5 Reasons Data Integration is Key to Startup Growth

Modern companies leverage multiple applications and technologies to enhance their efficiency. These applications store the enterprise data that holds the company together. As a business creates more data with every single process, it’s important to manage it all effectively so actionable information can be delivered.

This is where data integration comes in. It is the process of combining and organizing data and creating a comprehensive, unified view that is easily managed and analyzed. 

While data integration is a crucial component in any modern enterprise, there is no universal method to implement it. However, most integration solutions have some common elements, such as a master server and a network of information sources. 

Here is how it works: a client sends a request to the master server. The master server extracts data from one or multiple sources. It then consolidates the data into a cohesive unit and sends it back to the client.

Data integration might be a complicated process for a startup, even if you have a technical co-founder, as they need to focus on product development. If you feel it’s too much to handle, consider partnering with a business and technology services provider such as Argano that can help you develop a digital technology foundation to support your business as it grows.

Why Data Integration is the Key to Startup Growth

With data integration, the same data can be made available across several teams. This has many benefits for the development of a startup. Here are some ways in which it can fuel your company’s growth.

1. It increases resource efficiency

Whether you want to increase your technical or human resource efficiency, data integration can help you out. Integrating data across various company channels can reduce the time taken to analyze information. Integration can give you a unified view that can be used by different departments or teams.

The time spent in cross-department meetings to access specific data can instead be used to run core company processes, thus increasing the productivity and competitiveness of the teams.

2. It reduces errors

A company’s data resources are usually vast, and there is a lot to manage. If all data is gathered manually, employees need to know the exact location where their required record is stored. Manual work can lead to errors and the same data can get stored in multiple locations.

Redundancies increase the chances of errors. If the data is updated at one location but not at the other, it can lead to several inaccurate copies. When it is integrated and stored at a single location, the chances of inaccuracies are reduced. Your employees get an updated version of data in real-time.

3. It delivers more valuable data

As data flows more freely across departments, more employees can give their input and add something valuable to it. This transparency adds to its accuracy and thus increases the value of the organization’s data.

Data that lies in silos can get stale pretty quickly. This introduces errors and lowers its quality, leading to inaccurate information, which can result in erroneous decisions.

Since modern companies cannot work without information, wrong or inaccurate data can be harmful to them.

4. It helps management with decision making

Isolated data that is not integrated often gets stagnant and loses its quality. Old data is unreliable; only new and integrated data can give the organization the confidence to make accurate decisions that help the startup grow.

Even small and regular decisions such as restocking dates can go wrong when management is basing decisions on flawed data. You can speed up your company’s decision-making ability by integrating AI and machine learning. However, to implement that, the company data should be integrated in the first place.

5. Seamless transfer between systems and higher ROI

As more companies decide to deploy RevOps, the need for data integration becomes more crucial. If there is no seamless data transfer between systems or teams, there can be communication gaps that need to be filled. When data gets integrated, it flows seamlessly between teams.

With clearer communication channels and no bottlenecks between departments, customers get a better experience and would like to buy again. And higher customer retention results in better revenue for the company.

Final Thoughts

Whether it comes to collaboration between different teams, reducing errors, increasing data quality, or improving the decision-making process, data integration helps on several levels.

Data integration is the first step toward the growth of any startup. Once your data is integrated, you can implement other technologies such as embedded intelligence, machine learning, and augmented reality. But before you add advanced technology to your startup, you need to make sure that your company’s data is accurate and integrated.