This white paper will address data services implementation and the role of Oracle Data Service Integrator in that process. It will describe the technical benefits of a data services implementation within the context of initiatives to promote business process management (BPM), service-oriented architecture (SOA), portal projects, and business intelligence (BI).
Increasing Return on Investment
with Data Services An Oracle White Paper Updated August 2008
Increasing Return on Investment with Data Services
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW As the number of applications and platforms generating data increases, so does an organization's need to give users access to that data through a unified, standard system compatible with multiple interfaces. Oracle Data Service Integrator is a powerful solution that allows organizations to build data services that unify business processes and data for easier use and improved customer service.
INTRODUCTION As the IT world has evolved, the focus has increasingly and almost unavoidably shifted to technology at the expense of information. Although the technological side is unquestionably important, the ultimate purpose of an IT department is to increase a company's ability to collect, preserve, manage, access, analyze, and act on information.
Information is an organization's key Information is an organization's key asset-without it all that technology is at risk asset-without it all that technology is at of being expensive unused "plumbing." But as the sheer amount and complexity of risk of being expensive unused the data collected by the typical company increases, it becomes increasingly "plumbing." But as the sheer amount and challenging to access and use that data in a timely and efficient manner. That data's complexity of the data collected by the typical business increases, it becomes value is inextricably tied to the overall return on investment (ROI) of IT. Increasing increasingly challenging to access and that data's accessibility and agility creates an enormous amount of business value. use that data in a timely and efficient Implementing data services using Oracle Data Service Integrator gives a company a manner. single point of access for unifying and normalizing data. The solution allows IT to build data services that are then reusable for additional functions-increasing ROI and the overall value of the data. This white paper will address data services implementation and the role of Oracle Data Service Integrator in that process. It will describe the technical benefits of a data services implementation within the context of initiatives to promote business process management (BPM), service-oriented architecture (SOA), portal projects, and business intelligence (BI).
DATA AGILITY FOR EXTENDED RETURN ON INVESTMENT An information architecture that exposes logical data views and promotes the practical use of heterogeneous datasources can generate dramatic ROI. But companies undertaking SOA initiatives often focus solely on application integration-neglecting both the need to integrate data within those applications
Increasing Return on Investment with Data Services Page 2 and to preserve the data's business context. That neglect undermines data agility and directly affects enterprise agility and ROI. A data services implementation improves data agility. Data services act as a single point of access for unifying and normalizing information. The resulting increase in data agility allows executives to think beyond immediate data needs and gives them greater flexibility to respond to-and even anticipate-business challenges. Implementing data services also allows IT executives to take advantage of existing IT assets rather than re-engineer the environment, a process that can be mired in operational delays, conflicting agendas, and budget shortfalls. In effect, the ability to reuse existing assets enables the recycling of previous IT investments.
REUSE RESOURCES WITHOUT REINVESTING Oracle Data Service Integrator is unique in its ability to generate value as a pure data integration solution. For example, IT can create value by employing Oracle Data Service Integrator to build a set of data services using existing data stores and enterprise applications. These services can be made available to development teams that would otherwise waste coding time aggregating and reconciling data manually. The underlying data is intact, securely accessible, and available in real time. The data services built for the original project can then be reused on subsequent projects, essentially eliminating the need for manual coding. The data's value as a corporate asset increases through . Information liberation. No longer confined to a single application or user group, information is available to m... [download for more]
