Key Benefits From Using a Single Data Source For All Sub-Systems

Argyro KarakaxiSenior engineer

One data source means easier maintenance each time we update an application

In case of separate applications, IT wastes an enormous amount of time and money on integrating, maintaining and acquiring new versions of each application. On the contrary, unified data sources make the life of IT managers easier, as post-upgrade error-checking and optimization is much quicker and less error-prone.

Furthermore…only one common script for data source scheme changes or parametric data addition will be executed for each new version of any subsystem.

No extra effort or concerns when new modules are purchased

In fact Database Administrators do not have to worry about the addition of new modules, because there are no additional tasks that need to be performed, to ensure the proper functioning of both the existing and the newly-added software modules.

Common interfaces for importing data from external systems

Since there is one common data source, data insertion procedures are also common for all sub-systems, which translates to significant time savings for the IT staff.

Natural data de-duplication

One of the most important advantages is the fact that data are uniquely identified and saved only once, which leads to full data consistency. If a module modifies a data entity, the other modules will be able to access it right away, without any extra effort.

Furthermore…the need for additional storage is minimized, given that all data is and remain naturally de-duplicated.

Common Data extraction There are several examples of our customers’ IT departments who develop custom APIs for data export, to feed external applications according to their own internal needs.

In the case of non-integrated systems, developers would have to collect data from multiple data sources, a tedious and time consuming task, which would eventually lead to a code that would be difficult to maintain. In every module upgrade, the API’s would also have to be properly modified.

Common reporting even between different subsystems.

A common data source enables an effortless reporting, when combining information from different modules is necessary. This leads to being able to create more sophisticated reports, helping the management team make critical, yet well-informed, decisions.

Closing, a common data source can only be thriving since it mitigates the maintenance cost of existing sub-systems by eliminating the efforts of installing new ones.