Managed Cloud: B2B

Private cloud for B2B integration: Have your cake and eat it too

Amazon API Gateway

In the modern enterprise, success is no longer contingent on access to data alone, but rather how an enterprise is able to put that data into action in real time. From process improvement, rapid customer onboarding, data security etc., it all depends on an EDI/B2B infrastructure. However, today the enterprise is forced with the challenging question of where should this infrastructure reside to support their growing data demands? The utilization of a private cloud platform has emerged to offer a degree of flexibility that IT Operations haven’t had the luxury of choosing.

The way it was done: on-premises

An on-premises B2B solution for many organizations means having to go it alone in supporting multiple-point gateway solutions. Many challenges await the IT staff regarding technological obsolescence, patching, configuration management, system upgrades, training and just maintaining the status quo regarding daily business operations. The result could spell disruptions and serious impact to the organization in terms of costs, time, revenues and overall frustration of dealing with islands of disparate systems or components along with fragmented managed file transfer (MFT) circuits.

The future: The enterprise cloud

At the other end of the business spectrum, a private cloud solution means that the organization reaps the benefits of technical support and expertise of managed services together. This liberates IT Operations teams and allows them to focus more of their resources on delivering value to their customers with expedient DevOps capabilities with API integration. Furthermore, the private cloud increases the pace of partner onboarding and customer engagement. In other words, it doesn’t matter where you are or how large your data infrastructure is, the cloud can support the partner integration into the network.

Have your cake and eat it too

The obvious choice between a secure on-premises B2B solution and a B2B cloud solution is having both: a hybrid EDI/B2B solution. But is this even possible? Yes! Is it cost-prohibitive? No, not at all.

Today’s digital reality requires an integration foundation that unleashes all your data. Learn how to make it happen here.

Important thing

The important thing when looking at a private cloud to support EDI/B2B strategy is to keep ambitions focused on real business needs and use cases. Customers are looking for scalability and data assurance today; with not a solution that may offer ROI in 10 years. The on-premises scenario provides the maximum flexibility in complying with regulatory requirements, complexities of integration, and variable processing loads. The private cloud, on the other hand, opens the enterprise up to more services, an Op-Ex v.s. CapEx model and an innovative geo-distributed B2B architecture that allows companies to scale quickly with maximum resiliency.

Interested in learning more about Hybrid B2B or Digital B2B Integration Services? Learn how to boost your integration for digital here.

Learn about all things HIP in the resource center here.

B2B hybrid structures, like Axway’s Digital B2B Integration Services offering, for example, are allowing the enterprise to fold-in mission-critical legacy systems securely into the cloud with the piece-of-mind of global support so they can focus on the most important thing, their business.

Axway B2B is transforming businesses across the globe. Click here to learn more about their stories.