Data integration for analytics is the process of combining data from different applications, in different data formats, from multiple locations, to enable users and systems to more easily identify correlations and gain a fuller view of business or operational performance. Integration begins with the data ingestion process, and includes sequential steps like cleansing, prepping, ETL mapping, and transformation.
For example, customer data integration involves the extraction of information about each individual customer from disparate business systems such as sales, accounting, and marketing, which is then combined into a single view of the customer to be used for customer service, loyalty programs and cross-sell/up-sell opportunities.