Security & Compliance

  • 9 min read

Boomi vs MuleSoft: Which Automation Tool is Suitable?

Team Zluri

18th September, 2023

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As a CIO, your primary objective is to make your organization's IT processes more efficient. Automating IT tasks like provisioning and deprovisioning is important to achieving this. Therefore, choosing the right automation platform for your organization is vital. 

Boomi and MuleSoft are both automation tools that help to streamline various IT processes. However, exploring their differences will help you identify the platform that suits your specific requirements.

To choose the right automation platform between Boomi and MuleSoft, as a CIO, you need to carefully examine each tool's abilities to integrate and automate and see how well they match the specific needs of your IT team.

As a CIO of a mid-sized company, you're responsible for overseeing the management of critical systems, including customer data, inventory management, and financial transactions.

The growing challenge lies in the increasing manual effort required to maintain synchronization among these systems, which has become overwhelming for your IT department. Recognizing the need for enhanced efficiency and streamlined processes, you firmly believe that embracing automation holds the key to unlocking optimization within your IT operations.

However, it's important to thoroughly evaluate the unique features of each automation tool to make a strategic decision and choose the best one for your organization.

In this article, we will explain why a comparison between Boomi and MuleSoft is necessary and how it can benefit you in automating your IT processes effectively.

Boomi vs MuleSoft: Comparison Based on 5 Parameters 

Let us explore the various factors that will help to make a distinctive comparison between the tools.

1. Solution categories

• Boomi is categorized as a cloud-based integration platform, API management tool, B2B/EDI management tool, and iPaaS solution.

• MuleSoft is categorized as a data integration, API management, and business process automation tool.

2. Integration with other tools

• Boomi excels in offering a unified platform for all your integration needs. Whether you require application-to-application (A2A), business-to-business (B2B), or data integrations, Boomi has got you covered. It seamlessly connects cloud applications, IoT devices, and even partner ecosystems within a single platform. 
  
  This holistic approach allows your IT team to break down data silos, unify the processes, and gain real-time visibility into your business operations, leading to informed decision-making and improved agility.
  
  With Boomi, you can future-proof your business by leveraging its extensive library of pre-built connectors and integration templates. Boomi offers a vast marketplace of pre-configured connectors to popular applications, databases, and systems, ensuring rapid deployment and integration. 
  
  This extensive library significantly reduces the time and effort required to connect your disparate systems, enabling you to unlock the full potential of your technology investments.

While MuleSoft and Boomi offer integration solutions, their capabilities differ.

• MuleSoft's integration capabilities stand out in terms of flexibility and API-led connectivity. MuleSoft's extensive library of connectors and APIs, coupled with its Anypoint Platform, enables your IT team to connect a wide range of systems and applications quickly.
  
  The API-led approach further enhances the efficiency and reusability of integrations, fostering a scalable and adaptable ecosystem.
  
  On the contrary, Boomi is widely recognized for its strong integration platform, which primarily specializes in cloud-based integrations. Although Boomi excels in its cloud-native capabilities, it could benefit from enhanced flexibility when establishing connections with on-premises and legacy applications.|
  
  MuleSoft's unified platform also provides a more comprehensive set of tools and features for end-to-end integration management, simplifying the integration journey and enhancing operational efficiency.

3. Automation capabilities

Boomi's unique automation capabilities:

• Drag-and-Drop Interface for Visual Workflows: Boomi simplifies workflow creation by offering a user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface, allowing you and your IT teams to visually design intricate workflows without the need for extensive coding expertise. 
  
  This intuitive approach accelerates automation implementation and empowers your teams to create, modify, and manage workflows effortlessly.

• Data Mapping and Transformation: Boomi simplifies data integration by offering robust data mapping and transformation capabilities. Your IT team can easily define data transformations with its data mapping capability, ensuring seamless data flow across systems. 
  
  By automating data mapping, your team can eliminate manual data entry errors and ensure data accuracy throughout their IT processes.

• Event-Driven Automation: Boomi supports event-driven automation, enabling your IT admin to trigger workflows based on real-time events and conditions. Whether it's detecting a system error or monitoring data changes, Boomi can automatically initiate workflows. 
  
  This enables timely actions and proactive decision-making and enhances operational efficiency and responsiveness.

MuleSoft’s unique automation capabilities:

• Intelligent Workflow Automation: MuleSoft's automation features go beyond mere data integration. The platform enables your teams to create and automate complex workflows by combining MuleSoft composer, MuleSoft RPA, and Anypoint platform, orchestrating processes across multiple systems like cloud apps and on-prem apps. 
  
  This empowers your team to automate their repetitive tasks, eliminate manual errors, and optimize resource allocation, ultimately driving operational efficiency and cost savings.

• AI-Powered Insights: MuleSoft leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance automation capabilities further. By incorporating AI algorithms and machine learning capabilities, the platform can intelligently analyze vast amounts of data and provide valuable insights. 
  
