Internet and Businesses Online > What is Data Integration?
0
Reviews [ add review ],
Article rating : 0.00, 0 votes. Author : Christopher J Enders
Data integration is a technical term used to describe the process
of combining data from various applications for the purpose of
sharing the data between applications and for accomplishing data
analysis tasks that provide solid information which is useful for
the management of a business.
In technology-driven businesses such as internet-based
businesses, data integration is usually very important,
especially if business processes are automated. Data integration
enables a business to use data generated through various sources
and applications and to automate processes which has the
potential of saving the business operator a lot of time and
money.
The ability to integrate data through data integration eliminates
a lot of monotonous, time intensive processes such as data entry,
printing of reports, and manual consolidation and use of data
produced by different software applications or other data
accumulating or producing technologies. For instance, data
integration can be used to take customer contact information from
a customer database that is collected through a sales process to
be used in a marketing program for the purpose of direct
marketing or email marketing.
Without the capability of data integration, this process could
not be automated. Thus, reports would have to be printed from the
sales program and the hard copy data resulting from that process
would have to be manually entered into the marketing program to
accomplish the sharing of the data between the sales database and
the marketing program.
When developing the infrastructure for your internet-based
business, purchasing your hardware and your business software,
and having your website and databases developed data integration
capabilities and the compatibility of the various technologies
and applications you use should be considered.
When you use applications and technology that is compatible in
regard to data integration from the get-go, it will be easier to
automate various processes in your business over the long run in
order to save you time and money.
Advanced planning is crucial to ensure that automation can be
accomplished without unnecessary expenses or reinvestment, or
extensive data integration challenges. Involving a data
integration expert in the process of planning your company's
infrastructure, designing your data systems and selecting your
hardware and software applications is really a very good idea.
High quality planning with the ultimate goal of complete
automation through effective data integration will stage your
company for growth and expansion.
Initially, when you first start your business, automation may not
seem necessary and the expense of data integration and automation
may be cost prohibitive in the beginning. However, over the long
run, as you build your customer base and experience significant
increases in business activity, you will find that automation is
not a luxury. In fact, automation and data integration will
become a necessity. Without it, your business will become
stagnant and growth will be seriously hindered.
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are an example of
technology that relies on data integration to provide business
owners with high quality management information and useful
reports. CRM systems, through the use of data integration, enable
information from sales processes, shipping processes, bookkeeping
processes and such to be shared giving customer service
representative instant access to customer information that is
necessary for providing top-notch, efficient customer service.
Information that is consolidated in a CRM system through data
integration can also be used for marketing, budgeting and other
business planning activities.
Point of sale systems, payment processing solutions and
bookkeeping systems can also be interfaced through the use of
data integration techniques to eliminate the need for duplicate
entry saving you loads of time and money. Planning for automation
and data integration will make it easier for you to expand and
grow your business as well.
Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope,
fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing
advice you're getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing,
or a website owner who wants to make more money from your
website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your
internet business at http://BiznessTips.com
Article reviews
Post your review
[ Note : no HTML/URLs - will removed automatically ]
More articles from Internet and Businesses Online
|
