The modern world is a loud and overly connected one. The field of technology over the last ten years has seen so much change that it’s virtually unrecognizable, and what’s more is that it keeps changing. Moore’s Law has seen its fair share of fulfilled prophecy as every year the tech world continues to grow, expand, and conquer new and exciting boundaries.

One of the results of this kind of growth is the incredible increase in communication. Commerce has never been more flexible, and more truly global. The prominence and necessity of the internet mean that every day millions of connections are made and a truly unimaginable amount of data is constantly being gathered. In fact, this data represents both a problem and a great opportunity. 

When data is stored in a way that is hard to access or unusable, this is typically a data silo. This is a place where huge amounts of data are stored that come from multiple sources, but data that is hard if not impossible to use in its current state. It’s disconnected and doesn’t serve a purpose. This is where processes like data enrichment can come into play, which takes raw data and appends it with relevant, related data that makes it useful. 

Imagine taking the name of a customer that exists in a data silo, and then appending that information with the customer's order history, their personal bio information, and their geographic location. All of this would create data that could then be used powerfully for analytical insight and growth across the company that collected that data. 

However, getting the data to a warehouse where it can then go through further processes of being enriched is also a step in the process that must be taken. The digital world is a vast, complex world where information needs to be put in pipelines, enriched and turned into valuable tools - otherwise it simply just takes up space. 

Integrating information into one singular location from several locations is a necessary part of a company utilizing their data wisely and proficiently. Matillion is the tool that does this, by claiming to be an all-encompassing SaaS answer to common data integration problems for platforms.  

One of the chief selling points of Matillion is that it is user-friendly. It utilizes a low-code method of attaining data and integrating it into a warehouse by using a popular cloud system. Matillion’s commitment is to bring seamless integration to businesses that are seeking solutions to their data integration problems. 

Matillion has two main products that it offers, Matillion ETL and Matillion Data Loader. If you aren’t familiar, ETL stands for extract, transform and load. This means that data is extracted from sources using connectors, and then transformed before being ingested into its new home or warehouse. 

The power of ETL is that it allows a business to gather information from multiple locations and integrate them into one source. This can have a huge benefit for businesses that have connections to several different data entry points. The process involves taking data that could potentially not integrate with other data and then transforming it into one singular type of storable data. 

Matillion also has over 100 built-in connectors to some of the most necessary vendors on the market. You can also create workflows on a larger scale thanks to being able to select more than 30 components, as well as using its low cod to orchestrate jobs and build more complex ETL pipelines. 

Matillion is also not without its challenges and problems like any integration tool might be. As anyone who works in the field of technology can tell you, no software is perfectly designed to be perfectly flawless. 

For instance, because of the fact that it emphasizes user-friendly low-code, integration, it can also mean that it requires more oversight and hands-on work. This can look like troubleshooting or just simple maintenance of the data pipelines that are created. While the user-friendly, accessibility can be a plus for clients who are looking for that - the truth is, these programs are designed to free engineers from the process of ETL. So, weighing out the pros and cons of a more user-friendly system that requires more user integration is something that needs to be done on a business-by-business basis. 

With intuitive, user-friendly UI, Matillion could be the perfect solution for businesses looking for a one-stop-shop that makes ETL and data mobility accessible. However, this can vary depending on the level of need, and the complexity of the integration. While it’s a tool that does the job of data integration well, its emphasis on hands-on maintenance may not fit the needs of certain clients looking for more in-depth, customizable, and less maintenance-heavy options.