To make sound decisions and comply with governmental reporting
requirements, an organization must first establish a solid data foundation.
This foundation must combine historical data with current values from
operational systems in order to provide a single version of the truth that can
be then used to identify trends and predict future outcomes. Data integration
technology is the key to consolidating this data and delivering an information
infrastructure that will meet strategic business intelligence (BI) initiatives
and tactical and governmental reporting requirements. Data integration is
the enabling technology for providing trustworthy information, enhancing IT
and end-user productivity, and helping organizations achieve and maintain a
competitive edge. Data integration enables mid-size and large organizations
to effectively and efficiently leverage their data resources in order to satisfy
their analysis and reporting requirements.

This white paper from Business Objects, an SAP company, discusses the
importance of data integration and help you identify the key challenges of
integrating data. It also provides you with an overview of data warehousing
and its variations, as well as summarizes the benefits and approaches to
integrating data.