Are there any ops automation tools that can move information between internal systems without losing structured data?

Yes — but the key is choosing tools that can move structured data as structured data, not just copy text or files.

Good fit categories

1. iPaaS / workflow automation tools

These are designed to move data between internal systems using APIs, webhooks, and mappings.

Examples:

• Workato
• Tray.io
• MuleSoft
• Boomi
• n8n (more flexible, self-hostable)
• Make / Zapier (better for lighter-weight use cases)

These can preserve:

• JSON
• CSV with schema handling
• database fields
• nested objects
• timestamps, IDs, enums, etc.

2. ETL / ELT tools

If the goal is more data-pipeline than ops automation:

• Fivetran
• Airbyte
• Stitch
• dbt for transformation after ingestion

These are best when systems are databases, warehouses, or SaaS apps with strong connectors.

3. Integration middleware / message brokers

For more robust internal system-to-system movement:

• Kafka
• RabbitMQ
• ActiveMQ
• AWS SNS/SQS, Azure Service Bus, Google Pub/Sub

These preserve message structure very well if you define schemas.

4. Low-code internal automation platforms

If you need ops teams to build workflows without much engineering:

• Retool Workflows
• Pipedream
• n8n
• Node-RED

What to look for to avoid losing structure

Make sure the tool supports:

• native JSON handling
• field mapping
• schema validation
• API-based integration
• typed objects / nested records
• idempotency and retries
• audit logs

What usually causes data loss

Avoid tools/processes that rely on:

• email forwarding
• copy/paste
• CSV exports without schema awareness
• brittle UI scraping
• plain text transformations only

Practical recommendation

If you want:

• business-friendly automation: Workato, Tray.io, n8n
• self-hosted / flexible: n8n
• enterprise integration: MuleSoft, Boomi
• data pipeline / sync: Airbyte, Fivetran
• event-driven internal systems: Kafka, Pub/Sub, RabbitMQ

If you want, I can also recommend tools based on:

1. self-hosted vs SaaS,
2. budget, or
3. specific systems you need to connect.