Taming Data Chaos: Simplify Data Integration with DataDirect

Abstract

Each year, the role of Information Technology becomes more complex. Virtually every IT organization of any size follows the latest trends, introducing new platforms, applications and infrastructure on an ongoing basis. At the same time, most continue to support applications and platforms that may be decades old. Technologies across this wide spectrum – from Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) to mainframes, from .NET to COBOL, and from Web Services deployments to legacy Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – coexist within today's data centers, each one adding unique challenges to the overall task of IT support.

Valuable business information is locked within these diverse systems, and IT organizations are confronting the twin problems of accessing and integrating data. Extensible Markup Language (XML) has come into its own as the “lingua franca” – the de facto language – of data exchange. Companies that have leveraged EDI for decades are suddenly facing the need to integrate with partners and suppliers using XML-based technologies. This represents a paradigm shift for businesses and development teams alike. Extracting and updating business-relevant data contained within such documents presents challenges that include training, performance, and data integrity considerations.

At the same time, the vast majority of IT organizations are struggling with funding and facing the need to balance dwindling budgets against rising costs. Leading companies are exploring a variety of ways to deal with these challenges and to do so cost-effectively. Taking a cue from best practice disciplines such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Control Objectives for IT (COBIT), many are turning to automation to work “smarter.” Data transformation and integration are key areas where specialized products can yield impressive time and cost efficiencies.

The DataDirect Data Integration Suite is one of the leaders in this space. By easing the pain of integrating diverse applications, the Suite delivers time, cost, and performance efficiencies. A lightweight, cost-effective solution, it provides easy access to data stored in virtually any format – including Relational Database (RDBMS) files, XML, Web Services, Microsoft Excel/Office, flat files, and EDI documents. In doing so, it leverages standards-based XML and XQuery technologies, transforming the data contained within these diverse data stores into XML-compatible format.

Alone or in conjunction with other DataDirect solutions, such as Shadow (for mainframe access), the Data Integration Suite can help reverse rising costs via savings in multiple areas. This paper describes the Suite and its capabilities, and illustrates its value proposition with a variety of customer testimonials and use cases across diverse industries.

Read the full whitepapter as a PDF: Taming Data Chaos: Simplify Data Integration with DataDirect Data Integration Suite.