Customers today demand faster time-to-value (TTV) from the products they use, and integrations have turned out to be the number-one barrier to this, both for customers and their end-users.
Third-party solutions like Unified APIs and Embedded iPaaS provide integrations to help businesses connect with external platforms more efficiently.
But which one fits your use case best - Unified API or Embedded iPaaS?
This article walks you through a comparative analysis between Unified API and Embedded iPaaS, enabling you to take an informed decision for your business.
Embedded iPaaS vs Unified API - At a Glance
Put simply, unified APIs lets you outsource the entire scope of integration-related work to a third party provider. The Provider will manage end-to-end integration requirements (building & maintaining) on your behalf.
Embedded iPaaS, on the other hand, is a low-code tool that adds the basic rails of integration functionality to your application, but it’s up to your development team to customize and configure connections as and when required.
What is Embedded iPaaS?
Embedded iPaaS (Integration Platform-as-a-Service) is a cloud-based platform that enables tech companies to connect their products to external apps and data sources.
How is Embedded iPaaS Different from an iPaaS?
An iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) is a standalone tool that connects different software applications within an organization. It essentially acts as a middleware and is ideal for businesses that need to integrate multiple applications for centralized management.
Embedded iPaaS takes this further by making native integrations to external platforms directly within your software. This enables users to manage workflows directly within your product, reducing the need to switch between different systems.
In short, while iPaaS focuses on internal integrations, Embedded iPaaS extends those capabilities externally, providing built-in integration options for your end users.
What is a Unified API?
A Unified API is an API aggregator that simplifies communication between multiple systems by providing standardized data through a single endpoint. Businesses can Integrate once with the API to access required data from their customers’ software systems.
Horizontal vs. Vertical Unified APIs
Unified APIs can be categorized as horizontal or vertical:
- Horizontal Unified APIs like Merge or Knit connect systems across different software categories but may provide only basic access to complex data.
- Vertical Unified APIs like Bindbee specialize in one category, such as HR tech, offering granular access to niche data like HRIS, payroll, and employee management. These solutions reduce the need for extensive customization, unlike Embedded iPaaS.
Embedded iPaaS vs Unified API - Detailed Comparison
Now, let’s dive into how Unified APIs and Embedded iPaaS compare across several key factors:
1. Ease of Use
Unified APIs simplify the integration process by offering standardized data formats across multiple systems, requiring minimal manual intervention from developers.
For instance, say you work for an HR tech company that needs to integrate with a payroll provider like ADP and Workday, a single integration point through Bindbee’s Payroll API allows you to sync payroll data, without needing custom configurations for each provider.
Where as with an Embedded iPaaS, though it comes with pre-built connectors for faster initial setup but would often require significant customization for niche cases.
Say you’re handling specific bonus structures or deductions - your technical team will need to tweak the pre-built connectors, which delays your time-to-launch and adds more complexity.
While low- or no-code tools make it accessible for basic integrations, more intricate use-cases still demand developer expertise, potentially slowing down scalability.
Key Distinction
- Unified API offers a developer-friendly experience with minimal input in an intuitive interface.
- Embedded iPaaS offers a low-code environment only for standard-data requirements.
2. Depth of Integration Coverage
Horizontal Unified APIs like Merge provide broad coverage across various business functions, offering flexibility but not always deep access to specific data fields.
On the other hand, vertical Unified APIs, like Bindbee, specialize in a single category (e.g., HR tech), offering granular data access and more robust integration even with highly specific use cases. This allows businesses in highly regulated industries like HR to pull detailed data without needing extensive customization.
Embedded iPaaS offers wider coverage but requires individual configuration through no-code workflows, which again is a counter-intuitive experience for technical teams. Add that with the complexity that comes with mapping deeper data fields through a no-code logic.
It does offer the depth but at the cost of delayed launch, higher costs and more complex implementation.
Key Distinction:
- Unified APIs strike a balance between breadth and depth, making them ideal for industries with specific data needs.
- Embedded iPaaS can be configured for depth but it isn’t easy even for technical teams. ****
3. Scalability: Maintenance, Cost-Benefit Ratio
Unified APIs are built to scale efficiently.
Once integrated, adding new systems is straightforward with minimal ongoing development. Bindbee for instance, offers best-in-class ROI for companies adding more integrations as they scale operations.
This makes Unified APIs ideal for businesses focused on rapid growth with minimal technical overhead. Most maintenance and updates are handled by the API provider, leaving your team to focus on strategic initiatives.
Embedded iPaaS requires manual configuration for each new integration, increasing the technical burden.
Although scalable, the costs and complexity of scaling with iPaaS can increase significantly as each new system needs custom work. This means more resources are required, which can slow down core-product growth.
Key Takeaway:
- Unified APIs are highly scalable and cost-efficient, requiring minimal maintenance from internal teams.
- Embedded iPaaS provides more control, but scalability comes at the cost of increased development time and resources.
4. Customer Data Security
Unified APIs offer centralized security controls including encryption, logging, access management, and compliance with standards like GDPR and HIPAA.
With built-in security protocols, businesses can ensure that their customers’ sensitive data remains guarded and the same can be prioritized as a core-offering for the product itself.
Vertical Unified APIs like Bindbee offer even more granular control over domain-specific data through data masking, ensuring only the necessary data is accessed and secured, while maintaining standardized security protocols across all systems.
Additionally, since Unified APIs act as an abstraction layer, they significantly reduce the attack surface by limiting the number of direct integrations that need to be secured. This consolidation minimizes potential vulnerabilities, making the entire system more secure.
Similar to Unified APIs, Embedded iPaaS allows for customizable security settings and is compliant with all of the security standards as well.
However, this may require more hands-on configuration for aspects like data masking and transformation, and although they offer logging capabilities, these are often not as comprehensive or centralized as those in Unified APIs.
As a result, managing and maintaining compliance across various systems can demand significant technical resources.
Key Takeaway:
- Unified APIs offer a hands-off, centralized approach to security, with compliance and encryption managed by the provider.
- Embedded iPaaS offers customized security, but this adds ongoing management costs and operational overhead.
Which to Use for Your Product Integrations?
Every organization has unique needs, and the right integration solution depends on those specifics. Both embedded iPaaS and unified APIs bring different strengths to the table, tailored to the particular use cases they’re built for.
Unified API features a highly intuitive, developer-friendly solution to standardize data from multiple providers in disparate formats through a single endpoint - a highly specific pain-point for b2b software vendors that wants to launch faster with minimal upkeep.
Conversely, embedded iPaaS offers a highly configurable platform with in-depth workflow automation that is customizable for really complex and detailed use-cases.
It is ideally suitable for businesses needing intricate integrations and isn’t bothered by the consistent upkeep and extensive configuration required for it.
By clearly understanding what your business requires, alongside the benefits and limitations of each option, you will be able to select the integration approach that aligns best with your objectives.
Simplify your HRIS & Payroll Integrations With Bindbee
Now that you’ve seen how well Unified API compares to Embedded iPaaS, why not get started first-hand with one?
Our technology takes the guesswork out of building and maintaining integrations, and handles it all in a single-unified platform.
We prioritize your product as much as you do.
Say hello to efficiency, say hello to Bindbee.
Book a demo with our experts today.
