What is iPaaS? What is it used for?

Digital transformation brings plenty of challenges for CIOs. The data is increasingly complex, numerous, bulky and from very diverse sources. And they are even more and more crucial, because it is unthinkable not to work with them today. From your commercial leads to your Twitter followers, to the guests at your next corporate event, it can be hard to navigate when your manager asks for a full summary. Connecting what seems to be unconnectable is exactly the role of iPaaS. An acronym that means “integration platform as a service” and whose mission is to build bridges between a very large number of software, technical tools and business platforms.

What is iPaaS used for?

Controlling and centralising

Let’s imagine that you have several shops, concessions or sales outlets in the same area or anywhere in France. When a promotional offer is deployed by headquarters, it must be immediately available for all sales relays. Rather than sending a communication by email with the procedure to follow, the iPaaS connects all cash software to pass on the information. Your infrastructure is controlled and centralized to work more efficiently. This is also an essential feature for the development of an omnichannel approach in retail management. By disseminating and converging all customer data in real time, your sales processes are facilitated, regardless of the online or offline channel used.

Automating low value-added tasks

No automated marketing without iPaaS ! This is the key to building and coordinating your actions from inbound marketing scenarios. In this context, iPasS is essential for cultivating your lead nurturing strategy. A system that automatically sends content according to the appropriate triggers. For example, an email is sent three days after subscribing to a newsletter and a second one with adapted content ten days later to accompany the customer in his sales process.

Manage your KPIs in real time

All marketers will tell you this: KPIs have become an obsession. However, building them can be very complex and time-consuming. This is where iPaaS has a role to play. Displaying a customized dashboard based on the manager’s role or the needs of a service can make a real difference. A visual tool that aggregates a range of data, from the number of calls queued in a call centre to your website or social networks metrics / analytics, to an encrypted balance sheet for sales management … everything becomes possible.

How does iPaaS work?

Initially iPaaS is no more than an empty shell. It will only work effectively with connectors that will fetch existing data in already functional databases, software and solutions. And that is what creates all its value. By aggregating, sorting and analysing the data that feeds it, an iPaaS tool can then be used with predefined scenarios including an initial action, a trigger and performing another action. For example: a purchase is made online, the CRM is updated, the financial service is notified and the support service can ensure that it manages the entire logistical dimension related to the purchase. It is also possible to integrate dynamic, personalized and time content based on the available data. The scenarios are grouped in an iPaaS platform and can be edited, changed in-depth, paused or deleted if they are no longer useful.

iPaaS: use case to simplify your life

The hard copy expenses claim

This is a classic in many companies that have not yet completed their digital transformation. Employees must enter the data into Excel, print the spreadsheet, attach the receipts and send it all to the accounting department by internal mail, which will then process the request. A time-consuming manual process that can lead to many mistakes. Without necessarily investing in complex all-in-one solutions, iPaaS can connect your online spreadsheet into a form, take a photo or scan receipts, before sending everything directly to the service in question by email or over an internal communication platform.

Event organization

Anniversary of the company, open days, launch of a product or deal demo… there are many opportunities for the organization of an internal or external event. Here too, iPaaS makes your life easier: data can be extracted from your CRM and connected to MailChimp so that it can be sent. Registration is via EventBrite, also used to greet guests at the entrance with a ticket scan from the mobile application. Two hours later, guests automatically receive a message of thanks. For those who are not registered, or who have registered, but have not turned up, they will receive personalized messages, with appropriate content.

Publishing content online

Whenever a blog post is published, it is shared a few minutes, hours or days later on your company’s social platforms. As part of an employee advocacy policy, the content can also be shared on the personal accounts of volunteer employees, before being included in a newsletter template scheduled each week. The cold content is tagged for sharing in a loop according to a predefined timing. In one click, you have just saved half a day’s work.

Commercial action and social selling

A final example of interest to your sales force. Each new connection request from LinkedIn is automatically included in an online spreadsheet with the personal information of the contacts. A scoring system is applied and the information is returned to the CRM while an automatic thank you message is sent. All future interactions (email, phone and social networks) will then be documented for accurate and comprehensive monitoring. iPaaS is a type of conductor that connects very different instruments to compose a beautiful melody. A platform that needs data to live and is also able to get the best out of it. Connectivity, security, completeness, automation, security … all the benefits that turn your infrastructure and data into a profit centre.