Most enterprises evolve along with their gradual development during the informatization process. The long journey and time span have led to the purchase of various software by enterprises in different periods and under different cost considerations. It's resulting in the inability to interoperate data, unify processes, and even the emergence of technological discontinuity. After accumulating to a certain degree, a number of data islands have formed within the enterprise. Enterprise softwares may fall into a quagmire of unmaintainability, a phenomenon known as the 'chimney effect'.

To address this challenge, ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) technology emerged. It integrates various forms of datasources from enterprises through a range of adapters. ETL cleans and transforms them, and then provides them to data warehouses or data mid-platforms for further analysis, calculation, and mining. This eliminates data islands and enables historical data to generate greater value.