Azure Logic Apps is a framework that simplifies designing complex workflows. They do so by offering lucid, pre-built design templates and connectors that coherently integrate SaaS and enterprise applications, which can lead to a reduction in writing code.

Logic Apps pushes an organization toward a more enterprise wide building approach rather than using traditional standalone frameworks for every project, which would be expensive. They also work with internally-developed APIs and legacy web services comprising domain specific functionality.

Logic Apps Services, which is part of Microsoft Azure Cloud Services, is a cloud-based integration platform that offers a vast set of tools to assist in the automation of an organization’s entire workflow.

Here are 9 reasons organizations should use Azure Logic Apps:

1. Visually create business process and workflows

Azure Logic Apps have the ability to provide visual workflows that orchestrate different business-oriented processes and system integrations. Logic Apps execute these processes in a logical order starting with a trigger for executing the business workflow, such as uploading a document. Then the connectors facilitate orchestration and integration with different systems to achieve the required result, such as sending a notification mail. With the use of visuals, the code is reduced and the logic can be reused. New composite workflows can either be created or modified without having to wait for application vendors. This reduces the time to market.

2. Deliver integration capabilities in web, mobile and API apps

As a single integrated service, Azure Logic Apps consolidates websites, mobile app backends, APIs and business processes into a single solution. Developers can make use of the integration workloads via REST and JSON to easily connect any system using HTTP. As the capabilities related to API are metadata driven, building custom user interfaces for API connectors is no longer required, which speeds workload design.

3. Integrate SaaS and enterprise applications

Azure Logic Apps are equipped with more than 100 different connectors–including ones for Salesforce, Office 365, Twitter, Dropbox, Google services and more—which allow developers to integrate SaaS applications easily. These connectors offer quick access to data and the ability to update the heterogeneous systems in real-time, which adds value to the existing application. In scenarios where API connectors are not available, the application can be easily integrated as long as it exposes an API that can be accessed via HTTP (Rest, SOAP).

4. Automate enterprise application integration (EAI)/B2B workflows and business processes

Organizations can exchange messages electronically using different protocols and formats. Azure Logic Apps provide B2B features, where it can decode the inputs received from enterprise applications, process it using workflows and encode the output into the format used by the target system. For business-to-business (B2B) workflows, the two main factors involved are XML processing and validation and transmission. For B2B transfers, organizations can use standard protocols, including EDIFACT, X12, and AS2. The Enterprise Integration Pack by Azure can convert all the individual workflows to the standard protocol used by organizations for easy interpretation and processing.

5. Connect to on-premise data

Azure Logic Apps provide the potential to retrieve data from different data sources, via a secure connection to cloud-based services through the Azure Service Bus. This gateway supports the connection to various Microsoft and non-Microsoft Systems—including Sharepoint, MySQL, Biztalk, SAP, Teradata, and Informix.

6. No upfront setup cost

With Logic Apps as a managed Microsoft Azure Cloud service, there is no upfront setup or infrastructure cost. Organizations pay only when a particular app is executed.

7. Increase performance

Azure Logic Apps have the capability to scale based on user load and perform with agility. Creation of code is easy with the help of different built-in modules which ensure faster delivery of the project to the end user.

8. Gain insight through monitoring

With the help of Azure Logic Apps, organizations can gain insights into the status of their applications. Logic Apps provides strong diagnostics and auditing with the help of Azure OMS (Operations Management Suite). Monitoring and tracking of the creation of custom queries on the data can also be done. They also support custom PowerBI report generation.

9. Ability to experiment

By breaking systems down into small decoupled services bounded by APIs, Logic Apps can enable organizations to experiment with different workflows and test them in a controlled environment. If something does not work, the workflow can be simply deleted without any impact. This makes it truly flexible and much easier to change the process per business needs.

Azure Logic Apps are continually being enhanced with the addition of new connectors and an extensive set of templates to provide further capabilities for developers building cloud-based solutions. If your organization needs assistance using Azure Logic Apps to simplify workflows or platform development, Emtec can help. Contact us for a Microsoft Azure Cloud Assessment today.