Self-Service for data is not a new concept. Even in the early 2000s, companies have struggled with giving “power users” or “information workers” access to data to develop value-based insights. One of my past customers had a simple as a web page with hundreds of CSV formatted data extracts that people could “self-service data” based […]
Data Architecture: 2.5 Types of Modern Data Integration Tools
As we move into the modern cloud data architecture era, enterprises are deploying 2 primary classes of data integration tools to handle the traditional ETL and ELT use cases. The first type of Data integration tool is GUI-Based Data Integration solutions. Talend, Infosphere Datastage, Informatica, and Matillion are good examples. These tools leverage a UI […]
EDW in the Cloud TCO
In 2016, when I did my first in-depth comparison, the resulting TCOs were usually very close. Usually, the OpEx was slightly higher for the cloud TCO versus the on-prem TCO required substantial capital investment. However, our most recent estimate was eye-opening to our client. We were assessing a green-field implementation for a Data Warehouse at […]
Data Lakes, Not Just For Analytics Anymore
Data Lakes have been around since the early part of this decade as most Fortune 500 companies have a Data Lake or are building a Data Lake. The drive to lake data has predominately been driven by analytical use cases where Data Scientists can wrangle and prepare data for their study or model building. However, […]
Dorothy in the Land of Big Data
Big Data is one of the enabling technologies for companies to digitally transform either their operations and/or customer interactions. However the open source world can be complicated, especially in the red hot Big Data arena. There are a myriad of technologies; some compete with one another, others overlap, some are complementary, and worse of all, […]
Hadoop, Spark, Cassandra, Oh My!
Previously, I reviewed why Spark will not by itself replace Hadoop, but Spark combined with other data storage and resource management technologies creates other options for managing Big Data. Today we will investigate how an enterprise should proceed in this new, “Hadoop is not the only option” world. Hadoop, Spark, Cassandra, Oh My! Open source Hadoop and […]
Spark Gathers More Momentum
Yesterday, IBM threw its weight behind Spark. This announcement is significant because it is a leading indicator of a transition from IT-focused Big Data efforts to business-driven analytics and Big Data investments. If you are interested in learning more about this announcement and what it means in the bigger picture, I wrote a blog entry on our […]
IBM’s Spark Investment is Evidence Big Data is Dead
Right after I posted my blog on Spark and Hadoop, I came across this article. IBM made a big announcement that they are putting their weight behind Spark. They are committing more than 3,500 developers and programmers to help move Spark forward. This combined with significant support from the Big 3 Hadoop distributors (HortonWorks, Cloudera, […]
Will Spark Replace Hadoop?
I have seen a number of articles asking the question of whether Apache Spark will replace Hadoop. This is the wrong question! It is like asking if your your DVD player will replace your entire home theater system, which is pretty absurd. Just like a home theatre system has many components, a TV or Projector, a Receiver, […]
Leveraging Your Oracle Resources for Big Data Value
As companies transform their businesses to be data-driven and leverage the benefits of Big Data, they quickly realizing that lack of Big Data centric data scientists and wranglers is blocking their value attainment. One of the limiting factors in Big Data resources, are the skills that have typically been required to leverage Big Data. Java and […]
Change is in the Air
The strategy is complete, implementation of the mobile application and analytical system is finished, data scientists are providing useful analytical research. But is your enterprise getting the value out of your digital transformation investments? A company’s culture, people, and business processes usually provide the largest barrier to realizing the value from digital investments. Yes, we […]
Data Quality – Don’t Fix It If It Ain’t Broke
What is broke? If I drive a pickup truck around that has a small, unobtrusive crack in the windshield and a few dings in the paint, it will still pull a boat and haul a bunch of lumber from Home Depot. Is the pickup broke if it still meets my needs? So, when is data […]