Leveraging Information and Intelligence

In this article by Stephen Swoyer we are alerted to the fact that data integration and MDM projects are still on track despite the downturn in the economy, and reduced budgets.

"Industry veteran Vickie Farrell, who heads up product management for Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (HP) Neoview DW platform, makes a compelling case that enterprise DI efforts will, in fact, outlast an incipient IT spending freeze. She cites HP's own internal survey data -- collected from North America, Europe/Middle East/Africa, and other locales -- which suggests an uptick in, not a retrenching of, DI spending activity. (Farrell says HP plans to publish its survey data, complete with analysis, later on this year.)"

What we're seeing is the simple fact that data integration, relatively speaking, is cheap when considering the benefit. Clearly, the lack of data integration within many enterprises is hurting productivity. Moreover, the reduction in SOA related work due to budget cuts is turning many enterprises to the basics, with data integration being core.

Why many will find this article confusion compared to the contraction in the economy, the fact of the matter is that things like business intelligence and other activities which have direct tactical benefit actually become more popular during downturns. Left out in the cold are more strategic activities where the value is much longer term.

However, this is little comfort if you're data integration project was just cancelled, and while clearly you're not alone, you are in the minority. In order to resurrect the data integration effort you need to make a compelling business case to management, and demonstrate the short term benefits that are directly linked to revenue. Many in IT find that activity difficult, but clearly a requirement in an environment where every penny counts.