Real-World Use Cases for Modern Data Integration

In decades past, you could perform common integration tasks on a scheduled basis, in batches of information copied from point A to point B every minute, every hour, or perhaps even daily or weekly. In today’s fast-moving business environment integration must take place in real time  so machine learning and advanced analytics can be leveraged for better decision-making. It’s not just a nice-to-have feature; it’s essential if companies are to operate at peak efficiency, deliver what their customers need, and stay ahead of their rivals in a highly competitive global business environment.

Let’s take a look at four use cases that show how Precisely has helped our customers and explore how they might apply to your business.

Mainframe to Mobile: Making Data Available to Customers Wherever They Are

When a major Canadian bank noticed that smaller competitors were rolling out innovative mobile apps for their customers, it knew it needed to respond with similar offerings. Consumers were increasingly growing to expect anytime/anywhere banking, with features like remote deposit, bill payment, balance inquiries, transfers between accounts, and more.

The bank needed to exchange data between its back-end systems and its customer-facing mobile apps, and they needed that information to flow back and forth in near real time for advanced analytics. Delays of more than a few seconds would erode customer confidence and lead to increased calls to customer service.

The critical backbone for this bank’s operations consisted of a mainframe system running a hierarchical IMS database. That presented several challenges the team needed to account for. Like most mainframe data, information from the bank’s back-end systems did not natively integrate into the open standards expected by modern databases and programming environments, nor did it easily support the machine learning capabilities needed for advanced analytics projects.

The bank also knew that the wrong integration technology could degrade mainframe performance. That was unacceptable since the mainframe was the bank’s most mission-critical IT system. The bank sought an enterprise-grade change data capture (CDC ) solution that could handle very high volumes of data, could guarantee delivery, and would not adversely affect the performance of its mainframe systems.

After deploying Precisely’s Connect CDC solution, the bank was able to satisfy its need for customer facing mobile apps and use the same technology platform to increase customer self-service across multiple channels. This has led to higher efficiency and significantly improved customer satisfaction.

The critical backbone for this bank’s operations consisted of a mainframe system running a hierarchical IMS database. That presented several challenges. Like most mainframe data, information from the bank’s back-end systems did not conform easily to the open standards expected by modern databases and programming environments.

Delivering a Personalized Experience in Real Time

A US-based luxury resort and casino set out to enhance their customer’s experience by anticipating their needs. They needed a solution where they could apply machine learning and advanced analytics to all of their customer data in real-time.

The resort was using a myriad of different IT systems to serve its clients. That included spa management software, restaurant point-of-sale, hotel operations, and more. The resort didn’t want to abandon those best-of-breed systems, but it needed each of those departments to have a 360° view of the customer. The company wanted to track each guest from the time they arrived at the resort, through the casino floor, to the restaurants they visited, the entertainment venues they patronized, and more.

By applying machine learning to their customer data, resort managers could anticipate their guest needs and deliver a better experience. For example, a guest who had requested a gluten-free menu at dinner on Saturday evening would be presented with a menu of gluten-free offerings at breakfast the following day. This level of personalized attention exemplifies the resort’s commitment to excellence in customer service.

Precisely’s Connect CDC serves as the integration solution that pulls together information from all of the various software systems used at the resort. By delivering real-time information to predictive analytics platforms using Connect CDC, resort management is able to anticipate customers’ needs and stand out from the competition.

Unifying Purchasing for Economies of Scale

When a major European supermarket chain wanted to consolidate purchasing across multiple brands, the chain knew that it first needed a unified approach to managing inventory. With eight different brands and hundreds of locations, this presented significant challenges in terms of complexity and scale.

Grocery transactions are highly granular. In other words, a single transaction typically involves only one or two of a particular SKU, rather than the case-counts or pallets that are common in wholesale distribution businesses. With each customer buying an average of 20 or 30 different items in a single visit, and with hundreds of customers shopping each store daily, that added up to a very high volume of inventory transactions.

Managers at the supermarket chain chose Connect CDC to help align and maintain the chain’s inventory across hundreds of stores. By creating a single, unified view of inventory, the company was able use advanced analytics to consolidate purchasing and achieve economies of scale that had never been possible before. This resulted in the organization saving hundreds of thousands of Euros.

Real-Time Visibility to Inventory Keeps Customers Happy

A global luxury retailer that deals in one-of-a-kind items prides itself in bringing customers truly unique items that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. When a client commits to purchasing one of the retailer’s products, it’s important that the company immediately flag the item as sold in all of its systems globally. Since each item is one-of-a-kind, if a second customer wishes to have one and it is not properly identified as sold, the company could easily end up overselling that item.

The retailer had previously relied on built-in database replication technology in an attempt to solve this problem. Unfortunately, the company found that its off-the-shelf replication was not foolproof. The retailer chose Connect CDC from Precisely to provide it with guaranteed delivery of transactions, updating all of its systems around the globe as soon as an item had been sold. The result? The company now operates with the confidence that it will never again disappoint its important clients by “overselling” its inventory.

Gaining Competitive Advantage with Precisely

A comprehensive data integration strategy provides competitive advantage. It helps you deliver self-service applications, understand your clients’ needs, operate more efficiently, and increase confidence that business decisions are based on the most recent and complete data.

Precisely’s Connect CDC makes data replication across relational databases, streaming frameworks, and the cloud pain-free, all while offering high-performance, fault-tolerance, and resilient data delivery. To learn more, watch our free on-demand webinar, Real-World Use Cases for Modern Data Integration.