Connection Cloud joins dots between SaaS data points

Elastic Intelligence has launched a new PaaS-like product that integrates data from various SaaS products that can then be used for enterprise reporting or to create other applications on its platform.

Dubbed Connection Cloud, the service can take data from other SaaS applications, such as Salesforce, Zuora, Netsuite, Zendesk, Intacct and Eloqua and use this data to create reports and analysis. The company said the tool would save companies time and money that would otherwise be spent on complex integration projects.

The service enables any SQL-capable application, business tool, or development language to access data from where it resides, essentially treating that data as if it were combined in a single SQL-compliant relational database.

The tools also make data available via ANSI Standard SQL, so any SQL capable application or language can be used to access SaaS data. The data is accessed from its native source. This, Elastic Intelligence claimed, puts an end to “expensive data integration products that only provide access to "copies" of the data in data warehouses”.

Other SaaS data integration solutions require data to be moved and consolidated before trying to make use of it. This pre-staging of the data requires a lot of work to extract, transform, and load the before use. Data is available for query in real time, with reports created and shared across the enterprise before they become obsolete.

There are strong parallels between the integration challenge to be solved with relational database software, and the enormous dis-integration problems businesses face in trying to bring together data from different sources, according to Roger Sippl, the lead architect and chief executive of Elastic Intelligence.

"Businesses regularly need to analyse and report on data across CRM, financial, help desk and marketing SaaS applications,” he said.

“Until now, that meant spending hours either downloading CSV files, manipulating the data and formatting reports, or investing in costly integration projects.”

The service uses single login and any business user or application developer can use Connection Cloud to access their SaaS data in real-time for use with their preferred reporting, BI or application development tools.

Application developers can use Connection Cloud to create features or completely new applications - in their preferred development language - using data from existing SaaS applications such as Salesforce, Zuora, Netsuite, Zendesk, Intacct and Eloqua.

Customers already using the Connection Cloud to access SaaS data from reporting and BI tools, include Microsoft Excel, Jaspersoft, Tableau and Yellowfin, the company claimed.