As we continue to work hard through these uncertain times, we've had a chance to see how we can all continue to shape the new normal. As a committed global strategic partner of MuleSoft, Coforge hopes that some of the takeaways from this year's virtual MuleSoft Connect can provide hope, inspiration and a positive outlook for the future.
A star-studded line-up
This year's agenda provided an opportunity to hear about the new products and innovations and to spotlight the issues driving digital transformation. It also enabled IT leaders from across industries to explain how they deliver critical business outcomes using an API-led approach to integration. The icing on the cake was an audience with Megan Rapinoe. She shared her thoughts on what it takes to persevere in the face of adversity, and there was an outstanding performance by the one and only Jennifer Hudson!
Turning imagination and integration into innovation
The event opened with a keynote session that focused on the theme 'Imagine, Integrate, Innovate'. It provided an opportunity to hear how MuleSoft and some of its stand-out customers have been able to apply integration and imagination to their businesses, resulting in innovation and competitive advantage.
Importantly it also kick-started a discussion about how IT can overcome challenges linked with delivering digital projects. This has become much more urgent over the past year, as demand for digital transformation increased due to the pandemic. Nearly 60% of customer interactions became digital since the pandemic hit, placing a considerable burden on the IT teams to deliver more digital solutions.
It is within this context that Brent Hayward, CEO of MuleSoft, highlighted how integration has become such a major issue: “Nearly three in five business teams agree that integration challenges hinder their business growth and revenue”.
MuleSoft believes that by building ‘composable businesses,’ organisations will be able to overcome the challenges posed by this new digital-first world. However, it’s not enough to only build a composable business. API management will also be critical when turning integration and innovation from a weakness into a key differentiator.
At Coforge, we fundamentally agree with Brent’s statement that: "Integration is critical to turning imagination into real innovation". Every digital project that takes place needs integration, data, security, governance and lifecycle management. This is why we support MuleSoft's belief that a new approach to integration and API lifecycle management will enable companies to imagine and innovate faster.
Bringing the composable business to life
So what exactly is a composable business? And more importantly, how do you build one?
Every asset in your organisation, every piece of data, every process, every application can be turned into reusable building blocks. These building blocks are the foundation of composability and the key to enhancing all digital projects. The composable business uses standardised, reusable building blocks to create new experiences, products and services faster, better, stronger and more flexibly, eliminating the need to write custom code from scratch. These building blocks come in the form of APIs and are at the heart of MuleSoft's approach to integration. This allows an organisation to solve the pressing challenges of the day whilst simultaneously laying a foundation for the future, delivering faster builds and accelerated time-to-value. You can do all this whilst maintaining security, governance and reducing technical debt too.
From concept to reality
By most estimates, there are approximately 22 million developers in the world, but, by even the most conservative of estimates, there are over 1 billion highly educated knowledge workers working outside of IT globally. These business teams are intimately familiar with business needs and able to propose solutions to business problems. The only thing they can’t do is act on their ideas by writing code.
Shaun Clowes, SVP of Product Management at MuleSoft, posed the question on how do we make knowledge workers active participants in business transformation? And how do we make sure that composability creates less work, not more, for IT?
Shaun went on to present the new product launches from MuleSoft that aim to do just that:
- New feature enhancements included in Studio 7.9.
- Extension of connectivity to cloud services such as AWS, Azure and Google Cloud Platform via Anypoint Runtime Fabric, enabling users to deploy on their preferred managed Kubernetes service.
- The addition of enterprise apps such as Automation Anywhere, JIRA and Zendesk alongside Stripe and Twilio.
- A new endpoint service mesh, expected to make microservices much easier.
- MuleSoft Composer, empowering business teams to launch digital projects faster.
- Anypoint DataGraph, allowing users to compose data faster from multiple APIs.
- Involvement in the Hyperforce Initiative to achieve over 400 new security controls in the next few years, satisfying certifications and regulatory compliance globally.
Customer spotlight – lessons learned
AstraZeneca's CIO, Cindy Hoots shared her thoughts on the benefits of taking a more strategic approach to integration: "One of the lessons learned that we've really gathered through this whole process is that this is not about the technology. It is really about the mindset shift and thinking about your integrations from a far more strategic standpoint rather than a tactical, project to project approach of traditional integration. And I think it's this reusable component and having people think about the integration at the beginning of the project, rather than just the end, that's really going to make the difference."
Nishant Kumar, Integration Architect from 7 Eleven, highlighted that API management is not just about tools and systems: "You really have to think about what an enterprise needs and what a project needs. So I think for everyone who is designing an API especially, or building an API or thinking about building integrations, what's important is that you think ab out your enterprise. We need to think about what attributes our enterprise has, what all attributes are that the B2B integration or B2C integration might need, what are the channels that in the future we think we could integrate with or are going to come on board."
Imagine, integrate, innovate with MuleSoft
To summarise, the keynote from this year's Connect highlighted that MuleSoft delivers:
- A scalable solution that can help your company to innovate and create a sustainable path to future business success and growth.
- A platform that converts your company's integration challenges into your company's competitive advantage.
- The ability to manage, reuse and catalogue your company's API landscape, making it easier to keep up-to-date, compliant, secure and optimised for success.
At Coforge, we leverage API integration as a business differentiator. When you view integration as an asset and an enabler of innovation rather than an obstacle, the possibilities are endless. Watch this space as we continue to discuss more insights from this year's Connect event by MuleSoft.
If you would like to find out more about how to turn your integration and innovation into a key differentiator, give us a call or email us at Salesforce@coforge.com
Other useful links:
MuleSoft services
API Strategy – Why does it matter
Mule 4 Migration Accelerator
