EBOOK

Integration Your Way

Modern Data Integration:
Importance, Challenges, and
Identifying the Right Solution
EBOOK INTEGRATION YOUR WAY

Table of Contents

3 Understanding the Importance of Data

in the Modern Era

3 Driving Success with Effective Integration

4 Successful Integration Leads to Better

Business Outcomes

5 Integration Excellence for the Entire Business

5 What’s Involved in Integrations

6 Providing Data Value for All Skill Levels

7 Integration Technology Types and Use Cases

8 Considering a Data Platform

9 The Power of Hybrid Data Integration

9 Top Benefits of Hybrid Data Integration

10 Why Actian for Unified Data

11 Conclusion: Embrace Integration

for Future Success

11 About Actian

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Understanding the Importance of Data and Driving Success with Effective Integration
Application Integration in the Modern Era
High-performing organizations understand the need to embrace
technology if they want to compete and grow in the digital+
In today’s dynamic and competitive business environment,
economy. According to Gartner, companies now have an average
access to reliable and high-quality data is critical for success.
of more than 900 applications in their estate, which creates a
Data, often called the lifeblood of modern businesses, is
staggering amount of data to manage. Integrating data from
central to everything from informing decision-making and
various sources and applications helps improve operations and
strategic planning to enhancing operational efficiency. The
provides businesses with a comprehensive understanding of their
ability to quickly retrieve, analyze, and leverage insights from
operational performance, customer data, and market dynamics.
data can be the difference between staying ahead of the curve
and falling behind.
Numerous integration approaches serve specific purposes
within organizations, enabling connectivity, collaboration,
While the importance of data is clear, acquiring useful data is
and data-driven decision-making. The primary goal remains
not always a straightforward task. Almost every department
consistent: to attain accurate, usable data for driving business
within a business wants access to data, but most available
growth and innovation. The key distinction between application
solutions require extensive IT resources. Issues like application
and data integration lies in automation. For instance, while
access, data formatting inconsistencies, and delays in data
gathering data from diverse sources into a spreadsheet is
delivery frequently hinder the ability to maximize data to its
common, this method is inefficient and prone to manual errors
fullest potential.
and versioning inconsistencies.

Finding a comprehensive solution that addresses diverse data

Effective integration utilizes predefined processes to automate
needs across different departments can seem like a daunting
data workflows, reducing manual effort and ensuring
challenge, but by carefully considering your data goals, you
predictability. While this automation is beneficial, disparities in
can lessen the time spent hunting for a solution. The most
data structures across systems can compromise data quality
important part of data and application integration projects is to
without appropriate normalization. Employing transformation
look beyond short-term problem-solving. To do this, consider
tools to address these structural disparities is essential for
the following three areas:
maintaining data quality and integrity across integrated systems.

• Data users: Everyone wants to be able to look at data

to make decisions or validate assumptions. When done
correctly, integration should facilitate timely, accurate, and
secure data access to all data consumers – regardless of
technical skill level. Navigating integration challenges may
appear daunting, and numerous companies
• Data accessibility: According to Gartner, organizations will
claim to provide quick fixes for all integration
continue to shift to the cloud, but 50% of workloads remain
issues. Rather than embarking on a quest for a
on-premises. This is usually due to regulatory, compliance,
mythical one-click integration solution, begin
or regional restrictions. Data must be accessible from any
by assessing and documenting the business
environment, cloud, on-premises, or across multiple clouds.
benefits needed from integration projects.
• Data usability: This is a meaty topic that should incorporate
a range of considerations. Data serves no purpose if it’s
not usable; this includes safeguarding sensitive data
fields and allowing users to transform data to benefit
any given use case.

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Successful Integration Leads to Better

Business Outcomes This integrated approach fosters more accurate reporting,
forecasting, and analysis, empowering stakeholders to
Data integration is a cornerstone for achieving better make informed decisions based on real-time information.
business outcomes by harmonizing disparate data sources, Furthermore, data integration facilitates automation,
enabling organizations to glean actionable insights, improve streamlining workflows and reducing manual errors,
decision-making processes, and enhance operational optimizing resource allocations and driving cost savings.
efficiency. By consolidating data from various systems and Ultimately, by harnessing the power of data integration,
applications into a unified view, businesses can gain organizations can unlock new opportunities for innovation,
a comprehensive understanding of their operations, growth, and competitive advantage in today’s data-driven
customers, and market dynamics. landscape. Some business use cases and outcomes include:

Business Case Integration Scenario Business Outcome

Employee health insurance benefit

Employee Benefit Automate benefit elections transmissions
enrollment and maintenance data
Administration and optimize eligibility verification.
exchange to employee health plans.

