Integration Platform as a Service, commonly known as iPaaS, is a platform or tool that offers services for deployment, data integration, and application management. It is designed to aid developers in building, testing, deploying, and managing software efficiently.
By providing a unified platform, iPaaS simplifies the complexities of integrating various applications and data sources, allowing businesses to streamline their operations and improve workflow efficiency. The popular iPaaS platform includes Mae, Zapier, Microsoft Power Automate, etc.
Whether it's connecting on-premise data with cloud applications or managing API interactions, iPaaS serves as a crucial component for modern software development and deployment strategies. Keep reading to learn how it works, the use cases, and an iPaaS using example.
How Does iPaaS Work with ComPDF?
Business users can select from a range of tools and services provided by the vendor to meet their functional requirements. Here we take ComPDF as an example to understand how iPaaS work.
As we all know, enterprises save lots of company files on Google Drive, and Google Drive doesn’t provide service for merging PDFs. If a user wants to merge PDF files from Google Drive and save the merged document into a specified folder on Google Drive, they would need to integrate tools for accessing and retrieving files from Google Drive with PDF merging tools. By organizing these services and tools in sequence, a complete workflow is created. Alternatively, users can search the iPaaS platform to see if such a pre-built workflow exists for immediate use.
Why iPaaS?
iPaaS simplifies API access by consolidating multiple technologies into a single platform. Here are the benefits of using an iPaaS platform to publish or consume services:
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Simplified Integration: iPaaS brings together service suppliers who want to sell their technologies and buyers who want to acquire these services on one platform. It offers the ease of integration and scalability of functionalities, making it easier to connect different technological functions. It’s a no-code or low-code way for building workflow.
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Elimination of Technology Silos: Users can combine technologies from various providers to create workflows that suit their specific business needs. For technology providers, this means their solutions can be freely combined with other services, eliminating the isolation of their products.
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Cost Efficiency: Users do not need to pay separately for each individual service. Instead, they can access multiple technology services for a fixed monthly fee.
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Security: iPaaS platforms offer information monitoring services for integrated technologies to ensure the security of the services.
What Scenarios Could iPaaS Used In?
iPaaS enables the rapid integration of various platforms, apps, systems, clouds, and enterprise products. Here are the different use cases for iPaaS:
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Application-to-application integration: This involves connecting various apps to break down data silos between them.
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Microservices integration: iPaaS aids businesses in generating and publishing APIs, allowing products to achieve more flexible integrations.
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B2B integration: Integration of technology products from other enterprises.
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Data integration: iPaaS manages and connects diverse data sources.
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Platform integrations: It links data between on-premises systems and cloud platforms.
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IoT device integration: This involves integrating IoT devices to enable data collection and processing across multiple systems and cloud platforms.
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Big data integration: iPaaS supports the integration of multiple large models to analyze and process data.
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Multiple cloud integrations: It facilitates service integration and data processing across multiple clouds.
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Event stream integration: This focuses on integrating and managing event streams.
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Automated business processes: iPaaS allows the creation of automated workflows tailored to specific business scenarios.
Example of Work Performed by an iPaaS
To generate company reports, various PDF files need to be converted and merged, like project write-ups, financial data, etc. We will use the iPaaS service, Make, to build such a workflow. The third-party service, Google Drive and ComPDF, would be used in this workflow. Here are the details.
1. Workflow Steps: Make iPaaS, Google Drive, and ComPDF
Integration Setup:
Configure the Make iPaaS platform to automate document handling. By integrating the internal file storage system with Make, documents from different departments are automatically collated into a designated processing folder.
Get PDF Files from Google Drive:
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Get and Download PDF files from your project file folder. Put them in a certain place in your computer.
Upload PDFs and Merge:
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Connect ComPDFKit PDF Editor.
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Upload the PDF files you get from the google drive.
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Start to merge the individual PDF files into a single comprehensive document.
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Get the merged file.
Upload Merged File in Google Drive:
Choose a place to upload the merged file to Google Drive. The files could be reviewed and sent to clients.
2. Results:
- Efficiency: The automation reduced the time spent on compiling reports from hours to minutes, freeing up the administrative team to focus on more strategic tasks.
- Consistency: Uniform formatting of documents enhanced the professionalism and readability of reports sent to clients.
- Accuracy: Reducing manual intervention decreased the odds of errors, ensuring that clients received accurate and up-to-date information.
- Scalability: The solution easily handles their growing number of projects, providing a scalable framework for future expansion.
By leveraging the Make iPaaS platform with ComPDF, Acme Corp significantly streamlined its document processing workflow, leading to increased productivity and improved customer satisfaction.
Conclusion
ComPDF could be obtained from the main iPaaS platforms like Make, Zapier, Microsoft Power Automate, etc. If you want to deal with PDF files to empower your workflow, try ComPDF.