From Bottleneck to Booster
Introduction
Our client chose MuleSoft as the primary integration platform to support all integration needs between systems and external parties. In no time, the platform grew to over 150 APIs to support their expansion across Europe.
The Challenges
Integration team bottlenecks
This rapid growth exposed the Integration team’s inability to keep up with business demands, such as new stores opening or increasing transaction volumes. In some cases, the team was seen as a blocker, as new integrations could take weeks or months, leaving front- and back-end systems waiting. Post-delivery support was also reactive, with no monitoring, proactive alerting, or insight into API behavior.
Cost and sustainability concerns
The platform’s expansion raised concerns around cost and sustainability. To meet project demands, shortcuts were taken and API reusability was often neglected. APIs were sometimes tweaked for maximum efficiency, which increased the vCores required to handle traffic. The growing number of APIs also amplified monitoring challenges.
Development lifecycle challenges
Each go-live carried uncertainty, as projects were treated independently without tracking reusability, often “reinventing the wheel.” Even simple extensions, like connecting a new country to an existing process, could take two months instead of a few weeks.
Compounding effects of rapid growth
Combined with our client’s aggressive expansion, these issues threatened to worsen: longer project intake times, slower development, more unnecessary APIs deployed, and insufficient monitoring of the growing landscape.
The solution
Process and stakeholder engagement
Devoteam introduced an Agile-driven delivery model based on Scrum, along with standardised tools, templates, and project intake procedures. A closer and more frequent communication cycle with stakeholders allowed feedback to arrive earlier in the process, so issues could be addressed during development rather than at the end during UAT. This reduced delays, minimised wasted effort, and made project delivery more predictable.
Development practices
The team shifted to iterative releases, working with mocks and delivering smaller increments instead of large “big-bang” releases. Standardised templates and API specifications simplified starting new projects and made it easier for developers to collaborate across different APIs. This approach allowed faster, more consistent progress while maintaining quality.
“Excellent support in configuring and making connection. Direct approach sped up the process, much appreciated.”
– Client’s Digital Team
Automation and quality assurance
An automated CICD pipeline was introduced to ensure every deployment followed the same repeatable process and eliminated manual steps. Unit tests integrated into the pipeline verified that APIs functioned as intended and prevented new changes from breaking existing code. Any deployment that did not meet the required standards was automatically blocked, ensuring consistent quality across all APIs.
Architecture and reusability
Dedicated architects reviewed project requirements to identify opportunities to reuse or slightly modify existing APIs. By optimising this process, the team reduced the total number of APIs in production by about 25% while still supporting more integration processes. This improved both efficiency and long-term sustainability of the integration platform.
Monitoring and proactivity
Elastic was implemented as the primary monitoring tool, enabling proactive detection of issues before they affected users. The integration team moved from reactive problem-solving to proactive monitoring, increasing system reliability and reducing the risk of delays.
“Helpful, thorough, transparent, and willing to help / contribute. Findings are properly analysed and resolved quickly.”
– Client’s HR Team
Results
These combined changes transformed the integration team from being seen as a bottleneck into one of the fastest, most consistent teams. During the SAP S4/HANA migration, the team achieved a “zero defects” award, demonstrating their high quality, efficiency, and maintainability.
The Benefits
Faster time to production
Our client reduced the time to production by more than 50%. This was achieved through shorter development cycles, standardised and repeatable processes, and more consistent APIs with fewer bugs and less rework. Reusing existing APIs also reduced the need to start from scratch, meaning only new Experience APIs or minor tweaks were required for most projects.
Fewer incidents and higher reliability
The number of incidents from the integration platform was greatly reduced. Standardised code, peer reviews, and unit tests introduced more quality gates in development. In addition, proper monitoring across APIs and the platform allowed the team to detect and fix issues more quickly, minimising the impact of any problems.
Optimised API portfolio and resource use
Despite our client’s continuous growth, the API portfolio was reduced by 25%. Architectural decisions made during standardised project intake enabled greater reuse of existing APIs. Optimising API code also reduced the need for additional resources while handling increased traffic, improving both efficiency and sustainability.
Conclusion
The integration platform overhaul successfully transformed the team from a bottleneck to a reliable delivery engine. By adopting an Agile model, automating the CICD pipeline, and emphasising API reusability, the client achieved a greater than 50% reduction in time to production. Furthermore, architectural optimisation allowed the client to reduce their overall API portfolio by 25% while handling increased traffic. These changes culminated in a “zero defects” award during the SAP S/4HANA migration, confirming the platform’s high quality and reliability.
Your Success Starts Here
Are integration bottlenecks slowing down your business growth?
Devoteam’s proven expertise can transform your integration team from a blocker to a business accelerator, achieving 50% faster time to production and delivering a zero-defect migration on MuleSoft.