It may sound like a technical solution that only the IT department can benefit from, but data replication is actually a viable method to improve various facets of a business and ultimately result in growth. This is especially true in operations-related processes and customer-facing services.
Here are just a few among many reasons why you should invest in real-time data replication software to boost your business.
Optimized Testing
Data replication is highly valuable when you need to test something — say a new app or a new eCommerce platform — before rolling it out to production. Since the replica database works exactly like the source database, you can identify and fix bugs and other system- and/or performance-related problems before implementation.
If you already have a working product that customers have access to, data replication eliminates the need for downtimes when you roll out updates, since the testing phase can be done on the replica database. Just imagine Facebook or even video games releasing various versions or “patches,” even as users continue to use the platform freely.
Improved Data Durability
Nowadays, with how fast technology develops and how people adapt to these developments even faster, businesses should always be ready to deal with various scenarios — one of which is loss of data. It’s a highly unwanted situation that can result in huge losses, but which can be prevented by employing the necessary data replication solutions.
Data replication makes your data more durable, in the sense that it allows modifications to be written on to multiple locations. This way, you can ensure that all changes you make in your data will be applied and stored in a stable cache. If one data location fails, you still have other locations to draw upon. This is critical for data-intensive industries like banking and finance.
Improved Disaster Response
In relation to improving data durability, having a data replication software in place also makes it easier for a business to respond to emergencies, keeping all business-critical information safe and all customer-facing data up-to-date without compromising data security. This reduces or eliminates various negative business effects, such as a drop in productivity, revenue losses, and reputational risks.
More Efficient Reporting
Depending on the industry that your business is in, you may need to process huge volumes of data in order to generate reports, which are crucial in monitoring your enterprise’s performance, employee productivity, among others. With the help of replication solutions, you can distribute live data onto a remote database, which relevant personnel can access at any time without having to wait for their counterparts to generate their own reports. Having a dedicated database solely for reporting functions also helps maintain the main database’s integrity and performance.
Real-Time Business Intelligence
With data replication, organizations have access to the freshest business intelligence — down to the most recent changes, by the second — they need to make informed decisions. Not only will all the relevant personnel have complete and accurate copies of the data whenever they need it, the system can also provide these details in such a way that the critical operational segments do not suffer from any significant impact, like slower speed and degraded throughput.
With the right data replication solution, your business can control costs and improve the speed and quality of decision-making, which in turn helps increase revenues, satisfy customers and improve relationships with them, and ultimately gain an edge over competitors.
The fast-paced world of business does not stop for anyone — so it’s only wise to invest in solutions like data replication software that gives full access to valuable real-time data without disrupting regular business operations.
