Senior leadership teams need to understand their business operations, inside and out. The best business decisions are made on fine margins, with real-time insight the differentiator between an educated guess and an informed choice which can make – or cost – a company millions.
One of the main ways that management can keep up-to-date with company goings-on is through tracking database changes. New patterns in proprietary data can represent a sea change in employees’ feelings on a business strategy, point to an opportunity for a sales campaign, reveal the best approach for fixing a product; the options are endless. The tale of a business is in their information. But this story is ineffective if it’s only told periodically.
In a modern, interconnected world, decisions can be made with relevant data, updated to the minute, in mind. Change data capture solutions provide real-time insight into the state of your enterprise, leaving you free to operate outside the restrictive timeframe of periodic reporting.
What does change data capture mean?
Change data capture solutions are the technical term for software used to identify, track and action data that has been changed within a database so steps can be taken with the most up-to-date information to hand.
The tools used for tracking database changes are deployed to sit across a number of different platforms, keeping all data relevant for use. This typically comes in the form of refreshing data stored in data warehouses, central repositories of collated information pulled from one or more data silos or databases. This updated information, now reflecting a single source of truth in real time, is then distributed to user-facing apps, such as customer service portals, for use and analysis.
This process is done with each individual piece of information, or record, that is altered, rather than updated in batches manually or automatically in bulk at the end of every day or week.
Data pipelines are the key infrastructure connecting these different data systems and can be designed and deployed to suit your business objectives; it’s simply a case of determining what you want to get out of your technology.
What can I gain from data solutions that deliver real-time results?
Away from the complexities of how you design and build data infrastructure allowing for tracking database changes in real time, the benefits of using change data capture solutions are simple:
Informed decision making
Key choices in the course of business operations are make or break. This is even truer as you go up the chain of command, with CEOs and other members of senior management required to make decisions which directly contribute to the success – or failure – of new strategies.
Having the most up-to-date data available for use is critical to improving the chances of success. When tracking database changes in real time, data analysts and business leaders can be confident that the information used to determine next steps is from a single source of truth. This kind of up-to-date insight into how the organisation is running can give decision makers an advantage over competitors who may still be relying on quarterly reports to plan their next steps.
Reduced administration time
Database management is a time-consuming process for IT and data teams. This investment in administration time and resources will soon be made obsolete by even simple data solutions.
Data integration tools with change data capture infrastructure automates information updating and flow between data storage systems and other platforms. This reduces time and money spent on flowing this data where it’s needed manually, freeing up your admin team to perform other tasks.
It also guarantees that any margin for human error has been removed. This lowers the chances of costly mix-ups with teams using the wrong data, which can further impact time and money spent on internal and external administration.
Empowerment to use data solutions
Automating the arduous data administration side of operations can also give employees a taste for using data solutions. The best business tools are simple to use and democratise power. With your data updated in real time across all apps and systems, staff can start to see data analytics solutions as tools to genuinely help in their role, rather than simply another series of tasks to do.
With this shift in mindset comes a new way of working. Using up-to-date proprietary data, presented to the user in visual dashboards and charts which are easily adapted and edited, can become a standard subconscious practice, empowering better and faster decision making across the business.
How can Cast Solutions help?
The aim of the game with tracking database changes in real time is to make a process that previously only worked over certain time periods instantaneous and trigger-based. You don’t need to redesign your existing data infrastructure to accommodate this; these data tools act as intermediaries between data storage systems and user applications.
Cast Solutions offers a number of sector-leading systems which can help achieve this aim. But one of the best in class is Qlik Replicate. The platform monitors changes to underlying databases and seamlessly moves proprietary data at scale to where it’s needed. It has a simple user interface and also offers automated data table creation to see recent changes.
As well as the highlighted benefits, Qlik Replicate offers robust internal data security, requires no additional digital footprint for your business as it connects natively into most existing data systems, and boosts your enterprise agility as it allows you to make changes to your data infrastructure (on cloud, on-premise, or hybrid), often without agent software and to scale as your requirements evolve.
On top of these pros, Cast Solutions is a certified Qlik Data Integration Partner, giving us extensive knowledge of other data technology solutions which could improve your operations.
Ready to rethink how your data architecture can serve your long-term business goals? Cast Solutions’ team of data analysts can help your IT and data teams to develop a solution, pairing industry-leading software and custom analytics services, that’s right for you. Contact us today.
