Buying iPaaS software in 2019

Integration is quickly becoming a core requirement for companies of all sizes as data sharing, from the data center to the cloud, becomes imperative to success. For today’s businesses, data integration is no longer an afterthought, but an opportunity for competitive advantage in many sectors. Modern business problems require modern business solutions, which is where Integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) products come into play.

Interest in iPaaS has grown rapidly, with the market projected to grow at 22% and generate $2 billion in revenue by 2023. In addition, TrustRadius data shows that the number of buyers researching the category doubled between Q4 2018 and Q1 2019.

But for software buyers, finding the right iPaaS solution can be difficult. Choosing the right product in this emerging space can be more difficult than other software purchases because capabilities vary widely. Beyond that, buyers also struggle with a lack of definition of the problem that needs to be solved.

The fast-paced growth of the category combined with its complexity to purchase is why we’ve created our latest Buyer’s Guide. The Buyer’s Guide to Integration Platform-as-a-Service is designed to help iPaaS platform buyers make more informed purchasing decisions. Our research revealed common questions and pain points that iPaaS buyers encounter along the way, along with a breakdown of how the industry’s top products address each need.

But there’s a lot that iPaaS software vendors can learn from this research as well. It’s no secret that understanding what buyers want can improve everything from the sales process to marketing, messaging, and even the product itself! Here’s what vendors need to know about the realities of the iPaaS software buyer’s journey.

Pain points for iPaaS buyers

Our research revealed that buyers need to address a few key points along their journey to purcasing an iPaaS platform. Questions they ask include:

• What problem am I trying to solve?
• Which products have all the capabilities I need, and do not have capabilities I do not need?
• Which products are the best fit for my company size?
• Which products are the best match for my employees’ skill levels?

Are you ready to educate your buyers on these topics? Buyers asking these questions expressed three key pain points:

Requirements mapping and picking the right iPaaS product

There are two prevalent difficulties iPaaS buyers face along their buyer’s journey: They need a crisp understanding of the business problem to be solved, and then they need to map products to requirements. In our research, 60% of respondents struggled with the requirements mapping process.

iPaaS buyers are on the lookout for information that will help solidify their understanding of the business problem. Do you offer information on use cases? Can buyers see how companies with similar problems or requirements are using (and hopefully, being successful) with your product? Can you help them figure out which stakeholders need to be involved in the requirements mapping process, or invited to discovery/demo calls with your sales team?

Purchasing iPaaS tools with too many capabilities

iPaaS software buyers often struggle with purchasing capabilities that are not needed, or do not match the skill set of available users. Nearly 3 out of 4 respondents report using some or just a few of the capabilities they actually purchased.

The capabilities that customers tend not to use is all over the map, so the problem lies with differentiation rather than general feature availability. This includes your product packaging (are your packages and pricing clear, so customers understand what features they are buying and how to use them?) and your sales processes (do salespeople have access to correct information and trained to guide potential buyers in the right direction?). Again, make sure you are forthcoming with product information and have real customer reviews to share. Without these, you risk poor customer experiences and churn.

Pre- and post-sale support

We asked buyers what advice they would give to vendors. The primary theme to emerge among both SMB and enterprise users relates to the fact that customers need more pre-and post-sales assistance. How’s that for tying the above two pain points all together?

Buyers are on the lookout for iPaaS vendors who will be a partner in their success. Here’s a selection of what our respondents said:

“Improve the overall knowledge of sales teams. Most of my valuable information was found with prior experience and colleagues in the field.”

“To offer a basic support even for the free accounts. I had to prepare a Demo to show to my Business and had many problems during the installation of the product, and because I had a free trial account I had to face everything on my own.”

“Support/Training could be a little more robust.”

This is a golden opportunity for vendors to stand out by offering amazing support, and building strong, confident relationships with customers who want their guidance. Asking for a review is one way to get closer to customers. Sharing reviews with prospects (especially reviews that talk about your reps and service!) can help them feel confident that you will support them post-purchase, once they’re a customer.

Today’s top iPaaS products

Based on the state of the industry, buyer research, and reviews on TrustRadius, the guide also includes at-a-glance views of iPaaS products. These product spotlights, called TrustBriefs, highlight 9 of the most-reviewed iPaaS products on TrustRadius, including:  

• TIBCO Cloud Integration
• Mulesoft Anypoint Platform
• Dell Boomi
• Azuqua
• Workato
• Jitterbit
• IFTTT
• Zapier
• PieSync

These TrustBriefs are designed to help buyers navigate their evaluations more effectively.

How to Use the iPaaS Buyer’s Guide

Though it is called a Buyer’s guide, this report isn’t only for professionals currently in the market for a new iPaaS solution. As a vendor, this guide is a great way to visualize how your iPaaS product measures up to others in the market. Download your free copy today to see what your customers are saying about you! (And if you’re not featured in the guide, don’t miss out on this easy-to-digest competitive intelligence on key players in your market.)

We know that today’s buyers use multiple resources when looking for new software solutions. In fact, the average buyer consults 5.2 different sources of information during their software purchase process. If you’re interested in leveraging this guide as a resource in your sales and marketing processes to incorporate customer voice and stand out as a leader in the iPaaS software marketplace, come talk with us.