Introduction to Reverse ETL

Reverse ETL can be defined as the process of moving data from Data Warehouses to third-party systems to make the data operational.

17:29 08 September 2021

This is same as taking the cleaned, transformed, and integrated data stored in a Data Warehouse and loading it into SaaS applications to make accurate and effective data-driven decisions.

 

To have an easier understanding of Reverse ETL, let’s first have a look at ETL Tools. 

 

ETL, which stands for Extract, Transform, and Load, is a data integration process of integrating data from multiple sources into a data warehouse or other centralized destinations.

 

So, Reverse ETL is the exact opposite of the traditional ETL process, therefore getting its name.

 

Benefits of using Reverse ETL

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software: Reverse ETL can be used to move your customer data to CRM systems like Salesforce and HubSpot. This can assist you in quickly and easily identifying specific customer segments, leads, and potential customers to target.
• Business Intelligence (BI) and Operational Analytics: Reverse ETL can also transport data from your Data Warehouse into your BI and analytics platforms. Reverse ETL is useful for operational analytics because it automatically sends real-time data to the precise place where it is most required.
• Data Automation: Reverse ETL can be used to fetch particular data from the Data Warehouse based on requirements, such as a CSV to issue invoices required by the finance team.
• Data Governance: Managing and monitoring a single, unified Reverse ETL platform is far easier than managing multiple API connectors that require individual maintenance. Reverse ETL is a time-saving method that has developed as a general-purpose pattern.

 

Some of the Best Reverse ETL Tools are:

 

1. Hevo Activate

 

 

Hevo Activate helps you directly transfer data from Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, etc., to SaaS applications, CRMs such as Salesforce, HubSpot, etc., Support tools such as Zendesk, Intercom, and a lot more, in a completely hassle-free & automated manner. Hevo Activate is fully managed and completely automates the process of loading data from your Data Warehouse/the desired source, enriching the data, and transforming it into an analysis-ready form without writing a single line of code. 

 

Here are a few salient features of Hevo:

 

• Secure: Hevo Activate is HIPAA, SOC II compliant. It has a fault-tolerant architecture that ensures that the data is handled securely and consistently with zero data loss. 
• Real-time Data Transfer: Hevo Activate, with its strong Integration with various sources, allows you to transfer data quickly & efficiently. This ensures efficient utilization of bandwidth on both ends.
• Sync Product Data into Sales CRM: Hevo Activate can be leveraged to get all product data in the CRM tool of choice, allowing businesses to track user activity easily. Users can be segmented based on their activity, and that information can be used to improve product adoption and prevent churns.
• Live Support and Training: The Hevo Activate team is available round the clock to extend exceptional support to you through chat, email, and support calls. Hevo also has several helpful videos on their channel to help you understand its basics.
• Built to Scale: As your data volume grows, Hevo Activate scales horizontally, handling millions of records per minute with very little latency.

 

Hightouch

 

 

2. Hightouch is a Reverse ETL Data Platform that allows businesses to effortlessly sync their data from Data Warehouses to customer-facing teams’ Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Customer Relationship Management (CRMs), Marketing, and Support tools such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, Gainsight, Zendesk, etc. It also allows businesses to use their Data Warehouse as an Operational Center and an Analytics Center. This gives them the ability to use this analysis to power their operational workflows.

 

Here are the key features of Hightouch:

 

• Integrations: Hightouch supports 60+ integrations through which you can sync your data to a variety of destinations such as SaaS platforms, files, databases, analytics, and BI tools.
• Secure by Design (Hybrid Architecture): Hightouch is built on top of your data warehouse. They do not keep any sensitive customer information on the server, making compliance simple.
• Privacy and Permissions Built-in: Supports SSO, 2FA, and enables granular permissions over resources. GDPR and CCPA compliance is simple.
• Data Governance: Using Hightouch's Hub-and-spoke Model, you can control the flow of sensitive data.
• Two-Way Sync with Git: Rather than logging into the Hightouch UI, you can manage your queries and mappings in Git. Hightouch updates will also commit to Git, giving you complete version control.

 

3. Census

 

 

Census is a well-known Operational Analytics platform that syncs data across various third-party applications with your Data Warehouse. Census automatically publishes all SQL & dbt models from your Data Warehouse into your operational tools, ensuring customer success and that your Marketing and Sales teams are on the same page without requiring any engineering bandwidth.

 

Here are the key features of Census:

 

• Connectors: Census has 30+ inbuilt native connectors.
• Native dbt Integration: With its native integration, you can connect your models and materialize them directly into your Sales & Marketing tools.
• Incremental Syncs: Its delta sync engine is designed for efficiency, minimizing API consumption all the while not leaving your warehouse.
• Data Stays in Warehouse: Census is designed to run inside your data warehouse so none of your sensitive data is stored on the servers.
• Enterprise Ready: Census adheres to industry-leading standards when synchronizing data from your warehouse to all of your applications. Census is designed from the bottom up to be secure and in accordance with standards such as SOC 2.
• Detailed observability and logging: Every sync includes a historical log to assist you in debugging data quality or sync issues.

 

Conclusion

This blog talks about the various Reverse ETL Tools you can utilize based on different user requirements. It also gives a brief overview of Reverse ETL along with its benefits.