Although it poses important benefits, implementing data integration solutions for your company can also bring forth hard-to-deal-with challenges. For example, you can find yourself between rock and a hard place by having to choose between staying with an integration system that has worked well, but may not be keeping up with the times soon in the future or by going with a modern one that will definitely get the job done, but is considerably more difficult to implement.

When implementing such solutions you will always have challenges to overcome. But what can you do to minimize them from the get-go? There are data silos to think of, that usually duplicate certain information, cultural barriers that burden the process and on top of all that, people within the company who will find no use for the project. Last but not least, another bump in the road is usually represented by the power struggle between the IT department and other departments, arguing which should be in control.

To this end, every industry has its best practices that gained their name through painstaking trial and error over time. Below we will elaborate on three of these best practices that you will need to pay attention to as you go along:

Do not underestimate the power of self-service

Data integration solutions are constantly evolving to fit the needs of a perpetually fluid market. In the beginning, they were supposed to only be used by the IT department, since only its qualified personnel had the skills to handle the complexities of such an implementation.

Understanding data and its objectives within the company

Data holds a very significant position with concern to a company’s day-to-day operations. Naturally, if you want to go with a data integration solution, you will need to make sure that whoever handles it is very well-equipped to manipulate it so as to reach certain goals. But first of all, this person or team of experts will need to know what the company’s objectives are regarding this data, where it is stored and other such sensitive information.
Having thoroughly knowledgeable personnel to handle the data is pivotal to a successful implementation. These persons will be able to better visualize how the process will unfold and to set a few guidelines for a more precise route.

However, today this requirement is not an absolute anymore: data solutions can be tackled by not only the IT department, but also by their very own end-users. This way, they can take matters into their own hands and be independent in their data integration endeavours.

Boosting value

Data integration is basically a process that, no matter how expensive or complex it turns out to be, boosts value for the data you work with. How so? Well, think about how data undergoes a transformation process that in the end makes it accessible to a greater number of devices and platforms. Greater reach, greater value.

In conclusion, your company can only benefit from data integration, especially if done right by taking into consideration the best practices above. Remember that even if you can do it alone, you would probably be spared of a strenuous process by simply leaving it all in the hands of EDI service providers. Read our success stories to see how your company can flourish as well.