Deriving value from analytics requires organizations to prepare data for use, but today’s explosion of data volumes, types and sources makes this challenging. Moreover, information must be placed in an operational context to be acted upon. Because current integration methods cannot address all these needs, the results often are inflexible systems and data sprawl. Now, though, data preparation tools are available that enable virtualized access to multiple data sources, making it possible to deliver information promptly and in the appropriate contexts.