Streamline Your Workflows With Oracle Data Integration

Data generated from various sources can make it challenging to integrate and leverage it to make sound, data-driven decisions efficiently. Oracle data integration, part of the broader Oracle Integration suite, offers a comprehensive set of tools and services for effective data ingestion and processing. The platform offers features for building, deploying, and managing real-time data in the cloud. 

Understanding Oracle’s data integration services can help you unlock your data’s full potential. These services, collectively known as Oracle Integration Cloud, provide enhanced agility and scalability in your data operations.

This blog will discuss Oracle data integration and how it can help you streamline your data movement and transformation processes.

Overview of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) offers a comprehensive suite of data integration services designed to simplify and streamline data workflows. These services allow you to connect, transform, and manage data across various sources and applications seamlessly. By utilizing Oracle Cloud integration services, you can ensure that your data is accurate, accessible, and ready for analysis.

What Are the Different Types of Data Integration Services Offered by OCI?

OCI offers several data integration services to cater to different use cases and requirements. Let’s take a closer look at each of these services.

Oracle Data Integrator

Oracle Data Integrator (ODI) is a comprehensive solution for businesses seeking to unify their data operations. The platform seamlessly combines data integration, movement, synchronization, quality management, and data services. It also supports a wide range of Oracle data connectors and Oracle db connectors, allowing you to move data from several sources. The ODI platform supports data-based, event-based, or service-based integration styles, making it adaptable to your diverse business needs.

Oracle GoldenGate

Oracle GoldenGate is a robust software solution designed for real-time data replication and integration with Oracle and non-Oracle databases, including NoSQL and Big Data environments. It offers a comprehensive set of tools that enable high availability, data replication, change data capture, transformations, and verification between operational and analytical systems. 

Oracle Autonomous Database

Oracle Autonomous Database is a fully autonomous,cloud-based database service that eliminates the need for manual database administration. It automatically handles provisioning, backup, patching, and scaling, ensuring an efficient data management experience. It is compatible with existing Oracle tools and applications, offering additional features like Oracle APEX for low-code development and Oracle REST Data Services for modern REST interface development. 

Why Should You Integrate Oracle Data Integration with Identity Access Management Services?

Amalgamating Oracle data integration with Identity Access Management (IAM) services is essential for maintaining security and controlling access to your data. IAM offers a centralized, cloud-based identity management environment where you can efficiently create, manage, and monitor user access.

IAM services help you create policies and grant permissions at different levels. It can include allowing an organization team to manage all data integration resources or allowing them to execute a particular data flow. For instance, a policy might allow data engineers to create and manage data flows but restrict their ability to delete data assets. Another policy could grant a business analyst access to view and run data pipelines without modifying them.

Oracle IAM connectors simplify access management for end users and administrators by seamlessly connecting with existing identity stores, external identity providers, and applications across cloud and on-premises setups. 

The Oracle Identity Manager Active Directory Connector streamlines access management and enhances security for Oracle Cloud business applications and platform services, including Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) and Oracle Sales Cloud. It also integrates with platform services, including Oracle Java Cloud Service and Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) Cloud Service.

A unique feature of IAM is its ability to act as both an identity provider and a service provider for applications. As an identity provider, IAM helps you securely verify user identities and interact with external websites. When acting as a service provider, IAM hosts applications, enabling you to access them directly from your identity provider login. This dual functionality streamlines access management and enhances your user experience. 

What Are the Key Activities You Must Perform as a Data Integration User on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure?

As a data integration user on OCI, you must perform several key activities to manage and process your data effectively.

Create and Access a Workspace

A workspace is your personal or team’s work area within OCI. It is where you create, organize, and manage your data integration projects. To create a workspace:

• Open the OCI console navigation menu and click on Analytics & AI.
• Under Data Lake, select Data Integration.
• Click on Workspaces. Under List Scope, select the compartment you created from the Compartment dropdown menu.
• Then, click Create Workspace.
• Enter the required details, and click Create.

Create a Data Asset and Add New Connections to Data Assets

A data asset represents the data sources you use in data flows, tasks, and pipelines. You can create data assets and add new connections, enabling seamless data movement and transformation. To create a data asset: 

• Enter the workspace where you want to create the data asset.
• On the workspace homepage, click Data assets. Click Create data asset and fill in the required details such as name, type, and connection information.
• Click Create to complete the process.

