Glossary · System coordination, integration and orchestration
Integration platform
Also known as: integration platform as a service (iPaaS), integration middleware
German: Integrationsplattform
In enterprise IT, an integration platform is a software product or set of services that provides tools and runtime components for building, running and monitoring integrations, such as connectors, mapping tools, routing, orchestration and API management.
- System integration
In one sentence
An integration platform provides connectors, mapping, routing, orchestration and monitoring tools for building and running integrations.
Example
The company uses an integration platform with ready-made ERP and database connectors to feed MES order data, and monitors all flows in one dashboard.
How it applies
- Selection: Evaluate platforms by supported protocols (including OT protocols where needed), deployment options on premises or in the cloud, monitoring, versioning and security features.
- Operation: A platform concentrates many integrations in one place. Its availability, patching and access control affect every connected process.
- Documentation: Platform tools often generate technical flow descriptions. Complement them with human-readable interface documentation that states purpose, owners and business rules, and keep the documentation under the same version control as the flows.
Integration platform vs. integration architecture
The platform is the tooling. The Integration architecture decides how the tooling is used; a good platform does not compensate for an undefined architecture. Choosing the platform before the architecture often leads to integrations shaped by tool features instead of by requirements.