Data ingestion refers to the process of collecting and integrating data from various data sources into one or more targets. A data ingestion tool facilitates the process by providing you with a data ingestion framework that makes it easier to extract data from different types of sources and support a range of data transport protocols.

A data ingestion tool eliminates the need for manually coding individual data pipelines for every data source and accelerates data processing by helping you deliver data efficiently to ETL tools and other types of data integration software, or load multi-sourced data directly into a data warehouse.

What to Look for in a Data Ingestion Tool

While some firms choose to build their own data ingestion framework, most firms will find that it is easier and, depending on the solution, more affordable to employ a data ingestion tool designed by data integration experts. With the right data ingestion tool, you can extract, process, and deliver data from a wide range of data sources to your various data repositories and analytics platforms to feed BI dashboards and ultimately front-line business users in less time and using fewer resources.

Not all solutions are alike, of course, and finding the best data ingestion tool for your needs can be difficult. Here are some criteria to consider for when comparing tools:

• Speed. The ability to ingest data rapidly and deliver data to your targets at the lowest level of latency appropriate for each particular application or situation.
• Platform support. The ability to connect with data stores on premises or in the cloud and handle the types of data your organization is collecting now and may collect in the future.
• Scalability. The ability to scale the framework to handle large datasets and implement fast in-memory transaction processing to support high-volume data delivery.
• Source System Impact. The ability to regularly access and extract data from source operational systems without impacting their performance or ability to continue to execute transactions.

Other features you may want to consider include: integrated CDC (change data capture) technology, support for performing lightweight transformations, and ease of operation.

A Powerful Easy-to-Use Data Replication and Data Ingestion Tool for the Enterprise

Qlik Replicate® is a unique data replication and data ingestion tool that provides high-speed connectivity for collecting data from a wide variety of enterprise data sources including all major relational databases and SAP applications. Our universal data replication platform is easy to install and use and supports Hadoop distributions for data ingest or publication as well as Kafka message brokers. With one powerful tool, you can migrate data from SQL Server to Oracle Database, implement ETL offload to your Hadoop environment, and enable real-time message streaming of multi-sourced data to Kafka message brokers, which in turn can feed big data platforms like Couchbase.

Qlik Replicate is also equipped with in-memory streaming technology to optimize data movement and our next-generation CDC technology, allowing you to capture and ingest data changes from source systems such as Oracle and SQL Server without degrading operational performance.