Patient claim information exchange

Healthcare Claims Expedite healthcare claims processing and
between healthcare insurance and
Processing stay HIPAA compliant.
healthcare provider or clearing house.

Achieve predictive insights based on a

Financial Planning & Budgeting and forecasting based on
more accurate balance sheet and income
Analysis accounting journals and general ledger.
statement (P&L)

Systematic record of sales activities over

Leverage up-to-date insights into sales
a particular period. Sales operations, sales
Sales Reporting & Analysis performance, without manually wrangling
strategy, and sales analysis. Sales volume,
or preparing data.
revenue, and acquisition costs

Creation of a master record by aggregating,

360 Data (Customer, Combine disparate data sources into a
cleansing and enriching all data from across
Patient, Marketing, Product) single view to eliminate data gaps.
the organization.

Process of evaluating every stage of a supply Enable rolling forecasts and lean
Supply Chain Analysis chain including, suppliers, manufacturing, manufacturing processes through
distribution, and customer data. automated data pipelines.

Technique used to examine and predict Anticipate potential market changes

Trend Analysis movements of an item based on current and and make adjustments to avoid negative
historical data. business impacts.

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Integration Excellence for the Entire Business What’s Involved in Integrations

At the highest level, a successful integration strategy enables While data and application integrations offer numerous
the business to: benefits, they also pose challenges. Integrations can range
from simple tasks, such as using an API to pull information into
• Improve productivity: By automating data synchronization a database, to complex workflows involving multiple steps.
and eliminating manual processes, integration improves Integration considerations include:
productivity and efficiency. Employees can access the data
they need, reducing time spent on data entry, and allowing • Data quality and consistency: Integrating data from
them to focus on higher-value tasks. various sources often involves addressing inconsistencies,
• Streamline operations: Integration eliminates data silos and duplicates, and other quality issues. Integration platforms
enables a seamless data flow between applications and can aid in transforming data and enforcing quality
systems. This data flow streamlines operations, reduces processes to prevent inaccuracies.
errors, and improves process efficiency. For example, • Compatibility and interoperability: Integrating applications
integrating customer relationship management (CRM) and from different vendors or technologies may introduce
enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems can optimize compatibility issues with data formats, APIs, or protocols.
order management and inventory control, leading to cost Middleware or additional development efforts may be
savings and improved customer satisfaction. necessary to ensure seamless communication.
• Enhance customer experiences: Integrated data provides a
• Scalability and flexibility: As businesses grow and evolve,
holistic view of customer touchpoints, which can help drive
their data and application integration needs may change.
improvements in customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention,
Integrations should be scalable and flexible enough
and ultimately, business growth.
to accommodate future expansion and adapt to new
• Gain competitive advantage: By leveraging integrated data technologies or business requirements.
and applications, businesses can respond quickly to market
• Change management: Integration initiatives often
changes, adapt to customer needs, and innovate faster than
necessitate process, workflow, and endpoint changes.
their competitors.
Effective integration technology should facilitate isolation
and modification of integrations to adapt to evolving
business needs, avoiding the pitfalls of unwieldy point-to-
point scripts.

Aeriz, a multi-state cultivator and cannabis product Utilizing the integration and data warehouse capabilities
manufacturer, faced a challenge managing inventory provided by the Actian Data platform allowed Aeriz
and demand forecasting due to the requirement to use to save 120 hours per month previously spent on data
a state-mandated system that offered limited reporting preparation. Utilizing the Actian platform also reduced
capabilities and only provided batch data processing. the errors associated with manual data entry and the
With the implementation of the Actian Data Platform, use of numerous spreadsheets. Actian’s intervention not
Aeriz not only gained real-time access to crucial data only addressed data accessibility issues but also brought
that had been previously inaccessible but also achieved about substantial time and accuracy enhancements in
significant efficiency improvements. operational processes.

