Every year businesses create more and more data across different business systems, increasing the need to synchronize data across the enterprise.

While data synchronization seems like an obvious problem to solve, costs are racking up. IBM estimates that the cost of poor data quality exceeds $3.1 trillion every year just in the United States alone.

You need both a tool and a strategy

Data integration tools are the often the first choice to solve data synchronization problems, but they won't help you without a clearly strategy.

Integrations have become one of the biggest categories of enterprise software and you'll have plenty of options to choose from. On the software comparison website Capterra there are comparisons of over 750 integration software solutions, including a profile on ONEiO.

Over the past 15 years, I’ve helped hundreds of enterprise businesses find the right data synchronization strategy and integration solution for their needs. Let’s go through what you need to know to make the right choice both in terms of tools and strategies.

Methods of data synchronization

In the field of business data management, synchronization is essential for ensuring that data across different systems or components is consistent and up to date.

Data synchronization methods can be categorized into three types:

Batch Synchronization

Batch synchronization involves updating data at scheduled intervals. Data changes are collected over a period and then synchronized across systems all at once during a predetermined time window. This method is often less resource-intensive and can handle large volumes of data efficiently since it does not require continuous monitoring and updating. Think of ETL as a traditional batch synchronization method.

Real-time Synchronization 

Real-time synchronization ensures that data changes in one system are immediately reflected in another system. This type of synchronization is crucial for applications where data timeliness is critical to business operations or decision-making processes. It requires a more complex infrastructure to monitor and propagate changes as they occur.

Near-time Synchronization

Near-time synchronization strikes a balance between batch and real-time synchronization. It involves updating data at frequent but not instant intervals—often in terms of seconds or minutes. This approach is used when real-time synchronization is not strictly necessary, but data still needs to be relatively current. Many cloud-based software solutions may have scheduled and automated synchronization.

Gartner’s three patterns of integration

It’s not just the data synch method that matters. It’s important to look at what business use cases you are looking to solve.

One perspective on choosing the right data sync solution comes from Gartner. In the article “Choose the Best Integration Tool for Your Needs Based on the Three Basic Patterns of Integration” (2 March, 2023) Gartner describes three distinct ways data is integrated in a business:
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1. Data Consistency:
   Focuses on ensuring that data about key business entities (customers, products, suppliers, etc.) is synchronized across multiple databases and applications. This pattern emphasizes the need for flexible data provisioning, high-volume data transformation, and data governance support.
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2. Multistep Process:
   Aims to facilitate collaboration between independent applications to streamline business processes through automatic activity synchronization and data exchange. It highlights the importance of visual process modeling, a scalable process runtime engine for task orchestration, and a large suite of adapters for various applications.
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3. Composite Services:
   Targets the development of new applications that require access to data in pre-existing applications, often through the use of APIs. This pattern underlines the necessity for high-productivity service composition, configurable API gateways, and automated service definition generation.

Here is one way you could see the difference between the data synchronization needs:

• Data Consistency is most suitable for scenarios where maintaining the accuracy and uniformity of data across different systems is crucial, such as in customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and billing systems.
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• Multistep Process integration fits well with operations that involve complex workflows requiring the collaboration of multiple systems, like supply chain management, where the seamless exchange of information between SCM, warehouse management, and ERP systems is critical.
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• Composite Services are ideal for creating modern applications that need to integrate with legacy systems, where direct API access might not be available. This includes scenarios like developing a mobile app for salespeople that integrates with both ERP and CRM systems.

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The above patterns are one way of seeing the diversity of data synchronizations in today’s complex business environment. 

Remember, that one business can have more than one data synchronization need, so they may end up having different tools and solutions to solve different data sync use cases.

A long list of data sync options

Let’s look a bit deeper at the different types of data sync solutions covered by Gartner’s market analysis.

