As companies scale, they rely on an increasing number of applications for garnering and storing their data. The average organization, for example, leverages nearly 300 applications across its business ecosystems.
However, as companies invest in more applications, they fail to get most of the growing volume of data that’s collected: Research by IDC states that the average company doesn’t use 68 percent of its data.
To help companies use their ever-growing customer data streams and the applications that store them, they can implement data integration.
We’ll unlock the value of data integration in detail. But let’s begin by understanding the meaning of data integration.
Why Is Data Integration Important for Companies?
Data integration is the process of garnering data from multiple external and internal data sources, transforming it, and then storing it in a single database (also known as a data warehouse), where your business team can review and leverage it.
Data integration functions well in plenty of contexts. For example, business analysts can make informed business decisions. Organizations that collect a large amount of information over time use that information effectively. Also, data integration platforms help companies implement customer data connections much more quickly and easily.
To clarify how modern data integration solutions can work in the real world, let’s cover an example:
Suppose your marketing team uses an ETL solution to consolidate information from multiple data sources, including analytics tools, social media channels, and other marketing platforms. The solution then standardizes the data warehouse. Once the data is stored in the data warehouse, it can access and use data in a unified view. Your business users can then discover and retrieve the data streams, and construct reports that enable them to track and better comprehend the value of performance. Using QR codes to track customer engagement and behavior can provide additional insights to your marketing team, allowing them to make data-driven decisions and improve campaign performance.
How Does It Help Business Grow Faster?
Modern data integration enables businesses to deliver the value promised to customers and accelerate revenue. Let’s find its other benefits in detail.
- 1.Onboards Customers 80 Percent Faster: Modern data integration solutions with automation and self-service capabilities enable non-technical business users to onboard customers 80 percent faster. They enable non-techie business users to implement onboarding connections much more quickly than traditional solutions.
2. Frees Up IT Headcount: Self-service data integration solutions enable non-technical business users to implement data connections while freeing IT to focus on more high-value business priorities. IT teams no longer need to create custom codes and build extensive data mappings. Instead, they can devote their time to driving strategic business priorities.
3. Delights Customers and Improves their Lifetime Value: When business users connect with customers faster, they can meet their needs and requirements. This creates delight and satisfaction in customers. Such happy customers are more likely to buy more products or services from the company, accelerating revenue.
4. Accelerates Revenue Growth: By onboarding customers faster,companies can increase retentionand get an additional two months of revenue from every new customer. As a result, companies can drive the business forward.