Cloud Data Integration: All You Need to Know

It is no secret that we generate an obscene amount of data that continues to grow further with every passing day. This has driven the need for cloud-based solutions: in fact, 91% of businesses are already using the public cloud, while 72% opted for private cloud, and 69% have integrated hybrid cloud solutions. However, given the disparate sources of data, there is no need for cloud data integration, i.e. consolidating data from different systems into a single data store. Cloud data integration refers to the process of consolidating data from disparate systems – public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises – onto a unified data storage location like a data warehouse. And, with the pace of today’s business, the goal for any organization is to make this data easily accessible to key users and systems in real-time. And, further, it involves the consolidation of disparate data from multiple systems where at least one endpoint is a cloud source such as Azure SQL, Google Cloud SQL, Amazon RDS, Oracle Cloud Database, Snowflake and more. You must be wondering Why? Allow the following benefits to show you why cloud data integration is so important:

1. Data compliance: One of the biggest challenges companies face when dealing with data is complying with myriad regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, etc. based on the industry in which they operate. Cloud data integration, then, enables companies to establish workflows that ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for their enterprise’s data.
2. Better efficiency: Cloud data integration enables companies to build a unified platform for their disparate data, thus bringing together all their services, platforms, and tools that perform functions on these siloed data stores and transform them into a few key services that are underpinned by a unified data store.
3. Data sync: The key idea behind cloud data integration is to organize, sync, and store all data in one place. This results in abundant clarity in the context of cloud data management, thanks to the absolute control over data, access rights, etc. that companies gain. Furthermore, cloud data integration helps companies ensure that all systems have the same data, real-time updates for data, and the elimination of duplicate records to prevent inconsistency in data.

Let us also take a look at the different types of cloud data integration:

1. Consolidation: Data consolidation, based on the extract, transform, load (ETL) technology, involves the consolidation of data from myriad sources, followed by data’s conversion into one format, and, then, loading onto new storage.
2. Propagation: With this particular form of cloud data integration, companies simply undertake the process of transferring data from one storage place to another, be it synchronous or asynchronous.
3. Virtualization: In such integration, companies can access their data via a single place even though the data is stored in different locations.

rnFinally, some important use cases of cloud data integration:

1. On-premise to cloud integration: Also referred to as hybrid integration, on-premise to cloud integration comes in handy when organizations are looking to connect their legacy systems, including apps and databases, with cloud systems.
2. Cloud-to-cloud data integration: In this particular use case, the system empowers users to link various SaaS or cloud applications with cloud platforms. To what end? Well, provided such integration is underpinned by a robust cloud data integration platform, companies can ensure high-quality support for their multi-cloud strategies.

As the market becomes increasingly competitive, more and more businesses are looking for means to survive as well as thrive. Any company looking to stay competitive in such an environment would do well to realize that the answer lies in cloud data integration. Now, as the above discussion demonstrates, bringing together all your data from disparate systems stands to deliver myriad benefits including the elimination of data silos, better operational efficiency, etc. If you too wish to realize such benefits for your organization, your next step ought to be starting the search for a trusted cloud computing integration company.