In this era of digitalization, data is the key to success for any business in the industry. Every department of an organization requires real-time access to business-critical data to maintain streamlined and effective business operations. The need for ready accessibility of data across the entire organization necessitates a data sync strategy for an integrated network that reflects real-time updates made within a source or downstream system. For this, a two-way data communication and transfer infrastructure across an organization’s entire digital pipeline is necessary, which guarantees that every team member gets access to accurate, up-to-date data, regardless of the platform they are accessing it through. The architecture that empowers organizations to achieve this and work with data faster is bidirectional data sync.
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So, what is Bidirectional Data Sync?
Two-way data synchronization or bidirectional data sync is fundamentally a system that enables two datasets in two different tools in a company’s digital infrastructure to act as a single data entity while existing as individual datasets on their respective databases. It means that when there is a new data entry or a modification made to existing data, the updates get reflected instantaneously or near instantaneously across all connected applications.
Such system integrations are necessary to enable different tools or systems to accomplish multiple functions from the same data set. The advantages provided by modern cloud applications have made them indispensable for the effective operation of any fast-developing business. With multiple cloud applications such as CRM, ERP, accounting tools, and many more needed for carrying out the daily operations of organizations, bidirectional data sync helps reduce the manual efforts required to support the vast suite of business tools and ensures that every data within the system remains accurate and updated. An ideal bidirectional system synchronizes every dataset and eliminates all redundant data in the network.
To better understand this system, let us look at an example. Suppose a user has two planner applications, one for work and another for personal schedules. If a user needs to view all their plans across both applications, the two-way data sync will map all essential information such as reminder description, date, reminder start time, reminder end time, etc., from either application and display it in them both. Moreover, any modifications to a field in one system will also get reflected in the other system in real-time.
Bidirectional data sync achieves this through Field Mapping and Sync Architecture. Field Mapping is the fundamental pillar behind any successful data synchronization. It creates the outline for which data of a record needs to be selected and to which respective field it gets mapped in the other applications. For a basic mapping procedure, several fields in a record get selected that are common across the applications, and then the data is copied between them. Any error or loopholes in the mapping process can lead to unwanted unpredictable outcomes and can also cause a synchronization loop where the data repeatedly jumps back and forth between applications. Thus, accurate field mapping is essential to ensure a two-way sync.
The second important part is the Sync Architecture or the design of the sync process. When performing a data sync, there are two standard processes of implementing it, Data Polling and Webhooks. In data polling, a data source gets regularly polled for updates. Those updates consist of all the records that have been newly created or modified since the last synchronization. Some solutions also provide a list of removed records, which allows users to synchronize removals as well.
Webhooks are also leveraged for synchronization and operate similarly to data polling, but instead of having to regularly check for updates after a specific time interval, the application notifies users of the recent updates, and then the data sync is performed. Webhooks are a more effective synchronization architecture, but only a select few applications in the market support it.
How does bidirectional data sync give businesses a competitive advantage?
Bidirectional data sync provides advantages to a business, ranging from enabling new functionalities to a reformed workflow that can empower companies to deliver to the market faster. The most common benefits bidirectional synchronization provides include:
Allowing organizations to implement the best of breed tools:
While an organization can deploy a software suite that can do multiple functions well, it may not be the best solution for individual operations. With bidirectional synchronization, users can build a custom suite of individual applications that are the best of breed in their respective fields. In a real-world scenario, no vendor can develop a single software that is the best in carrying out every task within an organization’s work pipeline, but with a bidirectional integration following best industry protocols, the interconnected individual tools can outperform an application suite in effectiveness and efficiency. Through bidirectional integration, a user can maintain a network of top-of-the-line solutions while ensuring data integrity across them.
With proper planning during the integration process, the system will also allow flexibility to add and remove systems. With a company already using a variety of individual applications, bidirectional sync also eliminates the need for migrating away from these tools of choice to other solutions that require training and are less beneficial in their areas of interest.
