Data integration

What is Database Integration?

Database integration is the process of aggregating information from diverse sources such as social media, IoT sensor data, data warehouses, and customer transactions. The goal is to create a current, clean version of this information, which can be shared across an organization. This consolidated data serves as the central hub for all shared information, facilitating smooth data flow within the organization.

For instance, during a business merger, database integration ensures the deduplication, rule-based storage, cleansing, and secure sharing of essential data between previously separate databases. As businesses transition to cloud operations and leverage big data for business intelligence, database integration becomes crucial in efficiently harnessing data.

Benefits of Database Integration

1) Universally Reliable Business Data:

• Enables organizations to maintain a single, reliable source of business truth across diverse sources, ensuring consistency even in a global enterprise.

2) Holistic Operations Oversight:

• Facilitates the management of business-wide intelligence from a centralized, visualized operations screen, identifying bottlenecks, enhancing user experience, shortening delivery cycles, and more.

3) Simplified Security:

• Streamlines data security by centralizing data operations, simplifying the protection of critical information in an environment with increased security threats.

4) Easier Compliance:

• Aids in ensuring compliance with national and international standards (e.g., HIPAA, PCI, GDPR) in the increasingly regulated digital business landscape.

Database Integration in a Modern IT Environment

The shift to cloud technology is transforming database integration. Organizations may choose from on-premises, cloud, or hybrid approaches based on their existing operations.

On-Premises Database Integration:

• Supports traditional on-site network infrastructures, often installed locally and interacting with existing hardware and databases. Offers pre-built connectors for common data sources.

Cloud Database Integration:

• Cloud-native solutions seamlessly integrate into the cloud infrastructure, providing advantages like auto-scaling and pay-per-usage pricing. Offers real-time insights into the entire operation.

Hybrid Database Integration:

• Combines elements of both on-premises and cloud approaches, leveraging a cloud-based SaaS to synchronize and manage data between local and remote resources.

Database Integration Tools

Open source software plays a significant role in database integration. Key components include:

1) Apache Hadoop:

• A framework for distributed processing, allowing massive data distribution, processing, and cleaning among servers. Provides native file management and failover protection.

2) Apache Spark:

• Complementary to Hadoop, processes data up to 100 times faster by handling most tasks in memory. Integrates well with Hadoop and other file management systems.

3) Apache Cassandra:

• A NoSQL database offering unlimited scalability, allowing integration between various file formats. Used by major corporations like Apple for managing extensive data.

Choosing the Right Database Integration Partner

Choosing the right partner is crucial for successful integration. GUI tools that simplify custom coding, save time, and ensure compatibility are valuable. Flexibility in licensing options and holistic partnership solutions, such as integration-platform-as-a-service (iPaaS), can provide comprehensive management of big data flow and transform environments into interactive business intelligence hubs.