The Future of Hybrid Integration Platforms (2024)

In the past decade, the acceleration of cloud-based integrations and multi-cloud strategies has been both promising and has presented a challenge: How do enterprises with mostly on-premise systems transition to a cloud-based adaptation? An often costly and time-consuming matter. However, HIP (Hybrid Integration Platforms) provide a near-perfect solution, and the market has been steadily and rapidly embracing this future-proof integration system.

What is Hybrid Integration and why is it needed?

A Hybrid Integration Platform allows you to connect data, processes, and applications between on-premise and cloud based systems more or less out-of-the-box. It allows you to transition effortlessly into the integration world of tomorrow.

Many organizations today still run on technology designed in the last century. Proprietary legacy technology that has served well up to this point, simultaneously becomes a point of friction when your industry shifts towards a cloud-first approach. The times of ‘fat’ API Managers (APIM) and Enterprise Service Buses (ESB) and underlying monolithic systems are fading out. The future is agile, IoT, API-based, multi-cloud supporting, and more collaborative.

But to shift to this interconnected landscape is no small feat. It is not as easy as buying or subscribing to a cloud-based integration platform and expect all to be well by day’s end. Migrating the entire business can be a slow, costly, and non-scalable friendly operation especially without the right expertise or the proper solution.

This is where the Hybrid Integration Platform provides an outcome. It allows you to connect on-premise legacy technology with a more modern cloud-first approach. In our recent piece on Hybrid Integration Platforms you can see how it works and what challenges it turns into solutions. But how is the market for HIP-solutions evolving? And what are the trends that have caught the industry’s eyes?

How is the Hybrid Integration market developing?

Digital transformation has become a top priority for many enterprises. It is undeniable that COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerabilities of organizations when it comes to their digital strategies – or lack thereof. Parallel to that, technological advancements specifically in IoT and API development have added both complexity and opportunities to markets. And it seems that organizations are noticing that they need better interoperability to benefit from this and they need it now.

When looking at the market figures for Hybrid Integration Platforms, we can see the rising demand. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for Hybrid Integration Platforms is currently projected at a staggering 12%. In 2020 the market for Hybrid Integration Platform was estimated to be at $22.56 billion, by 2026 it is expected to almost double to $ 44.54 billion. In other words, the market is betting heavily on Hybrid Integration Platforms and will continue to do so for the coming years. With the rise in hybrid solutions, what will be some key trends in the market development?

Key trends for Hybrid Integration Platforms

As Hybrid Integration Platforms become a popular go-to-option for combining the integration of on-premise and cloud-based systems, we can identify 5 key trends emerging.

1. Growth in Cloud Integrations
   Growth in cloud integration services across end user industries is expected to have a positive influence on the hybrid integration platform market size. Enterprises across regions are transitioning to the cloud. Direct benefits are agility, operational flexibility, cost-effectiveness, scalability and the ability to respond better and faster to market trends.
   
2. Asia-Pacific fastest growing region for HIP
   Governments in the Asia-Pacific region have been pushing, incentivizing, and ramping up the adoption of digitized services. Stemming from a need for improved efficiency which should make markets more attractive to foreign investments. For example, Singapore lags in private cloud adoption but 82% of the enterprises in the country have entirely adopted the hybrid cloud. Other Asia-Pacific regions display a more modest growth, with South Korea 32%, Hong Kong 23%, Australia at 16%, and Malaysia 12% respectively.
   
3. Edge computing
   Edge computing is emerging as a key driver for the adaptation of hybrid cloud strategies. Edge computing brings applications closer to its data sources such as IoT devices or local servers. Closer proximity means faster insights, improved response time and more desirable bandwidth availability. Edge computing is primarily used in a hybrid cloud and hybrid integration setup.
   
4. Security focus
   As the number of microservices, APIs, and collaborations between systems increases, so do the security threats. It is becoming an industry norm that companies apply a Zero Trust protocol. The direction of security measures is shifting from “figuring out what went wrong” to preparing a strong security from the get-go. Not every organization will have the means to do this and will look for external partners to provide this security. Both Yenlo’s integration solutions Connext Go! (Integration-as-a-Service) and Connext Platform (integration-Platform-as-a-Service) come with a Zero Trust setup.
   
5. Move from vendor lock-in to open-source
   Open-source integration solutions have been around for a while, and its contribution to the tech industry has been invaluable as it has opened up new knowledge and guided implementation. The current trend shows that open hybrid cloud and hybrid integration is growing— In a 2020 O’Reilly Media survey, commissioned by IBM, 70% of respondents preferred an open-source cloud provider and 94% rated open-source software as equal to or better than proprietary systems. Organizations want to build once and deploy anywhere and hybrid integration solutions offer that ability to move information streams and workflows between systems.

Starting your digital journey with Hybrid Integration

Does your company still rely on mostly proprietary legacy systems for its integrations? Is there a need in your organization to become cloud-first? Does your company roadmap require the flexibility that comes with open-source technology but not sure where or how to start? Yenlo has assisted hundreds of companies across all industries with making sense of integration strategies and simplifying their operations.

Our solutions are based on WSO2 technology, meaning both our iPaaS and IaaS products are open-source and support hybrid integrations. Our expertise lies at the intersection of consulting, building, and execution, meaning that with Yenlo you’ll find a trusted partner that can assist you every step of the way in your digital journey. Get in touch today and let’s discuss what you want your digital transformation to look like.