What is data integration?

Data integration is the process of combining, transforming, and harmonizing data from multiple sources into a unified, consistent, and accurate view to meet the information needs of an organization.

Benefits of data integration

• Unified information: Combining data from disparate sources into a unified view helps identify and resolve inconsistencies, duplicates, and errors, leading to higher-quality data.
  Example: A financial institution consolidating customer data across branches can flag discrepancies in account information for more reliable reporting.
• Operational efficiency: Automation reduces manual tasks like data entry, cleansing, and reconciliation, streamlining workflows and boosting productivity.
  Example: A logistics company integrating transportation, warehousing, and customer data reduced manual entry and improved shipment tracking.

Limitations of data integration

• Data security and governance: Consolidating data from multiple sources into a centralized system increases security and governance complexities.
• Implementation costs: Implementing robust data integration solutions can be expensive, especially for large enterprises with complex data environments.
• Skill requirements: Data integration projects often require specialized skills in data modeling, ETL processes, and integration tools/platforms.

Use cases

• Business intelligence: Integrating transactional systems, CRM, and ERP data into a data warehouse for analytics and BI reporting.
• Customer intelligence: Creating a centralized "golden record" by integrating customer, product, and supplier data across the organization.
• Application Data Integration: Combining data from various cloud apps (e.g., marketing automation, CRM, ERP) to enable cross-functional processes.
• Data Migration and Consolidation: Merging data during M&A activities, system upgrades, or consolidating data centers by integrating siloed data sources.

How can Prequel support your data integration initiative?

Prequel helps software companies share data with their customers without building a pipeline. Companies use Prequel’s Data Sharing Platform to send data to every major data warehouse, database, and object-based storage service, including Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, and Postgres. 

• Set up Prequel in less than one day.

Connect Prequel to your source and outline the data your company would like to share.

• Customers sign up in a couple of clicks.

Send customers a magic link to set up their destination.

• Transfer up to 100M records per destination every 15 minutes.

Fresh, analysis-read data is always available whenever customers need it.