An account on the on-premise Integration Server is a connection that you create to enable the communication of data from the on-premise Integration Server to Integration Cloud and vice versa.

When the on-premise Integration Server receives requests, it processes the requests using the account configured to process requests on Integration Cloud. A stage is an environment configured on Integration Cloud that represents a specific point in the development cycle of an integration service. When you configure a connection to a Integration Cloud server, the on-premise Integration Server fetches the stages you defined on the Integration Cloud server, and when you configure the account, you define the stage on which the on-premise Integration Server should listen for requests. For more information about configuring a connection to a Integration Cloud server, see Configuring Settings.

For example, the Integration Cloud server might have one environment for development (Default), one for testing (Test), and another for production (Live). You would configure each on-premise account to listen for requests for a specific stage. So, if you develop an integration on the Default stage and invoke a service on the on-premise Integration Server, the account listening for requests on the Default stage receives and processes the request.

For more information about defining stages in Integration Cloud, see the webMethods Integration Cloud Help.