Ever since the second computer system came along, integrating systems has been a key part of the work of IT teams.

Today's IT landscape is increasingly complex, with enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), finance, warehousing, human resources, and e-business systems, both within and outside the enterprise, all needing to exchange data. The real-time nature of business today and the fast pace of business change add to the need to have a set of tools and skills that make the business of integrating systems quick and easy. New systems come along all the time, but it is also a requirement to respond quickly to new business opportunities that drive system integrations. Company takeovers and mergers, new markets and customers, new suppliers, and joint ventures are commonplace events that all require data to be exchanged on a one-off or regular basis to make them work.

As you might expect, for such a critical systems-development activity, there is no end of options to choose from to fulfill the need. From complex multi-million dollar integration suites from the major systems vendors to humble, yet powerful, scripting languages such as Perl, there is something for every budget and taste. So what is Talend Open Studio for Data Integration and why should you consider it for your next integration project?