What is Data Extraction? Here is What You Need to Know

Data extraction is the process of pulling information from physical documents, PDFs, customer profiles, social and media blogs, etc., and is an easy way to perform competitive analysis. Even today, a large number of companies perform manual data processing which is both time-consuming and error-prone. On the other hand, with automated data extraction software, this processing time can be reduced significantly with improved accuracy making data organization easier. Text extracts from documents can be stored electronically, shared online, or saved in various file formats for future analysis.

What is data extraction?

Data extraction is the process of retrieving information from a variety of documents. Companies extract data from sources for the purpose of processing and analyzing it. Most CEOs spend over 20% of their time manually entering data into systems and reviewing operational information, with these being processes which could be entirely automated.

The meaning of extraction is to pull key information from documents and process it for business, personal, financial, or legal purposes. Many open-source text detection software are available in the industry, however, Docsumo stands out as a leader since it uses AI and intelligent OCR technology for automated text detection and extraction.

Why a company needs to extract data

Data extraction is one of the many responsibilities organizations face in order to derive insights from data, look for patterns in business operations, and meet legal regulatory requirements.

‘What is an extract? Put simply, it is a short excerpt taken from a whole piece of information. When you extract a passage or certain key bits of information, these are referred to as extracts.

Extracting data from physical documents and storing it electronically makes it convenient to index and get them crawled by search engines. For businesses trying to create an online presence or improve their SEO, digitizing files is a great way to rank higher in SERPs. Make sure to use an SEO tool if you are trying to enhance your SEO performance for your business.

Below is a comparison of manual vs automated data extraction.

	Manual Data Entry	Automated Data Entry
Volume	Cannot process huge volumes of information in seconds and faces bottlenecks in customer responsiveness.	Faster customer response times due to rapid processing of huge volumes of information.
Initial Cost	Hiring employees by the hour is cheaper when it comes to manual data extraction but long-term costs grow substantially.	Initial cost of investment is high but long-term pay off is guaranteed.
Processing	Data has to be fact-checked, verified, validated, and made sure it is error-free. Any mistakes made such as duplication or wrong extracts make it mandatory to reprocess documents.	No reprocessing is needed since all information entered by the system is automatically verified and validated using historical models.
Human Intervention	Data entry clerks have to learn and adapt to the structure of different documents. They have an initial learning curve when it comes to data extraction and limited speed.	AI and smart machine learning algorithms adapt to file structures and learn automatically. No human intervention is needed for automated data extraction and the speed of processing is fast.
Accuracy	The error rate in Manual data extraction can vary from 3% to 30%.	Automated data extraction can yield an accuracy rate up to 99.7% consistently.

Other benefits of relying on automated data extraction for businesses are:

1. Attracts More Customers

Users trust companies that are legitimate and know how to handle customer data. When a company extracts data, organizes, processes, and stores it efficiently on their systems, it makes information retrieval easier. Using customer feedback tools ensures the confidentiality and privacy of users by managing their information properly and forwards it to them whenever they request it.

2. Meet Legal Compliance

Data extraction and document processing are required by insurance companies, investors, and clients in order to meet legal compliance standards. Digital documents can be searched, archived, and stored as electronic records for safe record keeping any time. The information presented in these documents undergoes validation and by ensuring legal compliance, they are thoroughly audited and pass reviews seamlessly.

Why you should consider automated data extraction

You should consider automated data extraction because:

1. It eliminates human errors

Automating repetitive tasks by using data extractor technology and software can help businesses in eliminating human error during data entry. Businesses make good decisions based on the accuracy of the data being processed and by eliminating human error, you ensure greater chances of long-term success.‍

2. Improves efficiency

Companies spend more on employees by making them do mundane or repetitive tasks via data entry which could be automated. By using data extraction software, ELT tool, web scraping, or automation workflows, you let your employees become more productive at work.This increases the organization’s overall efficiency and streamlines business operations as a result. ‍

3. Saves critical time

There is not just enough time in the day to process thousands of documents by hand when it comes to extracting and logging in information. Document extraction software and automation makes document processing take just minutes, prevents downtimes/delays, and gets business processes running smoother. There is no confusion in data entry, mismatches, or any need for going back and reviewing the data since everything is automated.‍

4. Download and share in different file formats

The extracted data can be stored and saved in different file formats. Data extraction and automation technology makes it convenient to structure data and save as EXCEL, JSON, CSV, and various file formats.

Conclusion

Data extraction goes hand-in-hand with data integration and makes it convenient to store, consolidate, and ensure the integrity of data from a centralized location. It is the first step in ETL processes and its technology is used worldwide by leading organizations for business intelligence and analysis reasons.

Are you new to automated data extraction? Get a free demo with Docsumo and learn how it works today.

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Suggested Case Study

Automating Portfolio Management for Westland Real Estate Group

The portfolio includes 14,000 units across all divisions across Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Inland Empire.

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Written by

Ritu John

Ritu is a seasoned writer and digital content creator with a passion for exploring the intersection of innovation and human experience. As a writer, her work spans various domains, making content relatable and understandable for a wide audience.