Migrating from Data Silos to Data Consolidation: An Evaluation of Integration Solutions
Kerensa Schill · 2006
Transit agencies are investing in technically sophisticated data collection systems in an effort to improve operational efficiency. Unfortunately, the information and data contained in these individual systems do not interact resulting in data and information ‘silos’, data goes in, but is not linked to other systems. Data consolidation and systems integration is becoming a necessity to manage data and to increase organizational access to critical information. Migrating from data silos to integration solutions forces agencies to identify what systems and data should be integrated and at what level of detail (transaction level detail or route aggregated summary information). The integration efforts must have clearly defined benefits. Increasing organization access to data and putting critical information in the hands of management are two primary benefits of integration. The ability to access performance indicators at will in a format easy to ready and analyze, is another benefit of integration. Clearly defining the benefits and expected uses of the integrated data will help in the decision-making process. Custom integration solutions are always attractive options, but are not always feasible for transit service operators. Custom solutions take years to procure, design, and test with a cost in the millions of dollars. The end result is a system tailored to agency processes and systems. Agencies lacking the resources to develop a custom integration solution can still reap the reward of data integration with an existing integration design that offers customization options. Vendors offering “off-the-shelf” integration solutions tailored for transit industry management needs have invested significant resources in researching needs and designing, programming, and testing the system. The end result is a system designed to meet the needs of the large majority of transit agencies at a fraction of the cost of a customized integration solution. Integrating data silos into one central database results in additional data storage needs. Remote servers offer agencies a cost efficient option, while local servers qualm data security fears. However, vendors offering remote data storage options offer protections against data loss, data corruption, and increased security to maintain data preservation. In addition, remote servers place maintenance and upgrade responsibilities on the vendor, thereby reducing organizational burden. Integrating sophisticated data collection systems improves organizational access to data and puts key data in management’s hands. Existing integration solutions offer a viable and affordable integration option. Integrating data at the route summary level with a remote server reduces data storage needs and eliminates additional staff to maintain and upgrade the systems.