Failing integration projects causing delays and holding back business innovation

Ontology Systems announces research which highlights that UK businesses are failing to get the most from data and ROI on their integration projects. According to the findings, over three quarters (83%) of IT staff do not expect to see any return on their investment from current integration projects over the year, despite 84% believing that better use of data could improve customer service.

The research, conducted amongst IT managers highlights that many businesses are finding themselves trapped on an integration treadmill, with most seeing it as their only option to unlocking business innovation, such as better customer service. As a result IT managers are allocating as much as 25% of their IT budgets into the projects; despite 65% of respondents admitting that they will never see a ROI.

“Data should be being used to gain a competitive advantage, not a hindrance, “says Benedict Enweani, CEO, Ontology Systems. “In theory, integrating systems would be the most effective way of getting a unified view of data held across a business. However, most real world systems were never intended for this approach, which means that critical business assets can’t easily be found when their associated data spans more than one database or system, as stated by 56% of respondents. This results in not only a costly, but also a very time intensive procedure, as systems take a long time to merge and integrate.”

Over half (51%) of respondents doing integration projects said they experienced delays, typically caused by the sheer complexity of what needs to be done to get the most from data. This highlights that organisations are having to implement further post integration projects or risk never seeing the benefits from the original project and the competitive advantages their data should offer.

Enweani concludes; “You wouldn’t dream of integrating the internet. Google revolutionised access to online data when they enhanced Internet search. To gain true business advantage organisations need to take the same approach. When it comes to enterprise data, we say ‘Search don’t Integrate’”.
“The majority of today’s companies are working towards business goals that depend on the efficient use of their data estates. By using semantic search, businesses can completely side step the traditional data integration approaches that are failing to help them extract maximum value from their data and allow them to find, examine and link data held in sources right across the business and get the most from their data.”