Belgium – IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support – Integration platform as a service (iPaaS) oplossing met aanvullende diensten

I.1.1. Background

Stijn vzw is a network of care entities spread across Limburg, Antwerp and Flemish Brabant. Within the care network, nine service centres are active, providing care to children and adults with disabilities ranging from mild, severe to profound; and this at 37 locations with more than 2,000 employees for 3,700 clients. As Stijn vzw, we offer various forms of care, including day care, residential care, short stay, outpatient and mobile services. For this, we are, among other things, subsidised by the Flemish Agency for Persons with a Disability (VAPH). All entities are supported from one central support and coordinating centre. To date, all care workers and administrative staff have been supported in their daily work by internally developed software. This software includes applications written in RPG (AS400/Power Systems), Delphi, and C# that connect to DB2 and SQL-server databases. In 2023, as part of the preparation for a digital transformation, a vision for the future regarding ICT was developed. In this context, Stijn vzw is specifically looking for a robust and scalable integration platform (iPaaS) to efficiently and future-proofly integrate our internal applications, external systems, data and business processes. The goal is to create a central "heartbeat" that counteracts fragmentation and guarantees seamless data exchange. The figure below (p.6) visualises the proposed TO-BE software architecture, which serves as the foundation for the realisation of this digital transformation. This architecture includes the following building blocks:

The functional domains within Stijn vzw that need to be supported by software, grouped into expected SaaS applications. A custom care and client portal that, on the one hand, supports the care group employees in their daily work, and on the other hand, strengthens the involvement of clients and their network. This portal actively contributes to the realisation of the pillars of the future vision. The portal is completely separate from the SaaS applications, but will retrieve, display, and write data to the underlying applications. A data warehouse for storing all data throughout the architecture for use in scientific research and BI reporting. Cloud-based iPaaS middleware that handles data exchange between SaaS applications, the flow of data to the data warehouse, and the retrieval and writing of data between the portal and the underlying systems. In addition, it realises connections with external applications including, among others, the GIR of VAPH and DEONA for childcare. During the phased transition, the iPaaS also ensures data flow and synchronisation between existing and new software applications. The current challenges that Stijn vzw faces are as follows:

High maintenance costs: The complexity and age of the current point-to-point integrations lead to significant maintenance burdens and costs. Lack of scalability and flexibility: Adding new and modifying existing applications and integrations is time-consuming and complex. Data reliability and consistency: Duplicate entry: There is a lot of manual, duplicate data entry in different systems. Inconsistency: Data is not the same everywhere. Data loss: Data is regularly lost during the exchange between the systems. Limited real-time insight: There is insufficient monitoring of the data streams, which makes it difficult to proactively identify problems. Increase in shadow IT: As a result of the limitations of the existing applications and integrations, we see an increase in 'shadow IT' solutions such as the use of spreadsheets.

I.1.2. The Assignment

Subject of these services: Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solution with additional services.

Explanation: Stijn vzw wishes to select and implement an iPaaS platform as a central middleware layer for data exchange between SaaS applications, existing (legacy) systems, the care and client portal, the data warehouse and external parties. Within this context, Stijn vzw aims for a solution where integrations, transformations and orchestrations can be set up and managed mainly via no-code/low-code and visual configuration. This with the aim of reducing the dependency on specialised custom work and increasing the speed, transparency and sustainability of integration development and management. The platform should offer an integrated environment in which integrations, API management, monitoring and other related functionalities come together centrally. In addition, it must support various integration patterns (real-time, near real-time and batch), and provide possibilities for data transformation and mapping, as well as for monitoring, logging, tracing, error handling and reprocessing. With this investment, Stijn vzw is building a digital foundation to which all applications connect, avoiding fragmented point-to-point connections and creating a central, reliable and scalable integration network. The implementation of the iPaaS platform is based on the following strategic vision and operational objectives:

Strategic vision:

Standardisation: A conscious shift from complex custom work to the use of standard software and proven integration patterns. Central: The integration platform functions as the central system in which all data streams between internal and external systems converge. Future-proof architecture: Creating a foundation that is scalable and flexible to support future growth in data traffic and applications effortlessly.