Dell Boomi developing blueprint for the future of iPaaS

Tom Paine


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Dell Boomi today released its annual Fall update to the Boomi platform. The 2018 upgrade further reinforces Boomi's strategic emphasis on ease of use.

Some key points about the upgrade:

• Blockchain Integration: Boomi's solution provides support for Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric.

• Enterprise Grade Security: New two-factor authentication login support, stricter concurrent session controls and virus scans for file uploads.

• Enhanced Usability: Additional dashboard filters, visualizations and the ability to export Boomi Flow data.. Organizations engaged in workflow automation and low code application development using Boomi Flow can now obtain a 360-degree view of their workflows.

• Expanded Platform Capabilities: As part of this new update, Boomi has developed broader open features so users can seamlessly work with some of the biggest technology companies in the space, including Google, Salesforce and Workday. In fact, with Workday’s Prism Analytics, users can bring together their data from any source to prepare, analyze and securely share it throughout their organization.

• New, Free On-Demand Training and Professional Certification

Boomi probably represents <1/2% of Dell Technologies revenues, but its strategic importance is much greater than that. If Dell completes its just announced plans to buy out the rest of VMware and do a public offering, Boomi may get increased visibility.

           Gartner Magic Quadrant 2018 iPaaS market





Way back in March when MuleSoft had a post- IPO valuation of $2.9 billion, I estimated that Boomi, as a standalone company, would be worth at least half as much. Then MuleSoft was bought by Salesforce for $6.5 billion. Boomi and MuleSoft are by no means identical, but the relative positioning of the two on the 2018 Garter Magic Quadrant is stunning. That is by no means a quantitive or financial measure, but it shows Boomi to be far ahead on execution..

But the Salesforce-MuleSoft-Boomi triangle relationship has been interesting to watch recently. Since the MuleSoft acquisition, Boomi has been seemingly more focused than ever on Salesforce and Salesforce has reciprocated. One almost wonders that if Boomi had been available, Salesforce would have preferred it over MuleSoft as an acquisition target.

Boomi has also enhanced its connectors and business relationships with companies like Workday and Host Analytics, which tend to play in larger enterprises. Boomi in the past has been known as more of a line of business solution, while MuleSoft was considered more of an enterprise-wide solution. SAP is largely a free agent without many proprietary integration tools; Boomi has always been strong with SuccessFactors. Within Oracle, NetSuite has long been a strong Boomi user.

ZDNet's Larry Dignan summarized  Dell Boomi's new initiatives as follows: "The rollout equates to a vision of integration platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) that takes a broader view to connect enterprises, partners, applications, people, things and customers. With the move, Dell Boomi is putting an iPaaS spin that rhymes with what Salesforce is trying to do with its Mulesoft purchase".

Within Dell Boomi itself, one important change has been the growing role of Steve Wood, co-founder of 2017 Boomi acquisition ManyWho, who is now Boomi's chief product officer. He seems to bring a different thought channel to the company. The acquisition also planted Boomi in the workflow management spaee.

LinkedIn shows 780 people now working for Boomi,and 250 of those based in Berwyn. The sales/maketing and technology split between the Bay Area and Pemnsylvania still largely holds true,. with most development in Berwyn.

The dynamic iPaaS space and how it is maturing is a fascinating thing to watch. Growth is still red-hot, but planning must also look at marketshare and longer-term consolidation. I think the time will come when most major players will define a niche rather than being generalists.