Integration of data can be compared to exchanging loose change for currency bills—while they both are fundamentally the same thing, the final version is more accessible, practical, and useful. Integrating business data enables companies to unleash its full potential. When enterprises have all their data in one central repository, they can analyze it with an aim to glean actionable insights that can give them an edge over the competition in any market.
Below are a few applications of data integration software.
Retail
Whether a retailer operates online or through a bricks-and-mortar presence, it deals with large volumes of data on a daily basis. In order to track vital business statistics at both micro and macro levels and make local and global business decisions, management teams need to have all their data in a single location regardless of where it was collected from. Data integration solutions like Informatica PowerCenter empower retailers to manage sales, labor hours, inventory, and other key metrics across the business.
Credit Rating
Credit rating companies require accurate data insights in order to function effectively. With data integration tools like IBM InfoSphere DataStage, these companies can collect higher quantities of data from current and new sources in order to ensure that their ratings are as trustworthy as possible. With deeper data, these organizations can also rate new metrics using new methods. By constantly gathering and analyzing information, credit rating organizations can keep their rating systems relevant and increase demand for them.
Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance
Financial fraud is almost as old as finance itself, and as banks and other institutions become more digitalized, fraud it taking on new and more innovative forms. By leveraging data integration software like Microsoft Azure Data Factory, banks and other financial institutions can identify, prevent, and eliminate instances of fraud. Once their customer and financial data is integrated, they can use AI-powered features to continuously monitor this data for outliers and anomalies, allowing them to detect and mitigate the effects of fraud even before it can affect the targeted customer. With siloed or fragmented data, early intervention like this is close to impossible.
Healthcare
The more information healthcare providers have when treating a patient, the more likely it is that a successful outcome will be reached. When patient and other medical data is siloed in numerous different systems, it compromises the quality of care. Healthcare institutions have begun to use data integration tools such as Oracle Data Integrator and Oracle GoldenGate to integrate all relevant medical data into a comprehensive record. This has the potential to transform healthcare by helping control costs, improve outcomes, and elevate health & wellness.
Telecommunications
Customer service is a vital part of the telecommunications industry. By integrating customer, subscription, usage, and other data in a central database, customer service personnel can gain an end-to-end view of the relation that the company holds with each and every client that contacts them. Along with this, solutions like Talend Data Fabric are able to provide accurate insights into issues that generate more customer service contacts or show trends of poor customer satisfaction. Using these insights, management can take measures to identify and correct such situations. With data integration solutions, telecom companies can personalize their services for every customer.
Marketing
Marketing relies strongly on detail—if every aspect of a campaign is not finely-tuned, the message of the outreach effort will not resonate with the target audience like it should. Marketing companies collect data on thousands (and sometimes millions) of consumers, and this can easily become unmanageable. With data integration software like SAP Data Services, marketing teams can avoid wasted budgets and substandard campaigns by keeping their databases accurate, organized, relevant, and up-to-date.
Takeaway
Data integration solutions can solve a variety of issues for companies across industries. The core function of these tools is to prevent a sense of being overwhelmed by data and replacing it with clarity. Data integration software helps users ensure that their data is correct, complete, secure, insightful, and ultimately, profitable.