Eliminating data silos within enterprises:
In traditional business practice, each department was responsible for maintaining and operating its data. Thus, legacy systems naturally promoted the creation of data silos within the organization. With the rise of cloud solutions and research highlighting the damage a lack of a unified data framework can have on an organization, the removal of data silos has become a priority task for modern businesses. A system with bidirectional real-time data sync allows for multiple independent and isolated tools to reflect a unified dataset across all platforms and decrease the resource costs and manual efforts needed to update data or remove redundancies from the IT infrastructure. By eradicating data silos, every team member within the organization can readily access any data within the platforms they have access to, increasing efficiency and speed to market.
Removing repetitive manual tasks
The traditional process of manually entering data into a database is immensely labor-intensive and exponentially increases the risk of erroneous data entry as the data volume increases. Bidirectional data sync automates the process of data modification across all the necessary connected applications. The benefits of reduced manual operation due to two-way integration are not just limited to reduced risk of data redundancies. Manual data entry is limited by the upper threshold on how many keystrokes a person can physically enter and the inability of a human being to maintain maximum productivity speed throughout an entire workday. Lengthy processing times due to manual operations can lead to a significant cascading effect down the pipeline, such as backlogs, strained partner relationships, and a poor customer experience. Automated data entry through bidirectional integration helps businesses to quickly communicate problems, rapidly resolve partner issues and increase speed to market.
Helping organizations operate with a unified focus
Bidirectional synchronization allows every team member across a company to operate off the same set of up-to-date and accurate data and collaborate efficiently across different platforms by creating an environment of cross-departmental involvement. By creating a unified data environment, any inconsistency and misalignment among teams gets eliminated and focuses them to align their operations with the business goals. Bidirectional data sync enables improved monitoring and collaboration between teams and helps organizations avoid backtracking and reworking previously completed tasks entirely due to data inconsistencies.
How does bidirectional data sync work?
While we have had an overview of how bidirectional data sync works in concept, the following three cases highlight how it works with respect to some of the primary operations in an organization.
Leads record synchronization between CRM and marketing automation tools
Marketing and sales are two departments in an organization that require the most inter-team collaboration to ensure perpetual successful lead conversion. Any discrepancy and delay in communication between the teams can cause failure to convert new leads or even cause loss of existing high-value customers. The biggest hurdle towards seamless communication between the two departments is the lack of shared and accurate data on leads and target accounts. Bidirectional synchronization between the CRM and marketing automation solutions helps resolve the communication gap between the two departments by enabling marketers and sales reps to view the same data at any point in time without having to leave their everyday use tools. The two-way communication also allows each team to share their distinct inputs and observations regarding a lead.
Issue synchronization across related applications for troubleshooting
A team may come across challenges that require the support of a different department to overcome them, such as the IT support team may encounter a ticket raised for an issue that is beyond the scope of their expertise and require the development team to resolve the issue. To allow separate departments to collaborate effortlessly towards resolving an issue, a unified environment of all applications is required. Two-way data sync provides this by connecting every application and enabling every team member to view and manage edits to a consolidated data network.
Support ticket sync between ITSM and CRM tools
Customer support teams must manage several support tickets, which can provide important insight and understanding to the sales team. The tickets containing the inquiries and difficulties faced by the end-user when using a product can highlight what issues are causing customer churn and for which features users are willing to pay extra. Such as, a user may be willing to pay extra for the support of a local language pack for the tool or choose a different platform because of its more intuitive user experience. Whatever customer feedback the support team gets, the respective sales representative or account manager can quickly evaluate it and rapidly act upon it through bidirectional synchronization of tickets between the ITSM tool and the CRM.
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Bidirectional synchronization is the need of the hour for every growing business in this digital industry, and through APPSeCONNECT’s best-of-breed real-time data synchronization and integration capabilities, you can enable and automate your business to deliver to the market faster than your competitors. Through APPSeCONNECT you can seamlessly manage your business processes and streamline all data as per your requirements. Begin your journey towards success with the help of APPSeCONNECT. Explore the advantages APPSeCONNECT can provide for your business over here.
If you have multiple systems running in your business and want data to run between them seamlessly, connect all of them under one single platform to automate the business process and improve your productivity and efficiency!
