Leveraging Information and Intelligence

Leveraging Information and Intelligence
David Linthicum

Why Data Integration is Critical to Cloud Computing

While the interest in cloud computing is at a fever pitch, the use of cloud computing brings up some fundamental questions, such as how we're going to drive data integration between the on-premise systems and the emerging use of the cloud. You can either be proactive, and reactive.

Truth-be-told data integration is often an afterthought, and cloud computing is no exception to that. Typically, those moving to cloud computing understand the need once the data is now housed on remote cloud computing platforms, and there is a desire to share or synchronous data between them. This is usually followed by a quick tactical solution, which has no long term value, usually replaced at some point in time.
You approach data integration with cloud computing in one of two ways.

First, the understanding that integration is systemic to the solution, thus you need to design integration into the architecture. This is the optimal approach, but often an approach that enterprises don't employ, due to budget and resource limitations, and I've heard many other excuses as well.

Second, is the ability to design and create a data integration solution that is retrofitted into the cloud computing solution. Again, not optimal, but many approach integration this way and it's just a matter of understanding the source and target data, how to deal with semantic mediation, connections, and the right integration technology to make this happen. Often overlook here are security and governance which needs to be part of the data integration solution.

The fact of the matter is that without data integration cloud-based systems won't provide the value you're seeking, indeed they may not be cost effective at all. Processes span on premise and cloud-delivered systems, and if the integration with the data does not exist, those processes can't exist either.

Many of the enterprises out there moving quickly to cloud computing need to get a clue.