How Does Reverse ETL Work? A Comprehensive Guide

Are you curious about reverse ETLs and how they work? You have come to the right place!

Read on to discover a comprehensive guide to understanding how a reverse ETL works.

What is an ETL?

If you have been talking to someone in the data entry or data-storage industries. You have probably heard the term ETL mentioned a time or two. While some acronyms can be complicated, ETL is pretty easy to understand. It stands for extract, transform, and load.

Extract: An ETL will extract the data from an application, database, or whatever its original form may be.
Transform: It will transform the data by duplicating it and cleaning it to prepare it for the next step.
Load: The final step is where the ETL loads data into the centralized database.

What is a Reverse ETL?

Now that you have a basic knowledge of what a typical ETL is. It is time to dive into the reverse ETL. To put it simply, a reverse ETL is the exact opposite of an ETL. Instead of taking data from several different sources and feeding it into one larger database. A reverse ETL takes data from a centralized database and efficiently distributes it to other systems.

The Data Silo

The entire reason for ETLs is to avoid data silos. The catch is that in moving all of the data to one place, you still have one massive data silo. So, reverse ETL makes it possible to extract data from this data silo in an efficient manner, no matter where it needs to go. Essentially, your company can have its cake and eat it too with this method.

Core Scenarios for Reverse ETLs

So, now that you know that a reverse ETL takes data from a larger warehouse system and distributes it to any operating system of your choosing. It is time to discuss how beneficial this can be for your company.

There are three main scenarios where having a reverse ETL can benefit you. They are data automation, operational analytics, and data infrastructure.

Data Automation

Handling data every day can become a tedious task. With numerous departments putting in requests for various forms of data for various reasons, having your employees manually extract it may seem like a waste of time. That is because it is. With a reverse ETL, you can automate this process.

So, next time your finance department wants a CSV of transaction data for excel, or your sales team wants a list of the people who attended your webinar for leads. You will be able to seamlessly provide this data for them. Or better yet, it will be available to them with just the click of a button.

Operational Analytics

Becoming a data-driven company is one of the most efficient ways to become a successful one. Everyone wants all of their decisions to be informed by accurate data. Well, this is easier than ever before. All your data analyst has to do is sync their preferred software to your data warehouse with a reverse ETL, and they will have all of the data they need.

Data Infrastructure and Customer Service

With this newfound ability to access and integrate your data, your data infrastructure can become more useful than ever before. One of the main ways this is useful is your customer service.

By using available data and new analytic techniques, a reverse ETL can help you have a better understanding of what customers you should give deals to, how your website is perceived, and how you can personalize in-app customer experiences.

Integrating Reverse ETLs Into Your Business

Knowing what you now know about how helpful reverse ETLs can be, the next natural step is to ask how you can integrate one into your business. There are two main ways you can go about doing this. You can build the software in-house, or you can outsource. If you run or own a business, you have probably bought or had software built for you before. Both choices come with their fair share of pros and cons, but here is what you should know about these choices concerning reverse ETLs.

Build it In-House

If you have the time and resources to hire a team to build your company an integrative reverse ETL software, by all means, you should do that. Building a system in-house allows you to customize all of your features and get exactly what you want. If it can be done.

The main issue with this is that most, if not all, companies do not have the resources to build it for themselves.

Outsource

For integrating a reverse ETL into your business, outsourcing is, by far, the most efficient way to get top-tier software. The best part is that it can be almost instantaneous.

The Takeaway

Reverse ETLs take data from a centralized database and efficiently distribute it to each of your business departments in a way that allows them to use it with their software of choice. Outsourcing software like this can increase the efficiency of your company and help you make more money and focus on growth.