How To Profit From Customer Data Integration

Customer data integration is becoming an important key phrase in the business world today. Companies are spending time, money and effort in integrating their customer data. But still, there is ignorance about it, and it is necessary to dispel some of the notions.

In its simplest sense, you can define customer data integration as collecting bits of customer data from various sources and merging them with existing information about a particular customer. You can achieve this by using a data integration tool. The goal is to create a total set of information about each customer, which updates with each new piece of information.

In the broadest sense, data integration helps companies to distinguish one customer from the other. Companies store data about references, cross-references, personal information, billing cycles, and other relevant features about each customers. Since all these features will be markedly different from one customer to another, it gives every customer a unique record.

Often, data managers consider data integration as a subset of data management. Data management is managing several types of data shared across several different groups. Data management does not focus on customer data, but it covers all data within the companies s archives. It may include information on customers, products, suppliers, employees and financial details.

Though some people refer to customer data integration as a single term, there are various methods by which you can achieve this integration. Some companies would keep the integrated data as read-only file, which most employees can access but not change. On the other hand, approved employees can change the same files. Similarly, customer data integration can depend on the importance assigned to the data. Some companies such as banks and other financial institutions may need real-time updates to their clients demands for timely information. Others would only need a regular update daily, weekly, or monthly.

Here are three ways you can achieve customer data integration:

  1. Data Consolidation. This is by far the most popular technique used. This technique simply collects the information about a particular customer from various applications and then merges them into a single file.
  2. Data Federation. This technique would not merge the data together, but it would present all kinds of information on a particular customer in a single view.
  3. Data Propagation. This technique copies the data about a customer from one location to another, which could also mean from one company to another.
Often, you would use all three techniques together. Companies usually integrate customer data in this fashion. Using data consolidation, for example, you would integrate your customers personal information such as name, address, telephone number, e-mail id, and so on. Then, you would use data federation to add on dynamic bits of data, such as customer orders, payments and receipts, and so on. Finally, to change existing information you would use data propagation. So, if a customer changes their address online, data propagation can merge the new address with information already in the customer s file.

Customer data integration helps companies to serve their customers efficiently and timely. It also allows companies access to various information about their customers without wasting time on inefficient, manual methods.

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