Regarding using SSIS to acquire data the ease is only proportional to the cooperation of the upstream provider and the immediacy of the data is only as valid as the process that provides it. It has taken 3+ years to create a working relationship with our upstream provider and the politics were much more important (and Machivalian). Also theirs is a 'data warehouse' and created each nigh such that the data is actually 24+ hours old when we get it. It is good to remember that politics sometimes trumps technical priorities.