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Data Integration Fundamentals

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Based on 11,808 ratings
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John Berry

It’s clear that we are living in a data-driven world. Our steady transition toward highly digitized lives is making data a key asset in the modern economy. When we go online to make purchases, consume content, or share on social media, we are generating valuable data. Many of the largest tech companies are now operating on business models that depend on leveraging data. However none of that is possible without data integration. Data integration is the glue that makes it possible to convert raw data into a valuable asset.

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It’s clear that we are living in a data-driven world. Our steady transition toward highly digitized lives is making data a key asset in the modern economy. When we go online to make purchases, consume content, or share on social media, we are generating valuable data. Many of the largest tech companies are now operating on business models that depend on leveraging data. However none of that is possible without data integration. Data integration is the glue that makes it possible to convert raw data into a valuable asset.

In this course, I will focus on three types of data integration: Business-to-Business Integration, Application Integration, and Database Integration. You will learn how businesses exchange data using standard I’ll explain common communication methods like FTP and AS2. You’ll also learn about application integration approaches including And I’ll teach you about database integration technologies involving data warehouses, data lakes, streaming data, extract-transform-load processing, and data propagation techniques like replication.

By the end of the course, you’ll have a solid understanding of how data integration can be used to improve business results. You will be knowledgeable about how these techniques are applied, and will be able to intelligently speak with software vendors, customers, suppliers or your internal IT department about data integration projects.

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What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Data integration basics - what is data integration and why it's important in the modern business environment
  • How data integration skills can create more success in your non-technical career
  • Why data integration is a great way to transition into a technology career
  • Learn common approaches to business-to-business (b2b) integration including edi, xml, json, text files, ftp and as2.
  • Gain a detailed understanding of application integration technologies including http, soap, rest apis, and webhooks.
  • Learn about database integration techniques like data warehousing, data lakes extract-transform-load (etl), and replication.

Syllabus

Welcome to the Course!
Course Introduction
About Your Instructor
What is Data Integration?
Read more

Learn how data integration supports software implementations, automation projects, and digitization initiatives.

Not a tech worker? How data integration skills can help you thrive in your job.

How data integration can supercharge your tech career, or help you get started in IT.

Learn about the structure of ANSI X12 EDI messages, functional acknowledgements, and common EDI messages used for commerce.

XML is frequently used for B2B integrations. Learn about XML message structure, namespaces, and XML schema. Also covered are XML-based B2B standards like RosettaNet and HL7.

Learn about JSON, one of the most popular formats used to exchange data on the web.

Learn about text delimited files like CSV, fixed width files, and how to handle hierarchical data in text files.

Learn commonly used transmission protocols for B2B messaging including FTP, HTTP,  and AS2.

Learn the common implementation steps that are necessary to bring a new B2B interchange into production.

Learn commonly used EDI messages for purchasing and invoicing. EDI X12 850, 856, 861, and 810.

Learn commonly used EDI messages for fulfillment and shipping. EDI X12 940, 204, 945, and 214.

A detailed review of the HTTP protocol including query strings, headers, methods, content types, response codes,  and authentication.

SOAP or Simple Object Access Protocol was one of the first HTTP-based integration protocols to gain significant popularity. Learn the mechanics of SOAP and how SOAP messages are structured.

REST APIs are the most popular method of integrating web-based software applications. Learn about the architectural principles of REST, and see how to interact with the Shopify REST API. Rate limiting and CORS is also covered.

How to use webhooks to receive data from SaaS products on an event-driven basis.

A review of additional application integration protocols including GraphQL, OData, and gRPC.

A comparison of two approaches to integration: APIs and EDI.

A review of the key database integration categories: Data Consolidation, Data Warehousing, Data Propagation, Data Virtualization, and Data Federation.

Learn about the difference between OLTP and OLAP database workloads, as well as how star schemas and columnar databases are used to support descriptive analytics. Also learn about data lakes and how they compare to a data warehouse.

Learn about the Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) process which builds data pipelines to load analytics platforms like data warehouses or cloud business intelligence tools.

A comparison batch and streaming analytics, and how they affect related ETL processes.

A review of some of the most popular ETL tools.

Learn how data propagation techniques are used to support analytics, edge computing, and disaster recovery.

In this module I explore what the modern data stack is, weighing the pros and cons that come with it. The modern data stack has a profound effect on data integration practices, so I will discuss what an integration pipeline looks like in this model.

I've provided 3 articles I've written about tech careers and how to make a transition into technology.

