Choosing Digibee: Replace or Coexist?

We’ve come to recognize the change in facial expression.

Here at Digibee, we participate in a lot of in person technology events. The expression change I mentioned above typically follows a pattern. First, we engage an event attendee in conversation, tell them about Digibee’s serverless iPaaS, our users’ ability to enable seamless scale up and scale down, our event-driven capabilities, and we do a quick live demo of our iPaaS interface. We can literally see the interest growing as we talk. Then the change happens, “Oh wait, we already use XYZ for integration.”

To be sure, your organization is using something for integration. With the average number of SaaS applications alone landing well over 100 deployments (and growing) at most organizations – not to mention the various systems, data sources and APIs you have in production – you’re very likely using some combination of iPaaS, automation technology, ESBs, middleware and homegrown coding to cobble it all together.

And we’re well aware of the reluctance to add more tools or to rip and replace installed technologies. You need to be sure that you’re not just adding more complexity to what already must feel like untenable technology sprawl. One more tool and one more budget line item require value to be validated.

Integration tech should empower developers..yet amidst all this sprawl it often becomes the bottleneck to productivity. And yet, the pain points associated with the various legacy iPaaS providers are real. Integration technology, when it really works the way it was intended, should empower developers and architects to innovate and build. There is a better way.

So, back to the event attendee who was excited about Digibee until they realized their organization already had an integration solution deployed. This sounds like it’s the conversation-ender, but it really is where our conversation begins. In fact, the majority of new Digibee users already had some form of integration technology in place, many already running one (or more!) iPaaS solutions.

In fact, the majority of new Digibee users already had some form of integration technology in place, many already running one (or more!) iPaaS solutions.

New Digibee users commonly start with one of two scenarios: A rip and replace of an existing iPaaS or adding Digibee while leaving the legacy incumbent in place (for now).  

The pain points you identify for your enterprise will help you determine your best path forward to a modern integration strategy. You may choose to deploy Digibee to coexist with a legacy product. Or you could opt to end the relationship altogether and move unfettered into the future with Digibee. Let’s examine each option. 

Option 1: Should you stay? 

Coexisting with a legacy integration solution makes a lot of sense for organizations that want to engineer change rapidly. 

By deploying an iPaaS in tandem with your existing system, you maintain the status quo while quickly standing up a modern platform, that can be used by all of your developers, to whittle down backlogs and enable innovation tracks. 

Coexistence triggers 

• Ever-growing IT project backlogs that stifle the growth and success of the business. 
• Limited resources to carry out integration work. 
• Increased cost of licensing each time you add capacity. 

Coexistence benefits 

• Quickly train and empower every developer to build and manage integrations at no extra cost. Limited resources to carry out integration work. 
• Focus on the work your legacy solution is incapable of doing. Reduce and eliminate IT project backlogs in record time. 
• Expedite innovation initiatives within a composable environment where modern applications and components from different vendors easily co-exist. 

Most importantly, the time and resources you invest in a coexistence integration model today will support the wholesale migration from your legacy integration product when you’re ready to take this final step. With a modern iPaaS already in place, the transition will be fast-tracked. Instead of starting from scratch, you’ll be well on your way. Make sure you capture these efficiencies in your ROI model.

Coexistence success story: Payless

Payless, a global retail footwear chain, needed to implement a new ecommerce platform so the retailer could sell its in-store merchandise online. Payless selected Digibee to integrate its retail management software with the new ecommerce platform. 

Although Payless had a legacy solution in place, the company knew it would take too long, be too costly, and require too many full time resources. To expedite the project, the retailer elected to install Digibee in parallel with the old system. 

The initiative was a resounding success, with Digibee connecting the new ecommerce system in 200 stores, across 15 countries, in less than 30 days. Get the full story: 

Option 2: Or should you go? 

A rip and replace scenario is rarely easy, regardless of the technology. The wholescale replacement of any business-critical system is always a significant consideration – especially when transitioning from your legacy integration product to a modern iPaaS, systems that literally connect your entire enterprise. 

However, the upsides are impressive and definitely worthwhile. Once implemented, the new iPaaS provides the business with unprecedented efficiencies and cost savings, while expediting important innovation tracks that support digital transformation and other progressive initiatives. 

Rip and replace triggers 

• Inability to scale back expenses and increase the total cost of ownership (TCO) for development. 
• Expensive and time-consuming system updates and end of support processes divert resources from higher value work. 
• Ever-growing IT project backlogs stifle the growth and success of the business. 
• Inability to support modern technologies that rely upon scalable and agile integrations. 
• Dwindling ROI as the costs to maintain the legacy system rapidly outpace any value to the business. 
• Specialized integration developers are too costly to hire, retain, and continually train and certify. 
• Incapable of supporting merger and acquisition initiatives. 

Rip and replace benefits 

The upsides are similar to what you would realize with a coexistence scenario. However, the efficiencies scale even higher without the encumbrance of a legacy solution running in tandem. 

• Quickly train and empower every developer to build and manage integrations at no extra cost. 
• Immediately reduce and even eliminate IT project backlogs in record time. 
• Fast track innovation within a composable environment where modern applications and components easily co-exist within an established infrastructure.

Rip and replace success story: Johnson Brothers

Johnson Brothers, a leading wine, beer, and spirits distributor in the United States, faced an important decision when its legacy integration system neared an end of support deadline. Either transition to the cloud version of the current product or choose a different direction for its integration strategy. 

After careful consideration, Johnson Brothers elected to rip and replace the incumbent solution, replacing it with Digibee. They were able to implement 6 years of integrations in 6 months time.

The company achieved an immediate savings of 40% on the integration platform purchase, with an implementation time 70% faster than upgrading to the cloud version of the legacy system. For more on this story, read Four Ways Johnson Brothers Praises Digibee Partnership.

Next steps with Digibee

If this blog post got you thinking about how modern integration can empower your developer team, I encourage you to download a free copy of the Digibee whitepaper: Does your enterprise integration strategy inspire or impede?, a detailed examination of the savings and efficiencies businesses achieve with modern integration technology.

For more information, and to get the conversation started, contact us to arrange for a live demonstration on Digibee in action.