Talend Inc. said today it’s updating its Integration Cloud platform to make it easier and faster for companies to extract and clean data so it can be used in their analytics operations.

The main highlight of Talend’s release is the new cloud-based version of the Talend Data Preparation tool, which is designed to quickly make data available in a usable format so that companies don’t have to waste time preparing it themselves. At the same time, the software enables companies to maintain control over their data to ensure they meet whatever governance requirements they’re bound by.

Talend claimed its new Data Preparation Cloud can increase time to insights by as much as three times compared with organizations that don’t use any kind of automated data preparation. The company said this ability provides an obvious advantage in an age when every employee needs fast, self-service access to company data.

“To become truly data-driven, companies must empower all members of the organization to access, qualify and apply enterprise information to their daily job functions,” said Ashley Stirrup, chief marketing officer at Talend. “The Fall ‘17 release of Talend Data Fabric uses the cloud to scale self-service access to enterprise information so employees can make more informed decisions, faster.”

Talend said its Data Preparation Cloud accelerates time to insights in three specific ways. From the employee’s perspective, the platform helps to reduce the time it takes to find and access datasets through its intuitive web-based application. It also helps to cut down the time it takes to prepare that data for analysis by providing a series of guided steps that help users clean and qualify that data for their specific purpose. Finally, for information technology teams, the platform helps optimize data delivery by eliminating much of the back-and-forth querying that occurs when users struggle to access data in a comprehensible format.

Stewart Bond, research director for International Data Corp.’s Data Integration Software service, said Talend’s platform helps employees become more engaged in the data stewardship process.

“Most companies know, at least anecdotally, that poor quality data wastes time, increases costs, weakens decision making, angers customers, and makes it more difficult to execute any sort of data strategy,” Bond said. “Integrated, accessible, trustworthy and protected data is helping companies find new routes to market, remain competitive and drive growth.”

Talend said its Data Preparation Cloud is available in preview starting today.

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