To make sound decisions and comply with governmental reporting requirements, an organization must first establish a solid data foundation. This foundation must combine historical data with current values from operational systems in order to provide a single version of the truth that can be then used to identify trends and predict future outcomes. Data integration technology is the key to consolidating this data and delivering an information infrastructure that will meet strategic business intelligence (BI) initiatives and tactical and governmental reporting requirements. Data integration is the enabling technology for providing trustworthy information, enhancing IT and end-user productivity, and helping organizations achieve and maintain a competitive edge. Data integration enables mid-size and large organizations to effectively and efficiently leverage their data resources in order to satisfy their analysis and reporting requirements.

This white paper from Business Objects, an SAP company, discusses the importance of data integration and help you identify the key challenges of integrating data. It also provides you with an overview of data warehousing and its variations, as well as summarizes the benefits and approaches to integrating data.