In 2018, the forecast for the iPaaS market was to grow by an astonishing 42.1% CAGR to reach a global market valuation of US $8.6billion by 2024. A considerably more recent forecast suggested a moderate, yet ‘robustly’ positive CAGR of 11.9% to reach $1.2 billion by 2022.
Of all the forecasts for the global integration platform as a service (iPaaS) market, this estimate is probably the most restrained to hit the headlines in a while. But, at a time when tech company valuations are displaying warning signs of creating another bubble, it may be a case of fortune favouring the sensible!
Sometimes it’s better to play it safe
Comparing these two figures (from amongst a plethora of ‘guess’-timates out there) might suggest a slowing of the iPaaS market. And that is even before it has reached its teenagehood. Yet far from it, this suggests to me a reigning in of market exaltations at a time when the so-called Millennial Urban Lifestyle brands (many, if not all, of which are technology-led) are being challenged to demonstrate substance behind their inflated valuations.
There is a growing awareness of iPaaS amongst the enterprise technology tribe. Growing adoption of Software as a Service, with a recent CAGR forecast of 9%, is a driver behind iPaaS deployment. It enables businesses to pursue digital transformation strategies such as adoption of the Internet of Things. Moreover, it helps get a handle on the concept of ‘big data’ and how to harness the opportunity it presents. And the more SaaS is adopted by enterprise architectures, the more the benefits of iPaaS go hand in hand. After all, it presents an ideal solution to the complex API connections to join-up the growing web of applications across the business architecture.
Furthermore, enterprises are increasingly aware of the opportunity iPaaS offers to control costs through an on-demand computing model. The need for business agility and the variations in demand for computing power, software and services, coupled with pressure to minimise total cost of ownership and risk, continues the global growth trend of iPaaS and everything-as-a-service in the enterprise environment.
