30% reduction in integration costs?

This is the claim in the API Connectivity report of 2023.

This article is going to look at some of the reasons this claim can be made.

Last year MuleSoft published figures that suggested businesses could achieve a 30% reduction in integration costs when building API’s on the MuleSoft AnyPoint Platform. So, the question must be how are these savings obtained? To answer that question we need to look at the platform’s capabilities, efficiency and associated benefits.

Firstly, we must recognise that the MuleSoft AnyPoint platform provides a unified platform which promotes and supports API led connectivity thus simplifying and accelerating the integration of various systems and applications. By using a unified platform a number of the MuleSoft Catalyst methodology principles can be met including separation of the platform from the products that it supports and the principle of not reinventing the wheel each time a requirement is defined for a project. When developers don’t need to worry about the platform they are using then productivity will inevitable increase and, of course, reusing existing collateral will have a significant impact on cost reduction. Reuse not build is the key to saving money with integrations from a number of perspectives including reduced development costs and reduced costs required to test new integrations.

In terms of the ‘mechanics’ of the platform, the developer friendly drag and drop interface streamlines the development process and reduces the need for extensive coding activities. In addition, the relatively recent, introduction of AI capabilities into the development process can accelerated development at an even greater rate. Match these factors with a wide range of pre-built connectors for popular applications and systems and the capabilities of the MuleSoft platform become even more obvious.

Operational efficiency is another area where costs can be minimised through the centralised management and monitoring capabilities of the MuleSoft AnyPoint platform. Automation of integration processes reduces the manual intervention required by other platforms whilst at the same time minimising errors and speeding up deployment of API’s

Now, the MuleSoft architecture is designed to scale as the business it supports is scaling. The scalable architecture allows for efficient handling of increased integration loads without adding significant additional costs. In addition to scalability the MuleSoft platform supports hybrid deployment models enabling seamless integration across both on-platform and cloud environments.

The MuleSoft Platform receives regular updates and improvements ensuring that the integrations supported by the platform remain current in a rapidly changing business environment thus reducing any burden on the internal staff that may be required to support other applications or platforms.

Of course, one of the main functional requirements of any platform is to provide advanced error handling and monitoring capabilities in order to reduce downtime and the resources required to manage and trouble shoot integrations and the MuleSoft AnyPoint Platform provides excellent tools to support this requirement.

I have written many times in my articles about the API led connectivity and the three layer model with reference to the MuleSoft AnyPoint platform and this applies in terms of reducing the cost of operating the platform. The construction of ‘building blocks’ facilitates easier updates and maintenance. API’s enable better collaboration between teams by providing clear contracts and standardising interactions between systems.

The MuleSoft AnyPoint Platform with its comprehensive toolset and reusable components provides all of the elements required to accelerate development cycles which in turn reduces the time required to launch new integrations. In addition rapid prototyping and interactive development allows for quicker validation of integration solutions and promote the ability to innovate which is a key factor for many businesses today.

Finally, and most importantly, any platform that is used to build solutions must offer robust security features including encryption and access controls which simplify compliance with regulatory requirements and reduce the cost of security implementations.

So, from the features that I have described above we can see that the MuleSoft AnyPoint platform provides a number of features and capabilities that can, if exploited correctly by MuleSoft certified architects and developers, could lead to the claimed 30% reduction in costs or time due to its comprehensive integration capabilities, development efficiency, operational benefits, and robust support for API-led connectivity.