Everything you need in one spot at your fingertips. Doesn't it sound fantastic? Data integration brings together data from several sources and presents it in a way that makes it useful to people viewing it. It may be a valuable tool that helps you save time while also allowing you to make critical judgments from an improved viewpoint. If you aren't vigilant, it may eat up the lion's share of your money without recouping its costs.

You don’t actually need it

Even though data integration may be beneficial, it isn't always the best option. How much data do you have? And what would you be integrating it for? If you believe it will make a significant difference, price its impact. There's no sense spending hundreds of pounds on an integration that would save you a fraction of the cost in terms of time.

Your resources are precious, and not every expenditure results in a comparable return. So, if you're just changing contact information once every five years, manually updating two systems rather than relying on an expensive integration might be a better option. Of course, it's all dependent on how many updates you receive. It's a good idea to perform the maths since you don't need to buy a combine harvester to harvest your carrots in your allotment.

You’re integrating more than you need

Consider the catalogue of a library: You want to be able to locate an author, a book title, and perhaps the year it was released. You don't usually need to compare the colours of book covers or figure out how many books have the word “The” in their titles. Data integration at its finest is when relevant data is connected so you can make well-informed choices. However, not all information is relevant.

Which data do you need to join the dots between? Give yourself time to decide which data is important to connect before thinking about how. If only a small part needs to be shared, then you can seek out a more targeted solution that does just the job it needs to and saves you money.

You’ve got dirty data

It's critical to verify that the data you're going to integrate is clean before you begin. To put it another way, any false or irrelevant information should be removed or updated. Otherwise, your data integration will more resemble a scrapyard than a functioning machine. A lot of data becomes obsolete with time, and it's a waste of money and space to keep it around, not to mention the new GDPR provisions for preserving personal data and making sure it's accurate.

In the same way, data may be duplicated or formatted in a manner that makes integration difficult. Take dates for instance, which may be formatted 15-Feb-2022, 15/02/22, 15th February 2022, Feb 15th, and so on. When you don't keep these clean and consistent, integration will provide you with incorrect or unhelpful data.

Off-the-shelf integration is not simple

There are off-the-shelf solutions that promise to connect all your data on their pre-existing platform. But the setup is not as simple as it seems. Their platforms often still need tailor-made solutions for each client, which require expensive experts to create. It may be far better and cheaper to get someone to make a bespoke solution that selectively integrates important data.  You want the simplest integration with the most relevant data for maximum impact, and you don't want to pay too much.

You need a smaller solution

It's not necessary for you to figure it out on your own. Look for someone who has hands-on experience integrating data for businesses. They'll be able to tell you if your data is feasible in its present form. At times, you can find common databases and simple rules to connect data yourself—such as connecting your Twitter account to another sign in. But for proprietary software and data, you’re going to need advice and you won’t regret asking for it. You probably don’t need a big corporate with expensive consultants, just as you don’t need an industrial crane to build a good-looking fence. You just need someone who understands your challenges and is handy with their tools. And they won’t cost you millions either.

We have a lot of expertise in this sector, so please do not hesitate to contact us for suggestions and advice.