May 9, 2012 By andrew painter
The need for Data Integration has never been greater. Organizations are faced with an overwhelming growth in data, an increasing range of diverse data sources and the continued proliferation of systems within the enterprise.
In this blog I will talk about the hot topics and key trends for Data Integration in 2012 and beyond.
First, a definition – ‘Data integration refers to an organisation’s ability to gather data and information residing in multiple sources, combine it and provide a unified view to support business goals and initiatives’.
So what are the Data Integration hot topics and trends?
• Data Integration Platforms – the right mix of capabilities
• Managing social data
• Profiting from ‘Big data’ and analytics
• Driving efficiency from Cloud Data integration
• Data quality – the essential ingredient when taking data from multiple sources.
This week we will focus on trends in Data Integration Platforms.
Data Integration requires a range of capabilities including Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) working with complementary capabilities for data sharing via XML messages using an Enterprise System Bus (ESB) and data federation (or virtual data integration) utilising Enterprise Information Integration (EII).
A true Data Integration solution needs to include all these different capabilities to provide a complete platform to support all of the organisation’s Data Integration business initiatives e.g. Data Warehousing, Master Data Management, Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), SOA and Data Migration.
Companies who are successfully managing their data and achieving efficiency and effective business results are recognising that to succeed in Data Integration no single capability will address all business Data Integration initiatives. For example, an Enterprise System Bus (ESB) is not the right capability for bulk movement of data and complex transformations; this must be performed using an Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) capability.
Many Data Integration projects have failed due to an incorrect selection of the right Data Integration capability. With a Data Integration Platform in place, with the right mix of capabilities, this should no longer be an excuse for a failed project.
Next time we will look at trends in Social Data.
