Data Integration trends in 2020

Data Integration consists of three significant processes: data access, data federation, and change capture. When these three processes are implemented correctly, data can be accessed and made accessible by an array of Extract, Transform, Load (ETL), analysis tools, and data warehousing environments. 

The importance of integrated data

At the heart of any data warehouse is the promise to answer essential business questions. Consolidated data is the foundation required to achieve this goal. Pulling data from multiple subject areas and numerous applications into one repository is the basis of data warehouses. 

Data model designers and ETL architects armed with metadata, cleansing tools, and patience must tackle data formats, a multitude of various source systems, and semantic meaning of the data to make it understandable and trustworthy. This creates common vocabulary within the corporation so that critical concepts such as “customer”, “end of the month”, and “price elasticity” are uniformly measured and understood. This kind of collection, cleanup and unification forms the core of data warehousing.

Now that we know what data integration is, let’s look at the trends that are essential in the coming year:

Hybrid Integration Platforms

One of the biggest trends of the recent years has been the moving of on-premise data applications to the cloud. A Hybrid Integration Platform (HIP) seamlessly allows on-premise solutions to blend with cloud-based applications. HIPs meet the challenges of accessing data in on-premise files, while connecting them to customers via cloud services, combining APIs, as well as updating records and systems. 

HIPs provide the perfect harmony for large corporations that are willing to innovate with the 

new technologies. These platforms support the user in connecting and sharing information, help to fuse integration strategies and unite old systems with new technologies.

Connected Customer Experience (UX)

Every business today strives for an integrated customer experience, which often leads to a multi-channel strategy. Data integration allows us to consistently offer a high-quality service while personalizing your offer for each unique customer. This is the key to building today’s customer experience. By making a multi-channel approach, you can gain crucial insights into all stages of the customer journey - to their expectations while undergoing your service. This creates the opportunity to enhance all touchpoints and improve customer loyalty. 

B2B integration software

Business-to-Business (B2B) integration is the automation of business processes and communication between two or more organizations. It allows them to work and trade more effectively with their customers, suppliers, and business partners by automating critical business processes. B2B integration software provides the architecture needed to digitize information and quickly route it through an organization’s trading ecosystem. 

A B2B integration platform helps companies coordinate all of their complex B2B and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) processes across their partner communities in a single gateway. For years, EDI standards have paved the way for B2B transactions, enabling smooth trade between business partners. 

Real-time integration

The growth of big data, IoT, and the world online has caused people to demand their data insights with higher quality, larger volumes, and, most importantly, faster. This calls for real-time data consolidation so that businesses ultimately get near-real-time data insights. Real-time integration offers value to businesses in various industries.

IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been growing and will continue to do so for the coming years. The rise in IoT can be attributed to the improved infrastructure connectivity and presence of real-time business data. Enterprises rely on data integration solutions to face the rapid growth of IoT in their day-to-day operations. 

They need to deploy specialized platforms to support complex integration scenarios, implement multiple workflows and IoT projects. As a result, this will help in providing consolidated views of customer experiences by providing a single view that connects cloud systems, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) apps, and data.

Empowering business users

By opting for a user-friendly integration platform, you create employees’ synergies that will unlock productivity and efficiency within an organization. In today’s business environment, it is crucial to have a platform that is usable for all of your employees instead of just the IT department. With various SaaS platforms that switch from on-premise to the cloud, it is essential to make this accessible to anyone at the firm. Solely providing these services to your IT team can limit the usability and dampen their effect on your business. 

Conclusion

Your data analytics quality starts with collecting and transforming the right data in the right way. When done correctly, you get revealing insights for various parts of your business. If not done correctly, you can get a cluttered mess that is hard to understand, even by your IT team. This year is the year to invest in a reliable data integration platform, as data keeps on growing and businesses keep innovating in terms of data. Falling behind in this development can have a considerable negative impact on your business.