As enterprise-sized organizations collect more and more data, the risks of problems around that information will grow exponentially. It’s more likely that critical data can become bifurcated, redundant, or even missing. Organizations must integrate data sources by connecting their numerous applications and systems.
But the importance of data integration is not limited to developers. A fully integrated data ecosystem enables every function within an organization to operate more efficiently and effectively. Here are some specific examples highlighting the significant benefits of data integration.
What is Enterprise Data Integration?
For enterprise organizations, data integration is the process of connecting applications, systems, and any other data sources. These connections allow data to be entered into one application and updated immediately across the ecosystem of connected applications. This creates a single source of truth for the entire organization that is always up to date.
Why is Data Integration Important?
Enterprise organizations can have hundreds of applications collecting data for various business functions, from sales to finance to HR. When this data is siloed within individual applications only accessible by individual departments, information vital to the business may be duplicated, outdated, or inaccessible to those needing it. When business data is siloed or unreliable, it can lead to costly mistakes.
Integration with iPaaS consolidates every bit of data collected by a business and ensures there is a single consistent, continuously updated source of truth for the entire organization. The platform does this by taking the data out of silos and aggregating it into a single centralized system that updates data across each application in real time. This enables workflow automation that’s triggered by events across multiple departments. It also reduces or eliminates the risk of costly mistakes from manual data entry. And with customizable dashboards, each department can access the data they need without searching for it.
Data Integration Benefits Across Departments and Functions
The beneficial impact of data integration might start with reducing developer burden, but it doesn’t end there.
IT Operations
Internal and external support tickets hold valuable information for the IT department. When taken individually, they are not much more than a to-do list. However, when viewed together from the many sources that generate support tickets, larger trends can emerge to guide priorities. That enables IT to dedicate time more effectively by addressing emerging technical issues before they become full-blown problems.
Sales
When data is integrated into a single source of truth, the sales team can be confident that each customer file is accurate and current. Data from support tickets, e-commerce browsing history, previous sales call records, and all other bits of information about a customer all come together to create a 360-degree view. This wealth of data helps the sales team fine-tune their approach to each customer, allowing them to speak with context and familiarity, enabling a better sales experience and increasing the likelihood of richer interactions.
Marketing
Data integration using an iPaaS does more than collect information. It updates records across all relevant applications, enabling a deeper and more responsive marketing workflow automation. For instance, when a single, “golden record” exists for each existing and potential customer, an interaction with a brand’s social channel can trigger an email that includes relevant products based on their browsing history on the e-commerce system. The data can also be used in the aggregate to inform future marketing plans, such as which Google Ad campaigns are performing and for which audiences.
Analytics
Integrated data brings all the information an analytics team needs from siloed departments, applications, and personnel into a single system. This ensures that all reports reflect a complete picture of the organization’s current status based on the most recent data. With integrated data, there is no risk of working from inconsistent, missing, or mis-entered data, which allows companies to make reports and allocate resources with greater confidence.
Customer Support
The more information the customer service team has, the better they can serve and delight customers. Data integrated from every system across the enterprise allows teams to see a complete customer record without worrying about missing data. This includes previous interactions with the sales and customer support teams, any self-service onboarding videos or websites they have accessed, any support tickets they have created, and any relevant notes from the sales team.
Finance
Data integration also means data automation. That’s especially important for the finance department because financial numbers are constantly changing, and having access to the latest numbers means faster and more accurate reporting. Automated financial data drawn from every source also enables rolling forecasts and re-forecasting that can now take days instead of weeks. That leads to better insights and decision-making within the finance department and the entire organization.
Human Resources
The amount of data processing handled by human resources is a hallmark of that department. But with data integration, the HR team can move beyond forms filled out in triplicate. The teams can collect employee data once and auto-populate every relevant form from a single employee record. This streamlines hiring, onboarding, and benefits administration while at the same time reducing or eliminating the risk of inaccurate employee information caused by human error.
How iPaaS Speeds up Data Integration
Two common ways to integrate data sources are to write custom code or implement connector applications. However, both approaches add unnecessary demands for an organization’s development team. Each integration must be maintained and updated in-house for as long as the connected application is used. When new applications are introduced, integrations must be created, tested, and maintained to ensure they do not break other integrations. This is an expensive and inefficient use of the development team’s time.
Adopting an integration platform as a service (iPaaS) system like the Boomi Enterprise platform is the fastest approach to data integration — for today and the future.
This data integration method offers a low-code, drag-and-drop environment for connecting all applications, systems, and IoT device networks into a single data ecosystem. Because iPaaS is a subscription service, the development, maintenance, hosting, and testing of connections are standard. This means all these tasks no longer fall on an organization’s development team, which allows them to focus on high-value tasks that benefit the organization.
Ready to start planning your Enterprise Data Integration? Boomi’s “Why an Integration Center of Excellence (ICoE) is Critical for Digital Success” will help you plan and communicate your integration strategy.