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Decoding Microsoft Integration Tools:Which One is Right for You?
Intro:
With the adoption of low-code platforms on the rise, the scenarios where automation and capabilities are built on the Power Platform due to its speed of value delivery are increasing. We no longer solely depend on professional developers; citizen developers are now at a crossroads, faced with choices on how to manage and systemize data processes. Microsoft's suite of integration tools can be overwhelming. From Azure Logic Apps and Functions to Power Automate, each tool has its strengths and ideal use cases. Rapid development should never come at the cost of neglecting these critical considerations. This blog will is my rough guide on the key criteria to consider, helping you make informed decisions and effectively guide your development team.
Key Themes to consider:
A) Data Consumption Requirements
- Variability of data types (structured or unstructured)
- Volume of data (KBs, MBs)
- API-driven or need additional system changes to make the data available
B) Complexity of Data Processing
1) Data quality validation:
- Probabilistic matching
- Deduplication
- Sophisticated free-form parsing and standardization
- Basic parsing
- Data validation
- Lookup and replace 2) Data transformation:
- Rule-based transformation
- Complex industry-standard messages or content filter
- Relabel data elements
- Simple calculation
C) Cryptography
Need for custom cryptography to ensure data at rest and data in motion are protected based on the source and destination systems
D) Data Recovery
- Reliability of data integration technology in response to system outages and failures:
- Some manual work to recover is acceptable
- Recover automatically, typically in seconds to minutes
- Acceptable data latency
Decision Frame work
| Case / Scenario ID | Event Driven | Complex Processing | Encryption | Data recovery | Choice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yes | High | High | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 2 | Yes | High | High | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 3 | Yes | High | High | Low | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 4 | Yes | High | Medium | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 5 | Yes | High | Medium | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware or Logic Apps |
| 6 | Yes | High | Medium | Low | Logic Apps |
| 7 | Yes | High | Low | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 8 | Yes | High | Low | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware or Logic Apps |
| 9 | Yes | High | Low | Low | Logic Apps |
| 10 | Yes | Medium | High | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 11 | Yes | Medium | High | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 12 | Yes | Medium | High | Low | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 13 | Yes | Medium | Medium | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 14 | Yes | Medium | Medium | Medium | Logic Apps |
| 15 | Yes | Medium | Medium | Low | Logic Apps |
| 16 | Yes | Medium | Low | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 17 | Yes | Medium | Low | Medium | Logic Apps |
| 18 | Yes | Medium | Low | Low | Power Platform (power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 19 | Yes | Low | High | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 20 | Yes | Low | High | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 21 | Yes | Low | High | Low | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 22 | Yes | Low | Medium | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 23 | Yes | Low | Medium | Medium | Logic Apps or Power Platofmr(power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 24 | Yes | Low | Medium | Low | Logic Apps or Power Platofmr(power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 25 | Yes | Low | Low | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 26 | Yes | Low | Low | Medium | Logic Apps |
| 27 | Yes | Low | Low | Low | Power Platform (power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 28 | No | High | High | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 29 | No | High | High | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 30 | No | High | High | Low | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 31 | No | High | Medium | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 32 | No | High | Medium | Medium | Logic Apps |
| 33 | No | High | Medium | Low | Logic Apps |
| 34 | No | High | Low | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 35 | No | High | Low | Medium | Logic Apps |
| 36 | No | High | Low | Low | Logic Apps |
| 37 | No | Medium | High | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 38 | No | Medium | High | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 39 | No | Medium | High | Low | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 40 | No | Medium | Medium | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 41 | No | Medium | Medium | Medium | Logic Apps or Power Platofmr(power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 42 | No | Medium | Medium | Low | Logic Apps or Power Platofmr(power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 43 | No | Medium | Low | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 44 | No | Medium | Low | Medium | Logic Apps or Power Platofmr(power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 45 | No | Medium | Low | Low | Power Platform (power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 46 | No | Low | High | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 47 | No | Low | High | Medium | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 48 | No | Low | High | Low | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 49 | No | Low | Medium | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 50 | No | Low | Medium | Medium | Logic Apps or Power Platofmr(power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 51 | No | Low | Medium | Low | Power Platform (power Automate or Dataflow) |
| 52 | No | Low | Low | High | Azure Function or Enterprice Middleware |
| 53 | No | Low | Low | Medium | Logic Apps |
| 54 | No | Low | Low | Low | Power Platform (power Automate or Dataflow) |
Now this information could be overwhelming. It's essential to make data integration decisions accessible and straightforward for both citizen developers and professional developers. By leveraging a guided approach based on Enterprise Architecture (EA) guidelines, we can ensure that best practices are followed and the most suitable data integration platform is chosen for building system capabilities.
Now the magic with copilot studio to incorporate an interactive decision-making tool into your development process, you can empower both citizen developers and professional developers to make informed choices that align with your organization's standards and best practices. This approach not only enhances the efficiency of your development team but also ensures the robustness and security of your data integration solutions.
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