As enterprises grow, so too does the number and variety of data sources they use to drive business. The average company is using at least sixteen SaaS applications and has data in at least that many on-premises data stores and internal apps. With such disparate data, each tied to a unique API, integrating, managing, and maintaining integrations for all of a company’s data creates a whole new set of challenges. Thankfully, solutions exist that enable enterprises to rely on data to drive business without causing undue strain. In this session, we’ll explore and compare the different options for solving the data integration problem and explain why you should be using standards-based drivers to abstract your API integrations.

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See the World as a Database
Data APIs
Why Standards-Based Drivers Offer Better API Integration
Jerod Johnson, Technology Evangelist
@jeRodimusPrime
@cdatasoftware

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1.The State of Data Today
2.API Integration Options
3.Data APIs (Standard Drivers)
4.Case Study (Bouquet.ai)
Agenda

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The State of Data Today
• The number of public APIs, SDKs,
and libraries continues to grow
• Modern Enterprises are using:
• At least 16 SaaS applications
• Dozens of on-premise data
stores and apps

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LEGACY TECHNOLOGY SaaS APPLICATION
2017 State of the
SaaS-Powered Workplace
SaaS is Now the System ofRecord.
58% of companies are running almost
completely on SaaS

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Options for API Integration
Direct Integration
Developing or integrating
directly with the API
Software Development Kits
Using embedded SDKs to
connect to the API
Integration Middleware
Extracting or aggregating
data to a single platform that
works with APIs
Standards-Based Drivers
???
API

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Direct Integration
• Benefits
• Greatest control
• Simplified integration
• Considerations
• Longest time to
integrate
• Lifetime maintenance
• Limited reuse across
data sources
API

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Software Development Kits
API
• Benefits
• Tightly bound data
access
• Simplified integration
• Considerations
• Lack of shared data
model
• Limited vendor
support
• Limited reuse across
data sources

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Integration Middleware
API
• Benefits
• Abstract data
connectivity
• Shared data model
• Considerations
• High cost, complexity
• Vendor lock-in
• Least developer
control
• Limited data source
integrations

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Standards-Based Drivers
API

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What is a Standards-Based Driver?
• Historically used to integrate with database
• Technologies include JDBC, ODBC, ADO.NET
• Vendors now create driver for SaaS applications
ADO.NET ODATAJDBCODBC

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Standards-Based Drivers
API
• Benefits
• Low learning curve
• Self-documenting
• Common “data API”
• Insulation from API
changes
• Considerations
• Not suitable for event-
based operations
• Additional layer of
abstraction

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Data APIs
Modeling data access through SQL
• Tables and views correspond with resource
collections (Orders, Accounts, Pages, Users, etc.)
• Individual elements correspond to a row
• Sub-collection relationships are maintained (Orders
and Order Line Items)
• CRUD operations are translated to SQL statements
• Operations and functions are implemented with
stored procedures

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SQL-92 Compliant Queries
The easiest way to build data-centric applications. Write
standard SQL queries with support for JOINs, updates,
aggregation, and more.
SELECT Account.Id, Account.Name, Account.Fax,
Opportunity.AccountId, Opportunity.CloseDate
FROM Salesforce.Account
INNER JOIN Salesforce.Opportunity
ON Account.Id = Opportunity.AccountId
SELECT WITH INNER JOIN
UPDATE Account SET Name='John' WHERE Id = @myId
UPDATE DATA
SELECT State, AVG(AnnualRevenue) FROM Account GROUP BY State
AGGREGATE FUNCTIONS
using (SalesforceConnection conn = new SalesforceConnection("..."))
{
string select = "SELECT * FROM Leads";
SalesforceCommand cmd = new SalesforceCommand(select, conn);
SalesforceDataAdapter adapter = new SalesforceDataAdapter(cmd);
using (adapter) {
DataTable table = new DataTable();
adapter.Fill(table);
...
}
}
Standard Driver Interfaces
Just like connecting with a typical RDBMS like SQL Server. Use
standard components like Connection, Command, DataAdapter,
DataReader, DataSource, etc.
Simplify Developer Integration

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SOURCE: CDATA SOFTWARE
Embedded in the leading BI, ETL, Data Integration, Data Virtualization, and Data Warehousing Tools
Leading Vendors Using Data APIs

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Natural language AI platform, Aris extends data connectivity with CData and the power of SQL abstraction.
Mapping natural language queries to SQL highlights the transformative power of a SQL data abstraction,
as it would be nearly impossible to map these dynamic queries to SaaS data any other way.
More Online: https://www.cdata.com/case-study/bouquet/
Case Study: Bouqet.ai

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The Takeaway
• Choose an integration based on current and future use
cases, time and budgetary constraints
• Consider the role that citizen analysts, integrators, and 3rd
party tooling may play in digital transformation
• Explore data-centric integration based on established
standards