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Build a Data Integration Strategy

Integrate your data or disintegrate your business.

Client Challenge

  • As organizations process more information at faster rates, there is increased pressure for faster and more efficient data integration.
  • Data integration is becoming more and more critical for downstream functions of data management and for business operations to be successful. Poor integration holds back these critical functions.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Every IT project requires data integration. Regardless of the current problem and the solution being implemented, any change in the application and database ecosystem requires you to solve a data integration problem.
  • Data integration problem solving needs to start with business activity. After understanding the business activity, move to application and system integration to drive the optimal data integration activities.
  • Data integration improvement needs to be backed by solid requirements that depend on the use case. Info-Tech’s use cases will help you identify your organization’s requirements and integration architecture for its ideal data integration solution.

Impact and Result

  • Create a data integration solution that supports the flow of data through the organization and meets the organization’s requirements for data latency, availability, and relevancy.
  • Build your data integration practice with a firm foundation in governance and reference architecture; use best-fit reference architecture patterns and the related technology and resources to ensure that your process is scalable and sustainable.
  • The business’ uses of data are constantly changing and evolving, and as a result, the integration processes that ensure data availability must be frequently reviewed and repositioned in order to continue to grow with the business.

Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why your organization should improve its data integration, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand how we can help you create a loosely coupled integration architecture.

Name Actions
Build a Data Integration Strategy – Executive Brief
Build a Data Integration Strategy – Phases 1-3

1. Collect integration requirements

Identify data integration pains and needs and use them to collect effective business requirements for the integration solution.

Name Actions
Break Down Data Silos With a Data-Centric Integration Strategy – Phase 1: Collect Integration Requirements
Data Integration Requirements Gathering Tool

2. Analyze integration requirements

Determine technical requirements for the integration solution based on the business requirement inputs.

Name Actions
Break Down Data Silos With a Data-Centric Integration Strategy – Phase 2: Analyze Integration Requirements
Data Integration Trends Presentation
Data Integration Pattern Selection Tool

3. Design the data-centric integration solution

Determine your need for a data integration proof of concept, and then design the data model for your integration solution.

Name Actions
Break Down Data Silos With a Data-Centric Integration Strategy – Phase 3: Design the Data-Centric Integration Solution
Data Integration POC Template
Data Integration Mapping Tool

Onsite Workshop: Build a Data Integration Strategy

Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Do-It-Yourself Implementation

The slides in this Best Practice Blueprint will walk you step-by-step through every phase of your project with supporting tools and templates ready for you to use.

Project Accelerator Workshop

You can also use this Best Practice Blueprint to facilitate your own project accelerator workshop within your organization using the workshop slides and facilitation instructions provided in the Appendix.

Module 1: Collect Integration Requirements

The Purpose

  • Explain approach and value proposition.
  • Review the common business drivers and how the organization is driving a need to optimize data integration.
  • Understand Info-Tech’s approach to data integration.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Current integration architecture is understood.
  • Priorities for tactical initiatives in the data architecture practice related to integration are identified.
  • Target state for data integration is defined.

Activities Outputs
1.1 Discuss the current data integration environment and the pains that are felt by the business and IT.
1.2 Determine what the problem statement and business case look like to kick-start a data integration improvement initiative.
1.3 Understand data integration requirements from the business.
  • Data Integration Requirements Gathering Tool

Module 2: Analyze Integration Requirements

The Purpose

  • Understand what the business requires from the integration solution.
  • Identify the common technical requirements and how they relate to business requirements.
  • Review the trends in data integration to take advantage of new technologies.
  • Brainstorm how the data integration trends can fit within your environment.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Business-aligned requirements gathered for the integration solution.

Activities Outputs
2.1 Understand what the business requires from the integration solution.
  • Data Integration Requirements Gathering Tool
2.2 Identify the common technical requirements and how they relate to business requirements.
  • Data Integration Trends Presentation

Module 3: Design the Data-Centric Integration Solution

The Purpose

  • Learn about the various integration patterns that support organizations’ data integration architecture.
  • Determine the pattern that best fits within your environment.

Key Benefits Achieved

  • Improvement initiatives are defined.
  • Improvement initiatives are evaluated and prioritized to develop an improvement strategy.
  • A roadmap is defined to depict when and how to tackle the improvement initiatives.

Activities Outputs
3.1 Learn about the various integration patterns that support organizations’ data integration architecture.
  • Integration Reference Architecture Patterns
  • Data Integration POC Template
3.2 Determine the pattern that best fits within your environment.
  • Data Integration Mapping Tool

Testimonials

It was good start with introduction of ways to handle data in the organization. we talked about data strategy, data integration blueprint and how to achieve those with guided implmentation calls Got to know the next steps i have to take

Recorded Books viaWorkshop

Great to talk to Data Integration with Igor as this covers what we are trying to achieve going forward. Not his fault but need to talk to an Azure Integration Platform as a Service expert around documenting integration projects.

SThree Management Services Ltd. viaWorkshop

Rajesh was very knowledgeable about the topics we discussed.

Construction Resources Management viaWorkshop

Igor was very helpful in clarifying our options for capturing source data deletions in an ODS and EDW environment. He explained the capabilities and limitations for each option and also followed up with a list of companies that had solutions for what we ...

Remedi SeniorCare viaWorkshop

Analyst calls are always very informative.

ChoiceTel viaWorkshop

Great data conversation with Rajesh. He is clearly an expert in the field of data and provided some great information for us to consider as we build our data strategy.

Bush Brothers & Company viaWorkshop

I'm not sure of the financial impact or time savings yet. I might be able to answer that question at a later date. I thought this was very informative and I like that you shared the blueprint with me. This will help me out quite a bit. Thank you

Broome-Tioga Boces viaWorkshop