Rex

SaaS applications require specialized integration services to allow smooth, trouble-free operations
across the corporate fi rewall. Yet end users, who have only the most basic IT skills, often must be
able to use SaaS applications with minimal IT support.
This white paper describes Informatica’s portfolio approach to SaaS integration and suggests
a solution to these seemingly confl icting needs: a data integration approach that scales with
customer requirements.

Rex

SaaS applications “in the cloud” must integrate seamlessly with on-premise business data and
applications to be able to deliver operational effi ciency: providing end users with timely and
accurate information when and as needed.
• Although many SaaS projects start at a departmental level with simple integration requirements
in their initial phase of deployment, it is common for the integration complexity to grow as
end-user adoption increases and the SaaS application becomes part of a broad enterprise
architecture.

Rex

Software as a service (SaaS) is faster to deploy, simpler to upgrade, and 50 to 70 percent less
expensive than on-premise equivalents, according to McKinsey Consulting.1 Yet SaaS still presents
organizations with critical challenges:
• SaaS applications such as Salesforce CRM are typically managed by line-of-business users in
sales, marketing, human resources, and customer support organizations. In many cases, these
end users are also responsible for implementing and supporting the integration solution.