What is Data Extraction?

Introduction

We live in a highly competitive world where data is the top priority. Comprehensive operating sheets, customer personal data, inter-company information, sales figures, and data extraction process plays a major role in the decision-making of a company. Therefore, it is highly important to keep an eye on the quality and quantity of data that needs to be captured from various sources. By doing so, you will be able to target your potential clients and generate leads. Data collection and extraction are the most critical processes of a business. It can have a great influence on your business tactics. Quick and precise data collection can automate lengthy tasks, eliminate manual errors, and make the whole process easy. The quantity of data being used today is growing daily. So, one has to consider technological progress and integrate with the latest machine learning data extraction software based on artificial intelligence like DocAcquire.

This article will explain data extraction in detail, understand its importance, and discuss different use cases of data extraction software like DocAcquire that you can append in your business strategy.

Sound good? Let’s dive in deeper.

What is data extraction?

Data Extraction is the process of retrieving data from various sources. It is extensively used by companies as the data is later migrated to various data repositories or further analyzed. Data extraction software saves a lot of time as it cuts down the manual work involved in the process. It helps in extracting relevant data and identifying patterns that can be integrated into the workflow.

The data extraction tools required for data extraction have been on the scene for many years now. But companies did not realize the importance of these data extraction tools until recently. Properly extracting data can also help in storing it systematically. If you want to know more about data extraction, then keep scrolling.

So let’s start by Why is Data Extraction done?

There are many benefits of using data extraction software to automate and speed up workflows, especially for startups and small businesses. It can save 20% of the time required in manual data extraction and handling. So, you can imagine how much of your time will be saved if you choose the right data extraction software like DocAcquire.
Some additional reasons to switch to data extraction software are:

1. It can improve accuracy & reduce human error: Automating the data entry and sorting processes for recurring tasks using the appropriate data extraction tools can improve the accuracy by manifolds. It minimizes the chances of human errors involved in manual tasks. For a company with large human resources, the chances of errors and inaccuracies slipping into your data are relatively higher. Automating the workflow can, however, remove these errors and generate more accurate data overall. The usability of data extraction is not just limited to data accuracy. It is useful for the employees as well, we will elucidate that in the next point.

2. It can increase employee productivity: As data extraction software, like DocAcquire, eliminates the need for manual data entry, so, the staff can concentrate on more important tasks that humans can do. Tasks that add more value to your business. When the employees use their skills in more productive tasks than manual data entry day in and day out, they will feel more satisfied in their job. 

3. It can improve visibility: Data extraction software can make data processing faster, allowing your employees to use the data faster. It is possible to view the entire data simultaneously when handled automatically. When the process of data extraction and sorting will be handled automatically, then the whole business can view and use the data whenever necessary. When your team has access to the data without any delay, it can make the whole process of your business faster. No delays or roadblocks mean a more efficient data workflow.

4. It can save you & your business time: Time is the highest priority for all businesses. Data extraction tools make the workflow easier and save your time is a must for your business. It can save ample of your staff’s time so that they can use their energy on tasks of much more importance. 

5. It can help reduce costs: Lastly, using data extraction software like DocAcquire can save your money in the long and short term. As your team grows, you don’t need to worry about investing and scaling a large team to manage the data entry process.

How does data extraction software work?

Structured data

The method of data extraction depends upon the type of data to be extracted. The data extraction process is carried out on the source system directly. The data extraction process can be done using the following methods:

1. Full extraction. 
   In this case, the whole data is to be extracted from the source. It does not require you to track any changes. The logic used is simpler, however, the system load is comparatively greater.

2. Incremental extraction. 
   The changes in the data source are tracked since the last successful data extraction. So the extraction process does not change a lot if the data is changed. For this process, the system is tracked for every change by keeping a note of time stamps corresponding to each change. This reduces the system load.

Unstructured data

Data extraction for unstructured data can be a bit of a task. You will spend most of your in processing the data apt for extraction. The data is later stored in a data lake until further migration or analysis. This process involves cleaning up noise. It involves the removal of white spaces, symbols, duplicate results, and figuring out the missing data.

Challenges of Data Extraction

The core goal behind data extraction is to move the data to some other system or to perform data analysis. In case, you want to analyze the data, then you are most probably to perform ETL so that you can get the data from multiple sources and run the complete analysis together. The most challenging task here is to join the data from multiple sources so that they go well together. It requires a lot of planning, especially if the data is derived from structured as well as unstructured sources.

The other critical issue associated with data extraction is security. Your data is sure to contain some sensitive information such as personal information or information important to the business. You may want to remove this data during the process of data extraction for the secure transfer of data.

Use Cases

1. DocAcquire can extract your data — all of it. 
   Do you want to extract data from structured and unstructured files? Do you want to sort the data so it can be analyzed? Are you looking for solutions to enrich the data during data extraction? DocAcquire is the answer to all your problems.  This software can work best with any type of data like structured and unstructured making the data extraction process sleek. It lets you perform data transformation on the fly and identifies schemas automatically. So you just need to spend your energy and time on data analysis.

2. DocAcquire helps you plan. 
   Once you finalize the data to be extracted and its analysis process. You can simply go for data planning, execution, and maintenance of data.

3. DocAcquire is secure.
   DocAcquire is a cloud-based data extraction software that expertise in secure data extraction. You can extract the data, download or integrate it with some other application while maintaining the integrity of your data. So your data is safe with us. 

Summary

The data extraction software is a must for your business. It will give you control over your entire data without having to hire more employees for data handling. So for those of you who want to increase productivity, stay ahead of the curve and increase data accuracy, DocAcquire may be the thing you are looking for.

Want to get started with data extraction? How about signing up for a free trial?