What is data integration?

In order to create a complete view of customers, businesses need to integrate data from a variety of sources. This process, called data integration, can be complex and time-consuming. However, it is essential in order to make effective decisions based on accurate business intelligence.

Data integration involves combining data from multiple sources into a single, unified view. The first step is ingestion, followed by cleansing, ETL mapping, and transformation. Ultimately, data integration enables analytics tools to produce reliable and actionable business intelligence.

For many companies, data is spread out across different departments and software applications. For example, customer 360 view use cases typically require data from CRM systems, web traffic apps, marketing software, customer-facing applications, sales and customer success systems, and partner data sets. Having to pull information from all these different sources can be a daunting task for data engineers or developers. But with careful planning and execution, businesses can successfully integrate their data and make better informed decisions that lead to improved operations and increased profits.