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When assessing integration solutions, prioritize compatibility

with diverse data sources, applications, APIs, and formats.
Ensure the solution can handle complex requirements and
While data is crucial for everyone, specific roles
future needs, including data from edge devices, cloud
within an organization have more demanding
applications, and emerging technologies like artificial
data needs:
intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

Data Consumers: Individuals or executives

Providing Data Value for All Skill Levels
that rely on data for various purposes. They
need timely, complete, and accurate data
Utilizing data effectively is crucial for making informed
for decision making.
decisions, promoting innovation, and achieving business
objectives. However, simply collecting data is of little use; Data and Business Analysts: Both roles are
data must be easily accessible to the entire organization. responsible for uncovering the data needed
Accessibility to data plays a pivotal role in enabling for decisions and ensuring that the value of
employees to make informed choices, drive innovation, data is actionable. While similar in job role,
and achieve their objectives. the technical capabilities can vary.
Data Scientists: They make up the
One of the many benefits of data accessibility is promoting exploration teams. Using machine learning
collaboration and cross-functional teamwork. When and large data sets, data scientists look for
employees from different departments have access to the patterns and new opportunities in the data.
same data, it breaks down barriers and silos that often
Programmers: Programmers design
hinder communication and collaboration. Marketing teams
databases, write code for data processing
can align their strategies with sales by analyzing customer
and analysis, create visualizations, and
data, while operations teams can optimize processes by
ensure data security throughout its lifecycle.
examining production and supply chain data. This seamless
Their tasks include collection, storage,
flow of information fosters collaboration and empowers
retrieval, and maintenance based on project
employees to make data-driven decisions that benefit the
requirements and organizational needs.
entire organization.
Data Engineers: This role is the conductor. It
This combination of experts allows businesses to identify includes constructing and maintaining the
patterns, trends, and opportunities that might otherwise go architecture for data generation, processing,
unnoticed. However, it’s also important to note the rising and analysis. Their expertise ensures the
trend of citizen integrators - employees needing swift access efficient flow of high-quality data, enabling
and manipulation of data without IT intervention. Prioritizing organizations to derive valuable insights and
flexibility is essential when choosing technologies for data and make informed decisions.
application integration.

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Integration Technology Types and Use Cases

Integration Type Benefits Challenges Common Use Cases

No-code Integration – User-friendly for – Limited capabilities – Business intelligence

non-technical users and reporting
This approach allows – Only able to handle
business users to integrate – Rapid deployment simple integration – Basic workflow
data from different scenarios automation
– More cost-effective
sources, such as databases, – Generally does
applications, and cloud not support
services, without relying on transformations
IT or development teams.
– Limited
customizations

Low-code Integration – Visual development – Limited ability to – Application

environments handle complex or integration to improve
Provides a visual environment
custom integration automated data flow
for building integration flows – Drag and drop functionality
scenarios – API integration
with minimal hand-coding. – Pre-built connectors
These platforms aim to – Rigid component to improve
streamline the integration – Standardized components structures can lead to interoperability
process by enabling performance impacts – ETL/ELT for data
developers to connect warehouse
systems and applications
using visual interfaces and
pre-built components.

Pro-code, such as – Offers connectivity between – Requires a high level – Hybrid cloud
Integration Platform as a any application, database, or of technical integration
Service (iPaaS) system knowledge
– Legacy system
Facilitates the integration – Robust data transformation – While it offers modernization and
of applications, data, to transform data formats integration cloud migration
and processes across and structures frameworks, custom
– E-commerce
an organization using a coding may still be
– Data quality capabilities needed integration to
combination of pre-built support backend
connectors, data mapping – Workflow orchestration to – Careful consideration systems such as
tools, and workflow design. create and manage data flow for data governance customer relationship
These technologies support between endpoints and compliance management (CRM)
cloud-based, on-premises, – Monitoring and management needs and enterprise
and hybrid data and for easier troubleshooting resource planning
application integration. (ERP) systems
– Customizable
– Highly scalable to expand – Supply chain
and modify integration integration
architecture – Real-time data and
– Extremely flexible, providing event processing
an agile integration
framework

