This One Change to Your Digital Commerce Setup Will Drastically Improve Data Quality and Cost-Saving

Every year, poor data quality costs organizations an average of $12.9 million, according to Gartner. With solutions for improving data efficiency and consistency at our disposal, there’s no reason for companies to miss out on this level of cash.  

The challenge is most modern digital commerce platforms rely on numerous third-party systems to run their businesses online—all of which were not originally built to connect with one another. This creates big problems when it comes to data exchange, particularly for companies with sophisticated and complex purchasing journeys.

Think about how many third-party systems your company uses to run your online business. How much effort goes into not only the data exchange implementation—but also the maintenance?

With each integration built from scratch eating up an average of a month and a half, companies waste precious time and, more importantly, put the customer experience at risk.

Fortunately, this can be rectified with Middleware. 

Simply put, Middleware enables companies to connect two or more software, systems, cloud applications, APIs, data points, or other digital business solutions from a central hub. And the consequences of operating without one come at a huge cost.  

In this blog post, we examine how utilizing a Middleware solution drastically improves data quality and cost-savings for digital commerces of all sizes, enabling the companies that use it to:

• Build more flexible routing of data flows between systems, promoting scalability
• Reduce time to connect, TCO, and costs of maintaining data integrations,
• Improve efficiency and decision-making,
• And, ultimately, boost customer satisfaction. 

Read on to learn how middleware ensures full data consistency to improve digital commerce performance.

The Challenges of Data Integration 

Imagine you’re an architect tasked with designing a modern skyscraper in the heart of the city. You start with a clear vision, drafting plans for a sleek, efficient structure that will stand out among its peers. 

As construction begins, you realize that you’d like your design to incorporate components from various suppliers—steel beams from one manufacturer, glass panels from another, elevators from somewhere else, and so on. 

As the building takes shape, you start to find that the steel beams don’t fit perfectly with the glass panels, causing gaps and alignment issues. The elevators require specialized wiring that wasn’t accounted for in your original plans. On top of that, the different suppliers have conflicting installation schedules, delaying the project and driving up costs.

Despite your efforts to coordinate construction, the integration of these third-party components proves to be more complicated than anticipated. You find yourself navigating a maze of technical specifications, logistical hurdles, and communication breakdowns. 

This same experience can be applied to building an online store without middleware. At the beginning of the journey, it’s almost impossible to anticipate the numerous exchanges of data required to successfully enable business transactions and provide data insights. From product listings to customer information to pricing, everything happens through different third-parties—that were not originally built to connect with each other. 

This leads to these five main data integration challenges:

1. Compatibility – In order to enable compatibility between two systems, it is important that their data models are correctly mapped and data formats are properly transformed.
2. Consistency – Data needs to be accurately synchronized between different systems to ensure that data is consistently updated and accurate.
3. Data quality – Data quality is critical for an outstanding user experience in order to avoid errors and discrepancies.
4. Security and Compliance – Data needs to be protected against malicious attacks and handled in a way that is compliant with protection regulations such as GDPR.
5. Speed – High data volumes need to be processed in an efficient and timely manner to keep data current and ensure a positive user experience.

Integrations built from scratch take meticulous attention to ensure that each functions harmoniously together. And in the wake of solving one issue, another crops up. Until one day, you find yourself tangled up in an IT system that comes with increased maintenance costs, lower conversion rates, and slower operations. 

This is where middleware can help. By integrating data more easily and in a flexible way,  middleware drastically reduces the effort and time needed for data exchange integrations—let’s take a look at how.

The Benefits of Middleware 

As established, middleware serves as a bridge between different data sources, allowing for the seamless integration of information from various systems and formats. At Spryker, our Middleware solution, powered by Alumio, does this with 75 pre-configured connectors that allow for easier integrations with the goal of reducing the data exchange implementation and maintenance efforts for Spryker customer projects by 90%. 

Here’s a closer look at how middleware can help companies achieve this goal: 

1. Data Consistency 

Middleware enforces data consistency and integrity by standardizing data formats, protocols, and communication across interconnected systems. Inconsistent data can lead to customer dissatisfaction and lost revenue opportunities, highlighting the importance of data consistency for maintaining a high-quality flow of data.

2. Real-time Data Access 

Enabling real-time data access and synchronization, middleware provides businesses with up-to-date and accurate information for decision-making and operational processes. Companies that prioritize real-time data integration and analytics are shown to experience significant improvements in business performance, including increased revenue and customer satisfaction.

3. Data Quality Monitoring

Middleware solutions, like Alumio, often include built-in data quality monitoring and validation capabilities, enabling businesses to identify and address data errors, duplicates, and inconsistencies in real-time. Moreover, businesses that invest in data quality monitoring and governance practices experience higher levels of trust in their data, which is hugely important when it comes to customer satisfaction.

4. Data Security and Governance

To achieve this high level of data trust, middleware provides essential security and governance features to protect sensitive information and guarantee compliance with regulatory requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA. We all know how costly data breaches can be, in damages and reputation loss, underscoring the importance of robust data security measures facilitated by middleware solutions.

5. Scalability and Flexibility

Middleware architectures are inherently scalable and flexible, allowing businesses to adapt and grow their data infrastructure as needed without compromising data quality or performance. Companies with scalable data integrations are better equipped to handle growing data volumes and complexity while maintaining high levels of data quality and accessibility.

Save Time and Costs with Middleware

Unlike an architect cumbersomely fitting together disjointed components, in digital commerce, we have the possibility to easily facilitate our third-party integrations with middleware. This is important because, without it, this process can quickly become a labyrinth of challenges, hindering progress, jeopardizing success—and costing big time. 

As the need for seamless data exchange and integration becomes an imperative, middleware serves as the cornerstone of efficient data management. For a web-based, low-code integration, check out Spryker’s Middleware solution, powered by Alumio, which presents a user-friendly interface to create, monitor, and manage all integrations, without any coding expertise. 

Learn more about how companies work with Alumio to reach full data consistency, saving crucial time and resources in the process.