  Your team can leverage these insights to identify patterns, predict outcomes, and automate decision-making processes. This empowers your team to proactively address potential issues, optimize resource allocation, and drive continuous improvement across their IT operations.

4. API management capabilities

• Boomi's API management solution simplifies the entire API lifecycle management process, enabling your team to create, publish, manage, and retire APIs efficiently.
  
  Moreover, Boomi's API gateway acts as a central hub for managing and securing API traffic. With its intelligent routing capabilities, the gateway efficiently handles incoming requests, applies security measures, and enforces rate limiting to prevent API abuse and ensure optimal performance. 
  
  Your IT admin can easily configure policies to control API traffic, prioritize requests, and enforce specific protocols, enhancing their APIs' overall reliability and availability.
  
  Boomi's API management platform also offers comprehensive analytics and monitoring features, enabling you to gain actionable intelligence and proactively identify potential issues. Detailed dashboards and reports provide a holistic view of API performance, empowering your team to fine-tune their API strategies and drive continuous improvement.

When comparing API management solutions, MuleSoft distinguishes itself from Boomi by offering a distinct and robust set of features. Let's delve into the reasons why MuleSoft stands out.

• MuleSoft's API management solutions empower your team to effortlessly create, manage, and govern APIs. It helps your team consolidate your organization’s API by centralizing them into a unified, reliable hub within MuleSoft’s Anypoint Exchange.
  
  Further, your IT team can prioritize the growth of your organization’s user base and foster active API communities. This empowers them throughout the journey of utilizing APIs via developer portals created with the API community manager.
  
  In addition, MuleSoft's API management solutions prioritize robust governance and security, enabling your team to maintain control and protect your valuable data assets. With fine-grained access controls, policy enforcement, and centralized governance, your team can ensure compliance with industry regulations and maintain the integrity and security of your APIs. 
  
  MuleSoft's solution also offers a range of security measures, such as OAuth, encryption, and threat detection, to safeguard your APIs against potential vulnerabilities and attacks.

5. Pricing and ratings

Boomi's Pricing Model:

Boomi offers a transparent and tiered pricing structure that aligns with your business needs, ensuring you pay for what you use and scale as you grow.

Usage-based Pricing: Boomi's pricing is based on actual usage, measured by the number of integrations, connections, and data volumes. This allows you to pay for the resources you consume, making it fair and cost-effective.

You have the freedom to start small and expand gradually without any sudden jumps in pricing. Boomi's pricing scales accordingly as your business grows, requiring more integrations or higher data volumes. This scalability allows you to adapt your IT budget to align with your business goals and objectives.

Boomi also offers customizable solutions to cater to your specific needs. Your team can select additional features, such as real-time monitoring, API management, or data governance, that are essential for your organization. 

MuleSoft's Pricing Model:

MuleSoft offers three distinct pricing tiers: Gold, Platinum, and Titanium. Each tier is designed to cater to different business needs and provides a range of features and support to help you unlock the full potential. Below, you will find a breakdown of each tier, along with their corresponding pricing details:

Gold Tier: The Gold tier is the entry-level package, ideal for small businesses and startups looking to establish a strong integration foundation. It offers the following key features:

• Core Integration Capabilities: Includes the basic integration functionalities required to connect applications, data sources, and APIs.

• Standard Connectors: Access to a set of pre-built connectors to popular systems and applications.

• Limited Support: Standard technical support during business hours.

• Community Resources: Access to the MuleSoft developer community for self-service resources and knowledge sharing.
  
  Platinum Tier: The Platinum tier is designed for growing businesses and enterprises that require advanced integration capabilities and enhanced support. It offers the following features in addition to those available in the Gold tier:

• Advanced Integration Capabilities: Advanced data mapping, transformation, and orchestration features to handle complex integration scenarios.

• Extended Connector Library: Access to an expanded range of connectors, including premium connectors for specialized systems and applications.

• Priority Support: Dedicated technical support with faster response times and extended coverage.

• Training and Certification: Access to MuleSoft training materials and certification programs for your team's professional development.
  
  Titanium Tier: The Titanium tier is a top-tier offering designed for large enterprises and organizations with complex integration requirements. It provides comprehensive integration capabilities, premium support, and exclusive features. In addition to the features offered in the Platinum tier, the Titanium tier includes:

• Advanced Data Governance: Robust data governance and management features to ensure compliance and data integrity across your organization.

• High-Availability and Scalability: Enhanced infrastructure and scalability options to handle high-volume and mission-critical integrations.

• Customized SLA: Tailored service level agreements (SLAs) to meet your specific uptime and performance requirements.

• Strategic Advisory Services: Access to MuleSoft's integration experts for guidance, best practices, and strategic planning.