Traffic lights

Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Explores how data integration skills can help non-technical workers thrive in their current roles and how it can be a pathway into technology careers
Provides career guidance with articles about tech careers and transitioning into technology, which may be useful for those looking to enter the field
Covers various application integration protocols including GraphQL, OData, and gRPC, which are relevant for modern application development
Explains the difference between OLTP and OLAP database workloads, which is essential knowledge for those working with data analytics and business intelligence
Reviews ETL tools and processes for building data pipelines, which is a core skill for data engineers and those involved in data warehousing
Discusses EDI X12 messages for purchasing, invoicing, fulfillment, and shipping, which is valuable for professionals working with B2B integrations

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Create your own learning path. Save this course to your list so you can find it easily later.
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Reviews summary

Comprehensive data integration overview

According to learners, this course offers a comprehensive overview and solid foundation in data integration fundamentals. Students appreciate how it clearly explains key concepts across Business-to-Business, Application, and Database Integration. It is frequently praised for being accessible and easy to understand, making it highly valuable for those in non-technical roles or aiming for a career transition. However, some reviews indicate that learners with existing technical knowledge might find certain topics too basic or feel there is a lack of depth in specific areas and hands-on applications. Overall, it serves as an excellent introduction, though a few reviews suggest some content might feel slightly dated.
Concepts are explained clearly.
"Good for understanding the landscape."
"The explanations were clear and covered important concepts like APIs and ETL..."
"The instructor explains complex topics well."
Excellent for non-tech or beginners.
"As a non-technical person looking to understand how data moves in my company, this course was perfect."
"Good course for beginners or managers needing to grasp DI fundamentals."
"Great for project managers or analysts needing to understand the data landscape."
Covers many data integration areas.
"Excellent overview of data integration concepts. Covers B2B, App, and Database integration clearly."
"Covers a lot of ground... serves as a great introduction to the different facets of data integration. Helped me understand where to focus next."
"This course provided me with a comprehensive overview of data integration fundamentals."
Some parts feel slightly dated.
"Content felt a little dated in some sections, particularly around older protocols."
Too high-level for experienced users.
"Provides a solid foundation but lacks depth in specific technologies like modern ETL tools..."
"Found some parts a bit superficial. Was hoping for more hands-on examples or demos."
"Very basic. Didn't learn much new as a developer... Might be okay for complete novices but not for tech professionals."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Data Integration Fundamentals with these activities:
Review Database Concepts
Solidify your understanding of database fundamentals to better grasp database integration techniques.
Browse courses on Database
Show steps
  • Review basic database concepts like tables, schemas, and keys.
  • Practice writing basic SQL queries.
  • Familiarize yourself with different database types (SQL vs. NoSQL).
Review 'Building the Data Warehouse'
Gain a deeper understanding of data warehousing principles and best practices.
View DW 2.0: The Architecture for the Next... on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the chapters related to data warehouse architecture and design.
  • Take notes on key concepts and definitions.
  • Reflect on how the concepts relate to the course material.
Review 'Data Integration: The Complete Guide'
Gain a broader understanding of data integration concepts and best practices.
View Putting Knowledge to Work on Amazon
Show steps
  • Read the chapters related to ETL and data warehousing.
  • Take notes on key concepts and definitions.
  • Reflect on how the concepts relate to the course material.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Follow a Tutorial on Webhooks
Deepen your understanding of webhooks by following a hands-on tutorial.
Show steps
  • Find a tutorial on implementing webhooks with a specific platform.
  • Follow the tutorial step-by-step.
  • Experiment with different webhook configurations.
Create a Blog Post on API Integration
Solidify your understanding of API integration by explaining the concepts in a blog post.
Show steps
  • Research different types of APIs (REST, SOAP).
  • Write a clear and concise explanation of API integration concepts.
  • Include examples of how APIs are used in data integration.
  • Publish your blog post on a platform like Medium or your own website.
Build a Simple Data Pipeline
Apply your knowledge by building a data pipeline to extract, transform, and load data.
Show steps
  • Choose a data source (e.g., CSV file, API).
  • Design a simple ETL process.
  • Implement the pipeline using a tool like Python and Pandas.
  • Load the transformed data into a database or data warehouse.
Design a Data Integration Architecture Diagram
Visualize a data integration solution by creating an architecture diagram.
Show steps
  • Choose a specific data integration scenario.
  • Identify the data sources, targets, and integration components.
  • Create a diagram that illustrates the flow of data between the components.
  • Document the diagram with explanations of each component and its role.

