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Solve your complex data needs with composable architecture

Published on October 9, 2024

Elizabeth Weddle

Whether your company is considering switching your ESP, customer engagement platform, or packaged CDP, the idea of changing martech providers is enough to give even the most seasoned data, IT, and marketing teams nightmares. Sure, you know your current system isn’t perfect – far from it – but the hassle of switching is time-consuming, messy, and anything but straightforward. Sometimes, sticking with the devil you know seems a whole lot safer.

But let’s challenge that. Below, we tackle the most common objections to making a martech switch – probably some of the same ones running through your head right now. By the end, you’ll see how directly connecting to your data can completely transform your brand’s marketing and data strategies. And it doesn’t have to be super painful. 

1. Everyone says they connect to my data, but no one actually does.

It’s frustrating when every platform claims the same thing but delivers… well, not much. MessageGears is built differently. We don’t copy your data to some overcrowded multi-tenant cloud. Instead, we sit directly on top of your existing data infrastructure. Our platform is installed behind your firewall and plugs right into your data warehouse – or wherever your data lives.

A bit skeptical? We know sometimes you’ve got to see it to believe it. That’s why we offer a custom demo tailored to your brand’s data requirements, so you can see the magic for yourself.

2. Won’t connecting directly to my data hike up costs?

Not at all. Most legacy platforms are loaded with hidden costs: the time and money it takes to get your data into their system, the manpower it takes to create and maintain complex data pipelines, and the hefty fees for storing and managing duplicate data in multiple places. With MessageGears, those costs drop fast because:

  • No more endless shuffling of data between systems
  • Less duplicative data storage
  • Fewer dedicated IT resources needed to support data management
  • Fewer headaches from data errors caused by constant back-and-forth transfers
  • Your data stays right where it belongs – in your warehouse, not ours

When the team at OpenTable switched from their legacy cloud-based ESP and CDP to MessageGears and connected MessageGears directly to Snowflake, they slashed their martech spend by 50%. That’s a serious saving – so much so that they were able to hire new team members and focus on new areas of opportunity.

3. Will connecting directly to the data create friction between IT and marketing?

Actually, it does the opposite. Traditional customer engagement tools are remote from the source of customer data. This forces marketing teams to rely on IT to handle the mountain of data requests they need to get campaigns out the door. The bottlenecks and backlogs can be endless.

MessageGears changes that. Instead of data being siloed and remote, our platform connects directly to your data source, so IT stays in control while marketing gets the access they need – without the constant tug-of-war. This way, marketing can focus on campaigns, IT can tackle bigger business priorities, and everyone stays in their lane. No friction, just flow.

4. Won’t we have to babysit a direct data solution with a bunch of permissions and logins?

Actually, no. Direct data access lightens IT’s workload by cutting out the need to constantly move massive amounts of data around and fulfill marketing requests every time an audience needs to be adjusted. IT can set data permissioning from the start, defining which data the marketing team can tap into. Once that’s in place, marketers can self-serve for audience segmentation. The marketing team never changes the data; they just read off of it as it is. So IT stays in control – no chaotic data free-for-all. Everything’s tight, organized, accessible, and secure.

And with this full control over your data and infrastructure, you’re no longer stuck relying on third parties to keep things runs smoothly during high-traffic crunch times. 

Just ask Expedia. After switching to MessageGears, they saw a 50% reduction in IT involvement with marketing campaigns, leading to faster execution, smoother collaboration across departments, and freeing up tech resources for bigger priorities.

5. Our data isn’t perfect. We’d have to change too much to work with MessageGears.

Nope. Nobody’s data is perfect! Investing in a modern data platform is one of the best ROI and cost-effective moves your brand can make. MessageGears is built to work with your data as-is, without forcing you into a long and expensive data overhaul.

The complexity that comes with managing and copying your data to multiple vendors is a huge barrier to getting anything meaningful done. MessageGears works with your data warehouse, so instead of wrestling with systems, you can focus on analyzing and using your data for what it’s meant for – remarkable marketing. 

Not ready to dive in all at once? No problem. We can develop a customized crawl, walk, run strategy, so you can move toward a composable architecture at your own pace.  You don’t need to rip and replace everything on day one.

6. We’ve got too many custom reports and configurations to switch.

Migrating from a legacy system can feel overwhelming. We get it. Years of processes, file uploads, data extracts, custom queries, proprietary scripting, IP reputations, SMS code migrations, templates, and automations – it can seem impossible to untangle and move.

But here’s the good news: MessageGears doesn’t lock you into predefined, rigid schemas, so transitioning campaigns is as simple as using your data in its existing format. With real-time access to all your customer insights, you can start leveraging advanced segmentation and dynamic content without disrupting your existing processes.

We’ll guide you through the process step by step, with clear timelines and measures of success, migrating even your most complex campaigns, just to prove how easy it is. 

7. We’re growing fast. Can MessageGears handle our scale?

Absolutely. You need a platform that can keep pace with your growth. MessageGears’ schema-less solution scales effortlessly, breaking down large, complex sends into smaller, manageable batches that are dynamically distributed across our infrastructure.

With efficient bulk message processing, every data payload is optimized for smooth delivery, and our scalable mail transfer agents (MTAs) ensure your campaigns land in inboxes exactly when they need to. Whether you’re sending to thousands or millions, MessageGears handles it all without breaking a sweat.

💡Related: How MessageGears scales to meet demand

8. Why wouldn’t I just stick with an all-in-one marketing cloud?

Sure, it’s tempting to go with those big-name, all-in-one systems. But for many of them, message sending wasn’t their core strength from the start. Instead, most of these platforms were pieced together through acquiring different messaging solutions, leaving you with a patchwork of tools that attempt – and promise – to do everything.

And the integration between their tools is nowhere near as seamless as you’d hope. For enterprise brands, they can take up to five years to fully implement, and you’re often stuck paying for tools that don’t always work well together.

MessageGears’ composable architecture gets you up and running in days, not years. While legacy platforms have their strengths, they’re often overcomplicated, requiring multiple, highly skilled users to accomplish basic tasks. They weren’t designed to be your single source of truth for messaging – and it shows.

Find a cross-channel solution tailored to your needs

Large enterprise brands don’t fit neatly into the all-in-one model. With massive data requirements and the need to scale across every channel, you need a customer engagement platform that’s built for your unique challenges. 

At MessageGears, we’ve guided countless enterprise brands through this journey, whether it’s switching CDPs or embracing a fully composable cross-channel strategy. Our team works closely with you to identify the best approach for your tech stack and data needs.

From event collection and audience segmentation to data activation and deployment, we’re here to help you manage customer data smarter and drive marketing results. Ready to see it in action? A customer demo is just a click away. Let’s work together to explore a better way to manage customer data and maximize your marketing impact.

Elizabeth Weddle Director, Product Marketing

Elizabeth Weddle has a proven track record of driving brand awareness and increasing customer engagement for both B2B and B2C organizations. With over 10 years of experience as a proven product marketing professional, Elizabeth excels in both strategy and execution.

As Director of Product Marketing at MessageGears, she obsesses over customer problems and helps the team find creative ways to solve them. She is highly adept at building and managing cross-functional teams, fostering collaboration, and delivering exceptional results.