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Considering a Data Platform

A data platform is a comprehensive solution that can enable Benefits of Making Data Easy to Access
real-time data integration, transformation, and processing Across the Organization
for operational and analytical purposes. A data platform
By democratizing data access and breaking
can integrate data from various sources, provide storage
down information silos, businesses can unlock
infrastructure, enable governance and security, and offer high-
the full potential of their data assets and empower
performance data processing capabilities. Organizations can
employees to make data-driven decisions. All
address integration challenges by choosing a data platform
employees can make decisions based on accurate,
to manage connectivity and data exchange between different
up-to-date information when they have access to
systems and applications while also gaining the benefits of
the necessary data. Some examples include:
efficient data processing and storage.

• Increased revenue: Sales can access customer

This approach ensures scalability and flexibility to handle
data and purchase history to personalize sales
growing data volumes, maintain data quality, and guarantee
pitches and increase customer conversion rates.
consistency and accuracy in data stored in databases and
warehouses. Consolidating data management onto a single • Fostering a culture of collaboration: Employees
platform can result in cost savings and streamlined operations, can easily share insights, analysis, and
reducing reliance on expensive technical teams. Furthermore, findings with colleagues, promoting cross-
data platforms can support hybrid and multi-cloud functional collaboration. Teams from different
environments, allowing data accessibility across distributed departments can work together to solve
architectures and future-proofing against evolving problems and achieve business goals. For
technology trends. example, a marketing team can share customer
data with the product development team to
In addition, data platforms often prioritize ease of use, inform enhancements or new features.
which allows both technical and business users to access • Pattern identification: Business leaders
and transform data for their individual use cases. Access gain the ability to identify patterns, trends,
controls provide added governance, safeguarding data from and opportunities that might otherwise go
unintended use and minimizing compliance risk. unnoticed. Leveraging data analytics tools and
technologies, they can analyze large volumes
of data to uncover insights and make data-
driven predictions. For example, a financial
institution can analyze transactional data to
identify patterns of fraudulent activity and take
proactive measures to prevent financial losses.

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The Power of Hybrid Data Integration Top Benefits of Hybrid Data Integration

The cloud journey is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor but a • Scalability: By combining on-premises and cloud
dynamic and ongoing process marked by continuous evolution. infrastructures, businesses can scale their data
It necessitates ongoing efforts in training and upskilling teams to management capabilities according to their changing
harness the full potential of cloud capabilities, ultimately leading needs. They can quickly provision additional cloud
to a more agile, scalable, and resilient business ecosystem. For resources to handle peak workloads or leverage
these reasons, every company’s journey to the cloud is different on-premises infrastructure for low-latency processing.
and never an overnight task.
• Cost-efficiency: With hybrid data management,
businesses can optimize costs by choosing the appropriate
Hybrid data management can facilitate the cloud journey by infrastructure for different data types and workloads.
combining on-premises infrastructure with cloud-based solutions.
• Data security and compliance: Hybrid data management
It allows businesses to seamlessly integrate and manage their
ensures security and compliance by offering robust
data across multiple environments, leveraging the benefits of both
encryption methods, access controls, and data governance
on-premises and cloud technologies. As digital transformations
capabilities. It allows businesses to protect sensitive data
continue, many companies also discover that not all data is well
while meeting regulatory requirements, regardless of where
suited for the cloud. With hybrid capabilities, companies have the
the data resides.
flexibility to tailor their data needs for today and the future.
• Faster decision-making and innovation: By leveraging
Businesses can achieve greater flexibility, scalability, and cost the power of on-premises and cloud-based solutions,
efficiency by choosing hybrid data management. With the ability businesses can process and analyze large volumes of data
to seamlessly integrate on-premises infrastructure with the faster, enabling real-time decision-making and innovation.
cloud, organizations can use unlimited storage capacities and
unparalleled processing power. This hybrid approach streamlines To realize these benefits and achieve successful hybrid data
data management processes and enables faster decision-making management, data management strategies should include
and innovation. Hybrid data management also ensures data several key components that work together to ensure seamless
security and compliance by offering robust encryption methods data integration, security, and performance.
and access controls. Organizations can have peace of mind
knowing data is protected, whether on-premises or in the cloud. • Data integration: Implement robust data integration
processes to ensure data consistency and synchronization
between on-premises and cloud systems. This should
include data integration tools, APIs, or data replication
technologies.
Caution – Curves Ahead
• Data security: Hybrid data management requires strong
While hybrid data management offers
measures to protect data from unauthorized access,
numerous benefits, it also presents unique
breaches, and cyber threats. This may involve implementing
challenges that businesses must address.
encryption, access controls, multi-factor authentication,
Managing data across multiple environments
and monitoring tools.
requires careful planning, coordination, and
integration, including ensuring data consistency • Infrastructure optimization: Businesses must optimize their
and synchronization between on-premises on-premises and cloud infrastructure to ensure scalability,
and cloud systems. Data may be stored and performance, and cost-efficiency. Considerations include
processed in different formats and locations, so cloud-native services, optimizing data storage and
a unified data platform is needed to maintain a processing capabilities, and implementing hybrid cloud
single source of truth. architectures.