Career center

Learners who complete Data Integration Fundamentals will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Integration Specialist
An integration specialist is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining data integration solutions. This role involves working with various technologies to connect disparate systems and ensure seamless data flow across an organization. This course is particularly helpful for aspiring integration specialists, as it covers key concepts such as business to business integration, application integration, and database integration techniques. The course provides knowledge of data transfer protocols such as FTP and AS2, as well as API integration methods using techniques like SOAP and REST, which are vital for this role. Furthermore, the course dives into database integration techniques like data warehousing, data lakes and extract transform load processes. An understanding of these concepts builds a foundation for success as an integration specialist.
See salaries and explore the career path for Integration Specialist
Solutions Architect
A solutions architect designs complex technology solutions that meet specific business needs. This role involves understanding business requirements and translating them into technical specifications to guide development teams. As a solutions architect, an understanding of data integration is crucial in architecting systems that can seamlessly exchange data with one another. This course discusses various approaches to data integration, such as business to business integration, application integration and database integration. The course also dives into data warehouse, data lakes, and extract transform load processing, key technologies for a solutions architect working on enterprise solutions. Taking this course builds a foundation in data integration that is useful in designing effective system architectures.
See salaries and explore the career path for Solutions Architect
Enterprise Architect
An enterprise architect develops a holistic view of an organization’s technology landscape, ensuring that technology solutions are aligned with business strategy. This role involves designing frameworks that guide how technology assets are implemented and integrated. Understanding data integration strategies, including approaches to business to business integration, application intergation and database integration, is essential for an enterprise architect. This course provides a valuable overview of these concepts, including data warehousing, data lakes, and extract transform load processing. This may be useful for an enterprise architect, helping to ensure that their architectural designs take data integration needs into account. In this way, an enterprise architect can ensure that data flows smoothly and efficiently across an organization.
See salaries and explore the career path for Enterprise Architect
Data Engineer
A data engineer builds and maintains the infrastructure required for data processing and analysis. This involves designing data pipelines, creating data warehouses, and ensuring data quality. This course may be useful for aspiring data engineers by providing a broad overview of data integration techniques. The course delves into database integration techniques like data warehousing, data lakes, and extract transform load processing, which are foundational to the data engineer role. The course also considers the modern data stack, and how it impacts integration pipelines, which is particularly relevant to this role. This course allows learners to understand the foundational principles of moving data between different systems, a core responsibility of a data engineer.
See salaries and explore the career path for Data Engineer
Software Developer
A software developer writes code to create and maintain software applications. This role involves understanding requirements and implementing solutions using programming languages and software development methodologies. As software applications often need to exchange data with other systems, integration is a frequent concern for software developers. This course covers major integration technologies and approaches, such as SOAP, REST APIs, and webhooks. The course also goes over data integration approaches relating to data warehouses and data lakes. For a software developer, this course builds a foundation for building robust applications capable of exchanging data with other systems.
See salaries and explore the career path for Software Developer
Technical Project Manager
A technical project manager oversees technology projects from initiation to completion. This involves planning, executing, and managing resources to deliver successful projects. An understanding of data integration is useful for a technical project manager because many projects involve the movement, transformation, or integration of data. This course introduces technical project managers to common methods like business to business integration including EDI, XML, and JSON, as well as integration approaches like REST APIs and SOAP. The course also covers database integration concepts such as data warehousing. This course may help technical project managers to better manage technical projects by improving their understanding of data integration principles and technologies.
See salaries and explore the career path for Technical Project Manager
System Administrator
A system administrator installs, configures, and maintains computer systems and servers. This role often includes tasks around data management and transfer. This course can be useful for a system administrator as it introduces them to various data integration technologies and techniques. This includes B2B integration concepts like EDI, XML, and JSON and also application integration approaches like SOAP, REST, and webhooks. This course also helps a system administrator gain knowledge of database integration approaches, which are often crucial for system maintenance and data backup. This course helps system administrators by developing their understanding of how data is exchanged between different systems.
See salaries and explore the career path for System Administrator
IT Consultant
An information technology consultant advises businesses on how to use technology to meet their goals. This involves understanding business processes and recommending appropriate technology solutions. This course may be useful for aspiring IT consultants, because it introduces key data integration concepts such as business to business integration, application integration, and database integration. It also discusses communication methods like FTP and AS2, as well as integration approaches such as REST APIs and webhooks. The course provides knowledge about data warehouses, data lakes, and extract transform load processes. The course can potentially help an IT consultant make better recommendations to clients by providing a broad understanding of data integration.
See salaries and explore the career path for IT Consultant
IT Manager
An IT manager oversees the information technology function within an organization, involving strategic planning and the management of IT teams. An understanding of data integration may be helpful to an IT manager because many IT projects involve integrating various systems and data sources. This course provides a valuable overview of B2B integration techniques, application integration using APIs, and database integration approaches such as data warehouses and data lakes. This course gives the IT manager a solid grounding in a variety of data integration techniques, and can help them strategically plan projects involving multiple systems.
See salaries and explore the career path for IT Manager
Cloud Architect
A cloud architect designs and oversees the implementation of cloud computing solutions. They work with various technologies to provide organizations with scalable and reliable computing services. This course may be useful to a cloud architect considering the challenges in migrating large datasets to the cloud. The course introduces key data integration concepts, including data warehousing, data lakes, and extract transform load processing, all of which play a crucial role in cloud data architecture. This course is also beneficial as it discusses the modern data stack, and it's impact on integration pipelines. This course may be useful for a cloud architect in understanding the challenges in moving data to and from the cloud.
See salaries and explore the career path for Cloud Architect
Business Analyst
A business analyst identifies business problems and proposes solutions. This often involves analyzing data to identify trends and make recommendations. While business analysts may not be directly implementing technical solutions, understanding data integration is valuable in helping them understand how data is generated and managed. This course helps business analysts by introducing them to concepts such as database integration, extract transform load processes, and data warehousing, which provides context for how data is made available for analysis. This course particularly helps a business analyst by allowing them to better understand how data flows through an organization, thereby improving their ability to identify opportunities for improvement.
See salaries and explore the career path for Business Analyst
Data Quality Analyst
A data quality analyst focuses on ensuring data accuracy, completeness, and consistency. This involves identifying data issues and working with relevant stakeholders to improve data quality. Because data integration can often introduce errors or inconsistencies, this course may be helpful to data quality analysts. This course covers database integration technologies such as data warehousing and data lakes so that a data quality analyst can better understand the sources and movement of data. This course also highlights common issues such as the need for extract transform load processing in order to make data useable by analytics platforms or cloud business intelligence tools. This course may be useful to a data quality analyst by providing a stronger understanding of data integration.
See salaries and explore the career path for Data Quality Analyst
Data Analyst
A data analyst collects, processes, and performs statistical analyses on data. While data analysts may not be involved in the implementation of data pipelines, this course may be helpful in providing a better understanding of how data is obtained and prepared. Such knowledge can improve the quality and effectiveness of data analysis. By introducing concepts such as extract transform load proceses, data warehouses and data lakes, this course helps a data analyst understand the challenges and choices involved in preparing data for analysis. This course may be useful for data analysts looking to broaden their contextual understanding of the data analysis process in their organization.
See salaries and explore the career path for Data Analyst
Database Administrator
A database administrator manages and maintains database systems, ensuring that data is available, secure, and performant. This course may be useful for a database administrator with a particular focus on the techniques and technologies that feed into databases. This course covers key database integration techniques like data warehousing, data lakes, and extract transform load processing. By exploring the ways data can be moved into and out of a database, this course helps the database administrator better understand the challenges and opportunities of database integration. This course may be useful for a database administrator seeking to better understand the data ecosystem that their databases are a part of.
See salaries and explore the career path for Database Administrator
Technical Sales Engineer
A technical sales engineer provides technical expertise to support the sales process. They must have a solid understanding of the technical aspects of the products or services they are selling so they can present them to clients. This course may prove useful to a technical sales engineer selling data integration or related products as it introduces them to key technical concepts. The course covers business to business integration, application integration, and database integration, all of which are common areas of focus for data integration products. By covering a wide variety of integration approaches, this course positions a technical sales engineer better to understand the variety of use cases their clients face.
See salaries and explore the career path for Technical Sales Engineer

