As innovative products and technologies emerged on the business scene, they were immediately adopted by companies to create commercial value. This is due to the fact that companies are dealing with a greater volume of data originating from a much larger number of data sources than in the past. In this rich multi-source environment, data integration is essential
Companies that do not have a structure and a strategic approach to data integration, are forced to implement various integrations, which, in addition to the cost and complexity impacts, results in costly and time-consuming projects.
Alternatively, companies that take a fast and flexible approach by developing comprehensive data integration solutions, in addition to achieving better and faster integration, can handle exceptions (such as adding new data sources or modifying existing integrations) and ensure that work runs correctly, without the need for large change projects.
We can group the benefits that this type of integration brings to companies into five types.
Efficiency, accuracy, and consistency with data integration
Lack of data integration results in the need for as many records as there are systems in which the information needs to be contained, which can lead to errors and inconsistencies as well as additional workload. Processes that automate integration tasks not only make an organization more efficient, but also increase the accuracy and consistency of data between business systems and applications.
It can be very common, for example, for several employees in an organization to refer to the same customer differently. One of them may enter the company in the CRM as "NOS", another as "NOS SGPS" and still another as "NOS Comunicações". The same applies to names, addresses and other data elements common to a customer record. With the right integration tools and processes in place, the probability of errors and inconsistencies drops dramatically as far less information is manually entered into the systems.
Provide the right data at the right time
Unfortunately, most organizations have blind spots in relation to the systems and the data they contain. When commercial areas have limited visibility in overdue balances, for example, they can waste time chasing a good deal, only to discover later that the customer is about to lose credit. Effective integration makes it much easier to make this type of information available to people when they need it. Real-time data feeds can provide accurate, up-to-date information when fast response time is of the essence.
Get a 360° view: better analytics capabilities
More than ever, companies must be able to gather information from multiple systems and interpret it. It is common, for example, for organizations to store critical customer and supplier information in separate ERP and CRM systems. When activity history is stored on separate systems, it becomes very difficult to develop an overview. When all your data is available in one place, it becomes possible to perform a complete and efficient analysis of this information.
Increase data value
The most innovative companies are taking this concept even further, integrating external data to further enrich the information they have. Adding third-party data can further enrich an organization's 360° view, creating new opportunities to reach the market with the right message at the right time.
Increase agility
Last but not least, effective integration makes companies more agile. In an ever-changing world, where new systems become available with increasing frequency, it is important to have an integration framework that can adapt quickly and easily. Nowadays, integration takes place across all systems and platforms, whether they are physically located on company premises or in the cloud.
For Iberinform, data integration is one of the key factors in its approach to the business market, providing solutions that allows it to obtain all these advantages. We seek to provide our customers with solutions that allow them to combine all the benefits listed in a single solution, at controlled costs, supporting their customers so that they are always placed at the forefront in the markets in which they operate.
António Monteiro – Country Manager
Iberinform 15/12/ 2021
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