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Why Actian for Unified Data

As data volumes rise, businesses face challenges in managing

the load, leading to slower processing times and delays in
accessing vital information. Traditional integration approaches
typically depend on batch processing, delaying data updates
Academy Bank successfully leveraged the Actian
for analysis. Given dynamic market conditions, real-time data
Data Platform to enhance its data integration
access is essential to sustain a competitive edge.
capabilities. By securely exposing existing
integrations to cloud applications and third-party
A unified platform like the Actian Data Platform provides far
vendors, the platform enabled real-time updates
more flexibility and speed for data access and data-intensive
to Academy Bank’s core banking system.
applications. Unlike traditional methods, businesses can
quickly scale data integration efforts as needs change and
Replacing many of its Virtual Private Network
grow without investing in expensive infrastructure or facing the
(VPN) integrations with Application Programming
limitations of on-premises solutions. Businesses can handle
Interfaces (APIs) Academy Bank saved over four
large volumes of data without experiencing performance
hours of daily manual data entry. The Actian
issues or delays.
solution also facilitated the development of
new online services, ultimately enhancing the
Another benefit of a unified data platform is its cost-
customer experience.
effectiveness. Data platforms utilize cloud capabilities,
providing a pay-as-you-go pricing model and eliminating
unnecessary costs. It also eliminates the expenses of
managing and maintaining hardware, reducing operational
“Actian is a critical part of our infrastructure.
expenses and allowing resources to focus on projects with
more significant business impact. Without it, we couldn’t do the processing
and automation needed for our banking
Security and data governance are crucial considerations operations.”
in data integration. A data platform offers robust security
measures, including encryption, access controls, and backups. - Barry Worthy, Manager of Enterprise
These safeguards ensure data confidentiality, integrity, and Architecture at Academy Bank
availability, protecting businesses from potential breaches and
unauthorized access. Platform users can define data policies,
monitor data quality, and enforce compliance with
regulatory requirements.

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Unlock your full potential.

Learn more at actian.com

Conclusion: Embrace Integration About Actian

for Future Success
Actian makes data easy. We deliver cloud, hybrid cloud, and
on-premises data solutions that simplify how people connect,
Unlocking the full potential of information requires addressing
manage, and analyze data. We transform business by enabling
the intricacies of data acquisition, integration, and automation.
customers to make confident, data-driven decisions that
Users of all skill levels must have access to data, regardless
accelerate their organization’s growth. Our data platform
of the environment, and it must be able to transform data to
integrates seamlessly, performs reliably, and delivers at
suit any use case. A flexible data platform helps organizations
industry-leading speeds. Learn more about Actian, a division of
remove barriers to effective data management, allowing them
HCLSoftware: www.actian.com.
to gain a holistic view of their business, create new efficiencies,
and accelerate innovation.

Consolidating data management using a single, unified data

platform provides the foundation for companies of all sizes to
maximize the benefits of high-quality data. Choosing a data
platform for integration provides organizations with a strategic
asset that simplifies data utilization and empowers users to
leverage data to create a competitive advantage.

Tel +1 512 231 6000 Fax +1.512.231.6010 710 Hesters Crossing Road, Suite 250, Round Rock, TX 78681 Actian.com

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