THREE BUSINESS REASONS FOR A MODERN DATA PIPELINE

When you think of technology tools that power a successful business, a data pipeline probably isn’t at the top of your list. But data is one of the most valuable assets of a modern company. Modern data pipelines enable your business to quickly and efficiently extract information from its source, transform it into a usable form, and load it into your systems where you can use it to make insightful decisions. Getting timely, accurate data can mean the difference between lost business and a competitive advantage.

Here are three benefits a modern data pipeline can give to your business.

Easier access to information and insights

As a business user, you need easy access to data to make informed decisions. For example, you may need to analyze sales data from a specific customer segment for a certain time period. The raw data resides in a database. You need to create an automated process that extracts the data from the database, performs the necessary adjustments and algorithms, and feeds it into your sales application. 

With a legacy data pipeline, you’d spend time waiting for IT to set up this task which could translate into a missed opportunity. But a modern data pipeline is simple to build on your own. All you need is a standard set of tools, such as SQL, that are easy to learn. With this capability, you have the power to gain greater insights with data. 

Faster Decision Making

In today’s fast-paced world, even just a few hours of lag time can mean lost business. For example, if a sales division doesn’t know about a forecasted storm, it can’t offer the right products to customers who may need help with disaster preparedness. If the service managers at a logistics company don’t know about mechanical issues on a truck, they won’t be able to service it in time to avoid a disruption.

Traditional data pipelines feed information in batches, often once nightly. In modern data pipelines, the data can be extracted and processed in real time. This gives you more up-to-date information and decreases the time from data collection to insight. As a result, you can make better decisions and leverage more opportunities.

Agility To Meet Peaks In Demand

Data should be available to everyone who needs it, when they need it. With traditional pipelines, if several organizations in a company need access to data at the same time, there could be slowdowns and delays. The business should be able to add data storage and processing capacity within minutes instead of days or weeks, without straining budgets. 

Legacy data pipelines tend to be rigid and slow, inaccurate, hard to debug, and unable to scale easily. Their creation and management involves significant amounts of time, money, and resources. They also typically cannot run multiple processes concurrently, hamstringing the business during peak times.

Modern data pipelines offer the instant elasticity of the cloud at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions. They provide immediate, agile provisioning when data sets and workloads grow, simplify access to common shared data, and enable businesses to quickly deploy their entire pipeline, without the limits of a hardware setup. 

You can gain a competitive edge through better data insights and faster decision-making.