Customer rating of Boomi

• G2: 4.3/5

• Capterra: 4.4/5

Customer rating of MuleSoft

• G2: 4.4/5

• Capterra: 4/5

Are you seeking the ideal automation tool to streamline the IT processes within your organization? If you've recently familiarized yourself with Boomi and MuleSoft, you might be closer to discovering the perfect solution for your IT team. However, there's an emerging player in the market that demands your attention – Zluri.

How to Automate Your IT Processes with Zluri

Zluri provides an intelligent user lifecycle management platform for streamlining your IT team’s repetitive tasks within your organization, like employee onboarding and offboarding. 

Zluri seamlessly integrates with your organization’s existing HRMS platforms like Workday or BambooHR. When a new employee joins or leaves your company, Zluri collects the data from the HRMS platform, which is easily accessible by your IT teams. They can then manage access permissions for employees based on their updated information.

Let's take a closer look at how Zluri makes this process simple and efficient:

Streamline the onboarding process with automated workflows

• To kickstart the workflow of the onboarding process, click on the workflow module and select the onboarding option from the drop-down list"new workflow," and create a customized workflow. 

  

  

• Then, select the users that are needed to onboard from the ‘select users for onboarding’ box. 
  
  Note: Your team can select multiple users for the onboarding, depending on the number of employees marked for onboarding.

  

  

• Zluri suggests a contextual-based "recommendation app" that helps your IT admin effortlessly determine which applications are relevant based on the employee's role, designation, and position. 

  

  

• Once your team has selected the app, they will receive "in-app suggestions" that guide them through necessary actions. For example, if your team has added “Slack, " it will suggest actions like “sending invites to specific channels.”

  

  

  Note: Your team can also personalize these actions and provide any additional details if needed. If your team prefers, they can schedule these actions automatically on the employee's onboarding day. 

• Once everything is set, simply click on "run" or save it in the "playbook" for future reference.

  

  

• To stay updated on the progress of your workflows, your IT team can easily check their status in the "recent run" tab. 

Your IT admin can also establish triggers, conditions, and actions within the "automation rule" tab. This way, new hires will automatically be granted access to the apps based on your defined triggers.

In short, Zluri simplifies the onboarding process, making it seamless and efficient for your team.

Empower your IT team with automated app approval to manage the ad-hoc requests

Zluri helps your IT team to manage the additional requests from your employees during their mid-lifecycle transitions like promotion, role change, etc. This eliminates the need for manual ticketing systems. Let's explore how it does this.

Zluri introduces the "Employee App Store," a self-service platform that enhances convenience and choice. Your IT admin can select pre-approved and verified SaaS applications, which your employees can view.

 The app store also allows IT teams to control which apps are available to your employees, allowing them to explore and select any app from the store. This reduces the risk of security breaches and eliminates shadow IT, as your IT teams can monitor all apps efficiently and streamline access requests.

Streamline the offboarding process with automated workflows

Your team can effortlessly create an offboarding workflow with Zluri using a similar approach. Here's how:

• Start by accessing Zluri's main interface. Locate and select the workflow module. From the drop-down menu, choose "offboarding" and click on "new workflow."

  

  

• Inside the platform, your team will find a dedicated box specifically designed for offboarding users. Your team can easily select the employees you want to offboard by scrolling through the list or using the handy search bar. Once you've selected the users, click "continue."

  

  

  Next, your IT team can review all the applications accessible to the offboarded employees.

•  By clicking on each application, your team discovers suggested actions listed under "recommended actions." Simply choose and perform the necessary actions for each selected application.

  

  

• Lastly, saving the workflow as a "playbook" is essential for future reference. This way, your team can conveniently access and refer to it whenever needed.

  

  

Other Zluri’s automated features: 

Zluri goes beyond just automating onboarding and offboarding workflows. Let’s explore the other automated features.

• Automated SaaS Apps Discovery: Zluri uses five methods to automatically discover 100% of SaaS applications within organizations, including SSO, finance & expense management, APIs through integrations, desktop agents (optional), and browser extensions (optional).

  

  

• Automated SaaS Renewal Management: Zluri also provides comprehensive renewal information, overviews, and the clarity for all upcoming SaaS renewals. The Renewal Calendar allows your team to proactively plan and prioritize the high-valued contracts, considering the renewal's size and its timeline.

  

  

• Automated SaaS License Management: Zluri provides your team with automated SaaS license management to help them achieve greater efficiency and cost savings. This makes it easy for your team to manage the software licenses and comply with licensing agreements.

  

  

• Automated Vendor Management: Also, Zluri helps your IT team to manage vendors’ lifecycle efficiently by automated vendor management.

  

  

  Experience the power of Zluri and witness its ability to streamline your IT processes. Schedule a demo now and discover how this cutting-edge solution can automate your operations effortlessly.

About the author

Team Zluri

Team Zluri