ETL - How can you intelligently manage your data to get the most out of it?

Whatever your sector, your business relies on thousands and sometimes millions of lines of data: customers, stocks, products, orders, prices. Today, all companies depend on the proper management of this data... it's become the lifeblood of the business!
But you probably have some of this data in your ERP or cash register software, some on your website, some in a CRM and sometimes even in a PIM. Creating management tools has become a real headache: you constantly have to extract, clean and aggregate this data.
How can I harmonize my customer list if my CRM distinguishes between first and last names and my website doesn't? How will duplicates be handled? How often should I export updates? How can I export data from my website other than manually? Why am I always afraid of losing data along the way? How can I save time?

ETLs (Extract-Transform-Load), interfaces between data sources and a storage or analysis target, are the answer to all these problems.

ETL, instructions for use

An ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) is a tool for extracting data from source systems (Excel, Access, DBMS, ERP, CRM files) and transferring it to a data warehouse.

This process has been around for a long time, but has evolved considerably to meet the new needs arising from the rise of the Cloud, SaaS and Big Data.

This process has been around for a long time, but has evolved considerably to meet the new needs arising from the rise of the Cloud, SaaS and Big Data.
Today, there are 3 main uses for an ETL:

- UPDATE: As part of a software update, you need to migrate data to a more modern medium, which doesn't take into account the format offered by your old medium.

- CREATION: If you're setting up a new e-Commerce site, or implementing a new ERP or CRM system, it's essential to integrate your existing data immediately, without having to re-enter it all.

- OPTIMIZATION: implementing an ETL can also save time, as it automates data flows between your various tools. This avoids laborious, time-consuming and error-prone data entry tasks.

GEEKY SIDE: ZOOMING IN ON ETL FUNCTIONALITIES

The ETL process is based on 3 steps:

- 1 - DATA EXTRACTION: This process identifies data and removes it from its storage systems at various locations. Data may come from ERP, DBMS, flat files or applications.
There are 2 types of loading to be carried out: initial loading (Full Load), which is the very first loading of the company's data into the warehouse, and incremental loading (Delta). This is the process of adding data to an existing warehouse. This operation is repeated over time, every day for example, and only loads new information.
You then need to study the sources to define your loading strategy (Push, Pull or Push/Pull).

- 2- DATA TRANSFORMATION: Extracted data is denormalized, cleaned of duplicates and contextualized. It is then converted into an appropriate format for acceptance by the data warehouse. Once this process has been validated, the data is physically loaded into the target system.

- 3 - DATA LOADING: The transformed data is then loaded into the target warehouse, either a database or a datawarehouse, where it is available. They can then be easily exploited and analyzed by another tool (Datavisualization, ERP, website...).

ETL, a tool for interconnecting information systems

Any company wishing to develop its strategy and achieve its objectives cannot do so without good management of its data flows. The challenges of this management are information reliability, speed of loading and processing, and the relevance of data transformation to adapt to the company's tools and the use made of them.

FOR EXAMPLE :
The account of one of your customers can be enriched simultaneously on your Prestashop site (a new order), on your Cegid ERP (a payment recorded in accounting) and on your Salesforce CRM (a new sales contact).

It is essential for Prestashop to be informed of the payment recorded on Cegid, so that the balance consulted by the customer is up to date. Salesforce also needs to know this information, so that sales reps don't have to follow up with the customer. In the same way, Cegid needs to be informed of the new order registered by the website in order to issue an invoice; and so on...

But this information needs to be transformed to be handled by each of these tools. Firstly, because each software uses a different computer language. But also because for CRM, this payment will join a customer account identified by a surname, first name, job title, company and contact details. For ERP, this payment only corresponds to an invoice line. And for Prestashop, this payment corresponds to an order number.

This is why it is sometimes necessary to use a webservice to standardize data processing methods between each tool.

Good flow management enables you to take full advantage of your chosen tools (ERP, CRM, PIM and website). And well-processed data then becomes the basis for the work of your company's key functions: shipping and therefore inventory management, sales, accounting, but also HR, IT, controllers and marketing.

How to choose the right ETL solution?

Transfer quality, data preparation, integration and synchronization, reference data management, migration, APIs... Choosing the right ETL and setting the right parameters for its connection to your tools (website, ERP, PIM, CRM) are essential to help you save time without losing data.
Needs will differ from one sector to another, and from one company to another. Your partner needs to take the time to understand your processes in detail. To save time, it's best if he or she is already familiar with your industry: ask for references and methodology. The time devoted to this business analysis should be significant, and optimized by asking precise questions. If your partner is used to ETL analyses, he'll know how to ask you what data is expected. If they know your tools, they'll know what data to extract and how to avoid certain conversion pitfalls.

When choosing your partner, pay attention to :
- Experience: maturity of proposed solutions, ETL references, ability to understand your business sector
- Flexibility: there are both proprietary and open-source ETLs. The latter gives you total customization and scalability of your data management.
- Skills: managing an ETL requires development and IT infrastructure skills.
At Soledis, we've acquired solid experience in interfacing ERP, PIM and CRM systems with Prestashop and Woocommerce e-commerce solutions. Today, we have 180 ERP or CRM systems connected to our customers. We understand the growth challenges that data flows represent for companies. Optimizing and streamlining your processes means automating logistics, automatically updating your product catalogs and providing real-time access to your inventory.... We work with Open Source solutions that our team of developers helps to improve day by day. As a result, we can respond precisely to your needs. What's more, our 360° offering also includes hosting services and business intelligence consulting on the webmarketing side. So we can offer you complete, tailor-made support.

At Soledis, we've acquired solid experience in interfacing ERP, PIM and CRM systems with Prestashop and Woocommerce e-commerce solutions. Today, we have 180 ERP or CRM systems connected to our customers. We understand the growth challenges that data flows represent for companies. Optimizing and streamlining your processes means automating logistics, automatically updating your product catalogs or accessing your inventory in real time....

We work with OpenSource solutions that our team of developers helps to improve day by day. So we can respond precisely to your needs. What's more, our 360° offering also includes hosting services and webmarketing business intelligence consulting.
That's why we offer you a comprehensive, tailor-made support package.