Here is how I describe the difference between the 10 integration tool categories described by Gartner:

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• Application integration suites:
  General-purpose tools for integrating various applications and systems.
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• B2B gateway software:
  Specializes in integrating applications between companies.
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• Data integration tools:
  Focus on data provisioning, transformation, and synchronization, mostly within a tool or a database.
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• API management tools:
  Manages the publishing, promotion, and usage of APIs.
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• Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS):
  Cloud-based solutions for application and data integration.
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• Intelligent Business Process Management Suites (iBPMS):
  Platforms for improving business processes and outcomes through integration.
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• Managed File Transfer (MFT):
  Ensures reliable and secure file transfers between systems or companies.
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• Master Data Management (MDM):
  Ensures the consistency, accuracy, and accountability of enterprise data.
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• Message Oriented Middleware (MOM):
  Provides asynchronous communication between applications.
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• Robotic Process Automation (RPA):
  Automates routine tasks through scripts, aiding in data integration and consolidation.

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The major category missing (for now) from Gartner’s assessment is Integration-as-a-Service solutions. Let’s look more closely at why service-focused integration solutions have emerged as a top data sync option.

When to go for Integration-as-a-Service?

Integration-as-a-Service is a relatively new model of cloud-based integration that delivers advanced data synchronization functionalities. It has emerged as a good option for businesses aiming to streamline their data sync efforts efficiently and securely. 

Opting for an Integration-as-a-Service approach becomes particularly compelling in light of several key factors including predictable maintenance costs, capabilities with advanced integrations, and data security.

Rising maintenance costs

The cost of maintaining custom integrations has surged due to the complexity and heterogeneity of modern IT ecosystems. Organizations often find themselves tangled in a web of bespoke integrations that are costly to update, scale, or modify. Each change in the business environment or in compliance requirements can necessitate extensive revisions to these custom-built integrations, leading to spiraling costs and resource allocation issues.

By adopting an Integration-as-a-Service solution, businesses can significantly reduce the overhead associated with maintaining these integrations. Integration-as-a-Service providers use pre-built connectors, standardized APIs, and managed services that simplify integration processes, enabling therm to provide the outcome as a service. These solutions are maintained by the provider, ensuring that they are up-to-date with the latest standards, technologies, and security protocols, thus offloading a substantial burden from the internal IT team.

Advanced data sync functionality

Developing sophisticated integrations that can handle complex data transformations, adhere to emerging standards, and integrate with a wide array of APIs and services requires a deep reservoir of expertise. This level of proficiency is challenging to build and maintain, particularly for businesses whose core competencies lie outside the IT domain.

Modern Integration-as-a-Service solutions encapsulate this expertise within their offerings, providing access to advanced integration capabilities without the need for in-house specialists. These platforms are designed and managed without the need for experts in data integration, offering best practices, templates, and workflows that address common and complex integration scenarios. This access to deep expertise on-demand can accelerate deployment, enhance data synchronization capabilities, and enable businesses to focus on their core operations rather than on developing integration expertise.

Data security and transparency

In an era where data breaches can have devastating financial and reputational consequences, ensuring the security of data, particularly when synchronizing information between internal systems and vendor-managed services, is crucial. The complexity of securing integrations increases with the number of endpoints, the variety of data formats, and the regulatory requirements governing data protection and privacy.

Integration-as-a-Service solutions such as ONEiO deliver strong security functionality, incorporating robust encryption, identity management, and access controls into their platforms. By leveraging an Integration-as-a-Service solution, businesses benefit from the provider's expertise in securing data flows across diverse environments and adhering to compliance standards such as GDPR. This can provide peace of mind and free up resources to focus on other security aspects of the business.

In summary

Choosing the right data synchronization is a strategic decision that addresses key challenges faced by modern organizations. It’s not just the data synchronization method you need to consider. You need to explore and find the right synchronization option for your unique data sync integration pattern.

Integration-as-a-Service offers a credible new option by mitigating the rising costs of maintenance, providing access to deep integration expertise, and ensuring data security. Businesses that opt for Integration-as-a-Service can achieve more agile, secure, and cost-effective data synchronizations, enabling them to respond more rapidly to market changes and focus on delivering value to their customers.

To get an expert’s assessment of your data synchronization needs, request a demo with ONEiO today.