many moving parts | Good for non-technical users |
| Branded Connectors | Plenty of choices | Plenty of choices Strong in Salesforce offering | Limited choices for non-Oracle products | Reasonable choices |
| Event Listeners | Salesforce event listener doesn’t work in cluster mode. | Good Salesforce event listener offering | EBS event listener | Not aware of any |
| Message Queue | Basic built-in MQ | Add-on message queue, more features than Boomi | Add-on MQ | External product required |
| Data Streaming | Kafka (external) | Kafka (external) | Kafka (external) | Kafka (external) |
| Platform Options | Control pane (SaaS) Run-time (on-premise) – Atom – Molecule – Cloud Molecule – Docker Gateway (on-prem) Auth Broker (on-prem) | Control pane (SaaS) Design – SaaS or Desktop Run-time (on-prem) Run-time (managed) – no extra cost | Control pane (SaaS) Run-time (Oracle cloud) Proxy agent (On-prem) Gateway (On-prem) Dev Portal (on-prem) | Control pane (SaaS) Run-time (on-prem) Gateway (on-prem) |
| Support Options | Standard Premium Premium+ | Gold Platinum … | Standard | Standard Premium |
| Add-on Options | Molecule Standard Connections B2B connections Enterprise connections | |||
| Ease of Use | Easy, but can be annoying for technical users | Medium ease of use as you have more options Easy for technical users | Not user friendly. “Visualise for loop, if else etc” | Easy to use |
| Use Cases | For organisation with not too technical users, for quick development | Very flexible for organisation with rich pocket and technical users. Very powerful tool | For organisation filled with Oracle products | Very easy to use, even for non-technical users |
| Weaknesses | * Weak API Offering * Weak API Auth * Weak in auto-scaling * Limited security control * Can’t map AD roles to Boomi roles * No fine grain controls * Connection based license can be expensive | * Require technical users * Proprietary script – ?? * Cost per pre-allocated CPU * Pay for CPU cost regardless if it’s self-managed or Mulesoft managed * Expensive higher tier support | * Weak API Gateway offering for Gen 1. Gen 2 not ready * | * take a bit of time to get used to for non-technical users * not as flexible as others * very small team * |
| Strength | * Easy to use – not-too-technical users * | * Strong API Offering * Strong API Auth * Wide range of security control * Flexible, with many configuration options | Oracle connectors | * Ease of use |
