Data comes from and touches every aspect of your organization, and today the need for that data is growing exponentially—to measure and analyze performance, please customers and innovate for the future.

Data that once originated only on-premises now also comes from a growing range of cloud applications; it is also increasingly stored and analyzed on the cloud. This diversity creates new challenges to building a data-driven organization. You need to leverage all your information, wherever it resides and however it is structured, for use across apps, clouds and systems. In other words, you need an effective data integration strategy.

Pure-play data integration is thriving for several reasons. Unlike platform vendors, which offer a range of capabilities that often include data quality, data governance and data cataloguing, pure-play integration vendors can out-compete by offering greater value, greater flexibility and superior performance for the capabilities and use cases that matter most to you.

Recently, Bloor Research International took a fresh look at the trends around data integration and found that pure-play vendors can typically claim “significant total cost of ownership benefits” when compared to broader platform vendors. Comparing 10 vendors, Bloor determined that Software AG is a champion in pure-play data integration, led by its capabilities with CONNX. 

Bloor identified the trends prevalent in data integration tools, which should be top of mind when you build an integration strategy:

1. Integrating everything

Integration now goes far beyond simple connectivity to databases and files. You need to connect data across on-premises and cloud databases, between existing and new applications, to and from IoT-based devices and gateways.

2. The growing cloud

As your organization adopts more cloud solutions—applications, databases and data lakes—an effective hybrid environment is more important than ever. Integration helps you keep reliable on-premises platforms while innovating with new cloud applications, data lakes and cloud-native analytics. The rise of data lakes means that integration based on unstructured data is an increasing requirement.

3. Efficiency

To keep manual overhead to a minimum, you need a data integration tool that makes maintenance and updates easier, supports self-service, reduces costs and improves efficiency.

Bloor ranked Software AG highly as a pure-play data integration provider by considering two contexts: as a “generic” non-mainframe data integration offering, and as one that supports specific mainframe and legacy functionality. In Bloor’s detailed look at Software AG CONNX, analysts found strengths in both instances.

As a “generic” integration approach, Software AG ranked highly for expanding beyond simple connectivity to databases and files to include both applications and IoT- based devices and gateways. The integration strengths of CONNX (to access, virtualize and move data) are combined with application integration via webMethods and sensor and device connectivity through Cumulocity IoT, for a complete integration solution.

Specifically, for mainframe and legacy data integration, Bloor found that Software AG has significant advantages.

• CONNX provides access to the industry’s widest spectrum of databases, and an unmatched ability to integrate mainframe and legacy platforms with the cloud.
• The data virtualization capabilities of CONNX are unique, enabling you to deliver a single virtual view of real-time data to business users and front-end solutions, even when your data comes from legacy on-premises systems.
• Bloor also praised the ability of CONNX to move data from mainframe and legacy to Snowflake which enhances the value of your existing databases.

When you can integrate data everywhere—on the ground and in the cloud—you can drive new business projects and digital transformation initiatives.

Choose a solution that helps you innovate with the full power of your enterprise data, from different databases running on a variety of platforms, while maintaining the strength and stability of your legacy.