Many companies underestimate the upfront costs of a purpose-built data warehouse and integration platform, believing that it is simply a case of moving data from Point A to Point B. In doing so, they may think they can accomplish this process in-house with less money and more control. In fact, for even the simplest of integrations, the opposite usually ends up being true. Over time, the lack of scalability and dependence on custom code can inflate costs and prove to be unmanageable.
So, if you are considering building your own custom data warehouse and integration platform, you will need a robust solution that includes:
A well-defined integration strategy
Moving data between any system, cloud or on-premise, is not simply a case of moving data from one database to another. Data structures differ, and rules for synchronizing different data sets will vary. Processes and APIs change constantly, and you need a system in place to keep up. Perhaps the most crucial factor is how fast you can build incremental integrations to deliver modern, agile, and scalable results.
The ability to instantly adapt and evolve
Hard coding business logic into your integrations can be cumbersome, take many iterations, and need extensive testing. When the processes and endpoints inevitably change, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage the project. As systems are updated, upgraded, or evolve in any way, developers will need to keep track of these frequent changes without error to avoid interrupting mission-critical processes.
A data warehouse that scales and requires no maintenance
Many companies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on labor to build a custom data warehouse. Data modeling, data mapping, and developing incremental load techniques require specialized skills and months of work. Therefore, those high ongoing maintenance costs never go away.
To build and maintain the data warehouse, you will need a significant number of staff, including software developers, data analysts, architects, quality engineers, and administrative support. So, in a world of increased turnover and constant reorganization, you’re trusting your business to a very specific IT team.
Building your own in-house system also means you’re dependent on the systems you have today, but your business is evolving. That means connected SaaS and on-premise data sources will evolve. These transitions are a lot of work. It includes data migration, system conversion, employee training, workflow updates, and much more.
Your best strategy: A turnkey data warehousing and integration solution
If time to market, cost, scalability, and reliability are essential to you, leveraging a package solution such as Relational Junction that utilizes both transformation and simple replication is likely the best path forward. Relational Junction consolidates data from virtually any source and prepares it for analysis with the data warehouse of your choice. You can learn more about data warehousing and integration in the Sesame Software blog.
Book a demo to see how you can make the most of your data!
Author:
Crystal Duarte
Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Sesame Software