In today’s world, there certainly isn’t a lack of data but it’s what you do with this data that can make a significant impact on your bottom line.
Sales data, operational data, financial data – your data likely comes from many sources. The true value lies in how it is brought together to make data-driven decisions based on complete, accurate and up-to-date data sets. This process of combining data from different sources into a single, unified view is called data integration.
It’s all about data integration
The first challenge when turning raw data into actionable insights lies in collecting all available data from across your enterprise and turning it into a digestible format. Depending on the size of the data and the use case it can be possible to feed it directly into a business intelligence system. However, this is less practical when dealing with large or complex data.
In those cases, the data is first moved into an intermediary area, for example a data warehouse like Snowflake, Databricks or Google Cloud. From there it is fed into a BI platform, such as Qlik, where it can be analysed and used to form relevant insights.
While this still requires a big data dump when setting up your data infrastructure, later changes can be done in real-time using Change Data Capture (CDC). Rather than reloading the entirety of your data, only newly added data or data that has changed will need to be updated. CDC is a highly efficient way to move data across a wide area network and the best part is that it supports real-time analytics and data science. Meaning all your business decisions are based on the most up-to-date information available.
Bringing data together
Data does not equal data. As mentioned earlier on, your data likely comes in different formats and from various sources. Before utilising it, you’ll need to feed it into a common system where your users can access it.
“Qlik as a company have realised early on that this process needs to be easy, comprehensive and tailored around their customers’ needs. It doesn’t make sense for a company to select their business systems based on how compatible they are with their BI platform,” explains Andy Patrick, Managing Director at Ometis – the UK’s largest Qlik consultancy.
“Instead, businesses should be able to work with the software and platforms that best meet their individual business needs, and data integration needs to be a given.”
Enter Qlik’s Connector Factory
Qlik has already created connectors for a wide variety of data sources, from SAP and Oracle to Salesforce, Google analytics and many more. They aren’t focusing on just the big names either. The Connector Factory’s mission is to pull and process data from any source that is commonly used or requested by their customers.
It is important to the company to get this customer feed-in, as it helps them optimise their offering and contribute to their customers’ success. If there is a data source that is essential to your business operations, there’s a good chance they already have a connector for it. If they don’t, it is likely already in the works.
Data-driven business decisions to improve your bottom line
Once you have all your data in one place, you can easily utilise it to predict spikes in demand, budget for parts ahead of time and monitor changes in your supply chain to avoid late deliveries or overstocks. Data can track your environmental impact for compliance with regulations or identify which production processes can be optimised to improve profit margins. It can easily and automatically give you the insights you need, when you need them.
With AI and machine learning functions, this can even be done in a predictive way, anticipating potential challenges before they arise. These are just a few examples of how data analytics can add value to your operations. When done right, the sky is the limit for where data can take your business.
Data integration in action
How this could look like can be explored at DTX Manchester. On 17th and 18th May, tech leaders from all industries will gather at Manchester Central to share insights on how to thrive amidst the current disruption. A big part of this will be our changing relationship with data and how we utilise it to make a positive impact on all parts of a business.
“We’re proud to bring together teams from all realms of the enterprise IT space, across every industry, to share ideas, tackle the latest challenges and troubleshoot tricky problems,” says Natasha Taylor, Head of Research & Portfolio Development for DTX. “Every year, we witness the real-time collaboration needed to drive the delivery of ambitious transformation plans.”
Andy Patrick and his team at Ometis will be at stand C34 and are looking forward to talking all things Qlik. From data integration to utilising the latest technologies such as AI, machine learning and ChatGPT – stop by and find out how you can maximise your data potential.
DTX Manchester is held at Manchester Central on 17th and 18th May from 9.30 am.