Create Project and Folder

Projects and folders help organize your data integration tasks and resources. To create a project: 

• In your workspace, click on Projects to create a new project.
• Enter a name and description for your project.
• Within your project, create folders to organize your resources further.

Create a Data Flow

A data flow defines how data is moved and transformed between different sources and targets. 

To create a data flow:

• Within your Project page, click on the Data flows submenu.
• Then click on Create data flow.
• Use the drag-and-drop interface to define the data flow from source to target, applying transformations as needed.

Create a Pipeline

Pipelines allow you to orchestrate multiple data flows and tasks. By creating pipelines, you can automate complex data integration processes and ensure efficient data movement. To create a pipeline: 

• Navigate to the project or folder you want to create the pipeline.
• Click the Pipelines option in your project or folder details page.
• Next, click on Create pipeline and enter the name and description. 
• Use the pipeline operators from the Operators panel to design the pipeline.

Create Tasks

Tasks are design-time resources that define a sequence of actions to be executed on your data. To create tasks:

• Navigate to the Tasks section within your project.
• Click Create Task, select the type of task (e.g., data flow task), and configure its settings.
• Save and validate the task.

Create an Application for Running and Scheduling Tasks 

Applications in OCI Data integration are used to group and manage tasks that need to run on a schedule. 

To create an application: 

• Navigate to the workspace where you want to create the application.
• Click on Applications. 
• Now, select the compartment where you want to create the application and click on Create application. Next, enter the required details and configure the tasks to be included.
• Save the application.

Publish Design Tasks

Publishing tasks makes them available for execution and scheduling. To publish a task:

• Navigate to your project or folder detail page and click on Tasks.
• In the task’s action menu, select Publish.
• Next, choose the application you want to publish and configure any additional settings.

Run and Monitor Tasks

To run and monitor tasks:

• Navigate to the Applications page from your workspace by selecting the Applications option.
• Select the application containing the task you want to run.
• Click Run and monitor the progress of the task.

Schedule Published Tasks

Scheduling allows you to run automatically at specified times. To schedule a task: 

• From the Applications page, select the application containing the task you want to schedule.
• On the application details page, click Schedules and then select Create schedule. Define the schedule parameters and click Create.

Monitor the Workspace

Monitoring the workspace involves overseeing your data integration environment’s health, performance, and activities. To monitor a workspace:

• From your workspace homepage, click on Monitor workspace.  
• The Monitor workspace page allows you to monitor your workspace easily.

How is Hevo Data Better than Oracle Data Integration?

While ODI offers several powerful capabilities, the platform does have some challenges. Setting up and working with ODI can be tedious and time-consuming. You will need to follow several steps to integrate your data effectively. Each step requires exploring different interfaces and understanding complex processes. Additionally, understanding IAM policies and API integrations requires technical expertise. Switching to a more streamlined and cost-effective ELT platform, such as Hevo Data, can simplify your entire data integration process. 

It has a highly interactive user interface and no-code solution that eliminates the need for technical assistance. Here are some of the key features provided by Hevo Data:

• Data Transformation: Hevo Data provides a powerful Python-based and drag-and-drop data transformation feature, enabling users to clean and transform data.
• Automated Schema Mapping: Hevo automates the complexity of schema mapping by detecting the format of incoming data and replicating the destination schema accordingly. You can choose between full and incremental mappings according to your specific requirements.
• Incremental Data Load: Hevo ensures efficient bandwidth utilization on both the source and destination ends by allowing modified data transfer in near real-time.

Conclusion

Oracle data integration offers comprehensive solutions for managing your data ingestion processes. By utilizing services such as OCI, Oracle data integrator connectors, and Oracle identity manager connectors, you can enhance data accuracy, ensure robust security, and build custom applications and workflows.

You can also choose to use Hevo Data as an alternative. This no-code platform can provide top-notch performance, and its cost-effectiveness and no-code features make it a strong alternative to Oracle data integration.

Sign up for a 14-day free trial with Hevo.

FAQs

1. Is Oracle Data Integrator an ELT/ETL tool or a data orchestrator?

Oracle Data Integrator is primarily an ELT tool that leverages the target database’s capabilities to perform data transformations. Additionally, ODI includes features for data orchestration, allowing users to schedule and manage data integration tasks and workflows.

2. What technologies does the OCI Data Integration team use?

The OCI Data Integration team secures data management using various technologies, including Oracle Autonomous Database, Oracle Data Integrator, Oracle GoldenGate, and advanced IAM policies.