IT service providers, partner up with a top-notch integration tool to meet the demands of a COVID-19 B2B market

What makes for a healthy corporate body? On a recent webinar with Appirio (a Wipro company), Chris Saxby, European Head of Mulesoft Practice at Appirio, attempted to answer that very question. His answer: integration software, as per Appirio’s partnership with Mulesoft’s integration software. And he’s not wrong; if you look at your corporation as a body, you could see integration software as the gut—and nobody can hope to function without a healthy gut, especially when hit by a crisis.

IT service providers should use the partnership between Appirio and MuleSoft as one example of many for how important integration technologies are to enterprises’ survival, especially in the COVID-19 era and beyond.

COVID-19 accelerated the need for enterprises to pursue more flexible and digitized work-from-home ecosystems 

Thanks to the virus cutting off all channels of revenue but digital for most enterprises, the need to connect to digital channels as quickly and efficiently as possible is critical. Rapid channel development is accomplished best by API-driven (application programming interface) companies, where data is broken down, and the front and back office connect. Our HFS OneOffice format outlines the steps needed to achieve this under the “Digital Underbelly” category.

 Exhibit 1: Connecting the enterprise back, middle and front office  

Source: HFS Research, 2020 

Having a fully integrated intelligent digital workforce is vital to remaining agile and flexible enough to keep up with the demands of a socially distanced market. Enterprises will need all the tools they can get in the meantime to help reach these goals, including top-quality integration software.

Integration technology is a vital part of a OneOffice ecosystem 

Integration technology connects processes and silos within an enterprise’s ecosystem. Saxby pointed out in the webinar mentioned above that most enterprises already have a “suite of different [integration] products” to use. However, many of those enterprises are also moving from that vast array to a single platform they can use to increase their agility for the changing market.

Appirio, known for its library of built-in assets at its fingertips, seems to have found the answer for its clients by supplying and continuing to work with Salesforce’s Mulesoft tech. Mulesoft has a single eight-point platform for operation, and it offers API-led connectivity along and a supportive center for customer enablement.

Integration technology like Mulesoft can have a huge positive impact on an enterprise’s time and resources 

For example, Appirio used MuleSoft to build an enterprise integration platform for National Grid, which is one of MuleSoft’s largest global utility customers. This supports National Grid’s charter to modernize a legacy Utility and Grid business to deliver a great customer experience coupled with an unparalleled worker experience. Having built a customer self-service platform using Salesforce, National Grid turned to Appirio for a Hybrid Integration Platform using MuleSoft. This platform enables National Grid’s assets and services to be accessible via APIs, and it enables National Grid to continue to innovate, build and consume API assets. Moreover, Appirio has opportunities to help other companies in their development of Hybrid Integration Platform, which will enable users to develop, secure and govern integration flows connecting multiple clouds, applications, systems, services, and data stores, through rapid API development and lifecycle management.

Asics also reported positive results from using Mulesoft. Its implementation goals were to build out its e-commerce strategy and unify and modernize its system worldwide and across different digital channels. A6 used Mulesoft to unearth data from within its systems and reduced the anticipated implementation of a two-and-a-half-month project down to four weeks. It also expects to “transition to the Salesforce commerce cloud more quickly as a result of all the pre-work it has done because it can re-use components already created with API-local activity.”

Appirio was ranked in fourth place in the recent HFS Salesforce Top 10 report, 2020, which highlights its strength in the Salesforce services market. It is worth noting that most other Salesforce providers support Mulesoft as well, including Accenture, a leader in the field of Salesforce services as per HFS’s recent HFS top 10 report on the subject. Accenture uses Mulesoft’s Anypoint platform to power its Accenture Customer Connectivity Platform, a series of common APIs that power integration initiatives. Deloitte has also seen positive results by partnering with Mulesoft, creating an “alliance” between its companies to best support integration efforts across industries such as healthcare, government, retail, and banking. Across the board, providers are recognizing the necessity of partnering with vendors of this software.

The Bottom Line: Make sure you’re not forgetting integration. 

You can’t have a healthy body without a healthy gut, and that’s exactly what integration software is to corporate bodies. The COVID-19 environment emphasizes this more than ever with its demands for agility and flexibility. Through a strong partnership that has proven its success multiple times, Appirio’s partnership with Mulesoft demonstrates how vendors that provide integration tech like Mulesoft will see an overall best ability to provide for their clients’ needs in a transforming market.