IT Briefcase Exclusive Interview: The Future of Cloud Integration with Rick Nucci, DELL Boomi

There is no question that Cloud based approaches to MDM (Master Data Management) are helping organizations move beyond cloud integration to cloud data management.

In the below interview, Rick Nucci, founder of Dell Boomi, outlines ways in which organizations can overcome challenges associated with moving from on-premise to cloud based systems, and properly utilize MDM solutions to maximize productivity in almost every area of business.

• Q. In your opinion, how has the evolution of cloud computing and third party applications changed the nature of data integration?

A. At its most basic, cloud decentralizes the IT landscape. Applications that were once centralized are now running in different data centers around the globe—SaaS-based and delivered/managed by the vendor, or developed on IaaS or PaaS environments. As a result, traditional integration architectures based on “hub and spoke” models are no longer relevant and forcing all integration of the “spokes” or application traffic through one central “hub” simply won’t work anymore. In short, we are witnessing the end of middleware as we know it.

In order to efficiently leverage the benefits of today’s decentralized model, we need to fundamentally change how we approach the challenge of application integration. Given the decentralization, integration must run near the applications being integrated.

The new ‘hub’ is now the development environment, so you can develop, manage and administer all of your integrations globally from one central location.

• Q. As organizations move from on-premise to cloud-based systems, what challenges can they expect to encounter, and are these problems easily solved?

A. First, as cloud enables increasingly specialized applications, IT teams are seeing an exponential increase in applications to manage. That means they have even more applications to integrate in this new world than ever before.  While many integration vendors say they can help, they are talking about their most recent version of software. Unfortunately, organizations are running licensed integration software from five to seven years ago—before the cloud was popular. The solution is to augment existing middleware with a cloud-managed integration solution that plugs into existing installed middleware. Then over time, the older middleware can be replaced as integration endpoints are replaced by cloud applications.

The other area that must be addressed is security of application integration.  The journey to the cloud is moving this issue front and center because now the integration process itself is sending company data outside the firewall. Again, the solution is a cloud-managed integration solution which automatically handles secure data transfer over the internet.

The other area of focus is everything needs to be real-time: you may have had to extract data from your legacy systems in a batch mode because there was no other means to access and it was to disruptive to performance of the application to do this during working hours. Cloud now lets you integrate data and applications in real time, and ensures performance is not compromised.

• Q. Do you think that there will be an eventual paradigm shift to cloud computing as the primary solution supporting modern business functionality?

A. Absolutely. Even today many organizations operate with a “cloud first” approach to IT and applications, and default to on-premise applications only as a last resort. Cloud is not a silver bullet, and, like anything, when done wrong can confuse and slow the market–cloudwashing (e.g. taking licensed software and installing in a virtualized cloud service) is a prime example of done wrong. But when done right (e.g. re-architecting software to be truly multi-tenant), cloud has unmatched cost and innovation advantages that ultimately enables enterprise IT organizations with agility and business innovation opportunities that were once not possible.

• Q. It is thought that good Master Data Management (MDM) has the potential to maximize efficiency and productivity in almost every area of business. Can you please tell us a little about how Dell Boomi MDM, the industry’s first cloud-managed MDM solution, will work to achieve that goal for enterprises today?

A. MDM in general provides benefits that are very compelling across all business departments. At Dell Boomi, we’re making MDM accessible to the midmarket across two critical axes:

• 1. Price

• 2. Technical capability

Simply put, midmarket sized companies have been unable to deploy MDM solutions because they are cost-prohibitive (millions of dollars). We’ve created a cloud-based solution with subscription-based pricing that make an MDM solution affordable for the midmarket (tens of thousands of dollars.)

For technical capability, we have focused on the core functionality needed for a successful MDM project:

• 1. Define – Using the Boomi Suggest feature as a starting point, rapidly model master data entities through a visual experience with no coding necessary.

• 2. Deploy – Deploy models into the MDM repository and identify which source systems will interact with them.

• 3. Synchronize – Leverage Dell Boomi AtomSphere to orchestrate data synchronization.  Design process flows that ensure data.  

• 4. Govern – Govern data as it flows into the MDM system. Resolve duplicates, fix data entry issues, identify and correct erroneous data.

Rick Nucci is the Founder and General Manager of Dell Boomi where he is responsible for all operations and strategic direction. He has led the company’s successful transformation from a traditional software product company to a leading infrastructure provider in the SaaS and cloud computing industry. In his role at Dell Boomi, Rick is constantly engaged with customers and partners to ensure alignment between business needs and Dell Boomi’s strategy and operations.

Prior to founding Dell Boomi, Rick worked for EXE Technologies, a market leading supply chain execution software company, in the areas of product development and implementation. It was in this role that Nucci learned first-hand the cost and complexity of integrating disparate applications and business partners. With over 15 years of business experience in application and data integration, Rick applies this experience to guiding the company’s strategy and operations.

Rick frequently speaks at industry and business events nationwide including Gartner AADI, Dreamforce, Cloud Expo and All About the Cloud.