In today's fast-paced business landscape, organizations are struggling to keep up with the ever-increasing amount of data they generate, with Gartner predicting that 80% of organizations will fail to scale their digital business by 2025. To address this challenge, businesses are considering either building or buying a data integration approach. Organizations can leverage multiple solutions such as embracing data fabrics, focusing on DataOps, and amplifying their data integration processes. A reliable data access layer is crucial for propelling business forward, democratizing data, and enabling data-driven decisions throughout the organization. When choosing between building or buying a data access layer, organizations should consider factors such as streamlining development, taking action in real-time, being future-proof, benefiting everyone equally, and introducing universal compatibility across all data touchpoints. With the long-term costs of in-house custom builds often outweighing the benefits, specialized data integration providers like CData Drivers offer high-performing standards-based solutions that can simplify the journey towards making diverse tools work together.