When to start with the integration
Data integration manages the process of combining data from multiple sources into a single, comprehensive view of enterprise data. The ability to transform cross-organizational data from heterogeneous sources into actionable, insightful information has quickly become a competitive advantage for companies that have embraced data integration.
Customer feedback confirms that companies are achieving significant benefits from their data integration, including increased productivity, improved customer loyalty, and lower deployment and maintenance costs.
When to start with the integrationData integration manages the process of combining data from multiple sources into a single, comprehensive view of enterprise data. The ability to transform cross-organizational data from heterogeneous sources into actionable, insightful information has quickly become a competitive advantage for companies that have embraced data integration.
Customer feedback confirms that companies are achieving significant benefits from their data integration, including increased productivity, improved customer loyalty, and lower deployment and maintenance costs.
Keeping the data homogeneous in all your systemsTalking to many prospects, I often experience that the integration is of low priority when implementing new systems or applications in an organization. Our large experience working with our customers and dealing with several integration projects show us that those companies who embrace data integration in the very beginning when implementing new applications or systems, have a higher success rate than other enterprises that chose to wait and postpone the data integration project.
Starting with the integration at the same time when implementing the systems will leads to a better results and puts down the implementation time of the overall projects, as RapidiOnline is used to load the initial data from e.g. salesforce.com and the data is maintained by RapidiOnline. In that way you can avoid that the data slowly will become inconsistent and heterogeneous across enterprise applications. Instead you will have correct and real-time data available throughout the organization right from the start of the project. So getting started with RapidiOnline as soon as possible to avoid the mismatch and save you for time and work.
If you are thinking about upgrading to a newer version of you e.g. MS Dynamics NAV system and think that it would be best to wait with the integration after you have been upgrading, you can easily start the integration before. It is no problem for RapidiOnline to support older versions. So, again in order to avoid inconsistency of data within your organization you should start the integration as soon as possible.
It’s about knowledge and goalAccording to industry experts – people who have been involved in countless integration projects on multiple platforms – the difference between success and failure often comes down to knowledge. Knowledge not just of the applications, but of the technology and procedures of the integration discipline itself. Early in the integration project, it is necessary to assemble a team representing the different areas of knowledge and business needs within the company. It is up to these individuals to then hammer out the exact needs and scope of the project. Often it can be a good idea to involve data integration experts at the early stage of the implementation process in order to discuss integration needs and possibilities.
Typically the same rules apply when either bringing a new application on board or giving a renewed zest to an aging application: The enterprise need to consider the full scope and business objectives of their data integration needs before beginning any implementation. Careful planning and governance processes will increase the success of the project. The most critical phase happens right at the start, where it’s all about really understanding the project’s purpose before it starts and interviewing all stakeholders to find out their definition of what will make the project successful. Sometimes it’s tough for the organization to be patient enough to go through this process, but the pain it will save you further down the road is definitely worth it.
May 8th, 2009
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