Reading list

We've selected two books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in Data Integration Fundamentals.
Cover image
Putting Knowledge to Work
Save
Provides a comprehensive overview of data integration concepts, including ETL, data quality, and metadata management. It serves as a valuable reference for understanding the broader context of data integration projects. It is particularly useful for understanding the practical considerations and challenges involved in implementing data integration solutions. This book is commonly used as a textbook at academic institutions.
Putting Knowledge to Work
Paperback
Check
Putting Knowledge to Work
Kindle Edition
Check
Cover image
DW 2.0: The Architecture for the Next Generation of...
Save
Classic guide to data warehousing, covering the fundamental principles and techniques for designing and building data warehouses. It provides a solid foundation for understanding data warehousing concepts. It is particularly useful for understanding the historical context and evolution of data warehousing. This book is commonly used as a textbook at academic institutions.
DW 2.0: The Architecture for the Next Generation of...
Paperback
$$$
DW 2.0: The Architecture for the Next Generation of...
Kindle Edition
$$$

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Rating
4.5 Filled star Filled star Filled star Filled star Half star
Effort
4 total hours
Via
Udemy
Instructor
John Berry
Language
English
Traffic lights
Read about what's good
what should give you pause
and possible dealbreakers
Explores how data integration skills can help non-technical workers thrive in their current roles and how it can be a pathway into technology careers
Provides career guidance with articles about tech careers and transitioning into technology, which may be useful for those looking to enter the field
Covers various application integration protocols including GraphQL, OData, and gRPC, which are relevant for modern application development
Explains the difference between OLTP and OLAP database workloads, which is essential knowledge for those working with data analytics and business intelligence
Reviews ETL tools and processes for building data pipelines, which is a core skill for data engineers and those involved in data warehousing
Discusses EDI X12 messages for purchasing, invoicing, fulfillment, and shipping, which is valuable for professionals working with B2B integrations
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