Earlier this month, I kicked off a series of blogs about SQLite. The first looked at the advantages that SQLite offers over both flat files and the heavier lift of an enterprise-grade SQL databases – and it does offer distinct advantages over both. To a point. And that point was five years ago. Here's…
Database Historians...History? Why a modern time-series capable database can simplify yet enhance time-series data analysis. Despite the professorial image the term suggests, a data historian is not an instructor or researcher, but a purpose-build software solution. And evolutions in how operational data is used and managed have eclipsed the need for data historian software…
Why Performance Matters My very first sales call to an analytics prospect was with a customer using an OLTP database for reporting. Some of their reports took hours to run and one particularly challenging report typically ran for more than thirteen hours. Our performance benchmarking had shown that for analytics workloads, Actian would be…
Customer loyalty is the key to profitability in the telecom industry. Because telecom providers manage large fixed infrastructures that must be offset by revenue, customer churn (attrition) is particularly problematic in this industry. Low switching costs for customers (supported by government regulations) mean that customer loyalty is the only real tool that telecom companies…
In December, January, and February, I posted a short series of blogs on Flat file systems. The series of blogs focus on the continued use of flat files and why they are no longer viable for use in the future. The first installment focused on flat files and why embedded software application developers readily adopted…
Having a lot of data available to you is a good thing, right? That depends. Data is a raw material, like a mineral mined from the ground. It contains a potential for creating value, but that potential is only realized through refinement. Your company produces a lot of data every day (every second really).…
Digital transformation has drastically expanded the use of operational systems, IoT, and other technologies within companies' business processes. This is a good thing. It means that end-users, whether they be employees, partners, or customers, are more productive. The introduction of modern operational technologies and integrating them into business processes is only the first step…
If you want your business to be agile, you need to be leveraging real-time data. The environments that your businesses operate in are changing faster than ever – new competition in the marketplace, regulatory changes; operational issues; and new technology advancements are only the tip of the iceberg. If you want to survive and…
A few months ago, Gartner published an update on the database market, which is highlighted in Adam Ronthal’s blog “There is only One DBMS Market” and made a rather profound declaration – the database markets have collapsed. No, the market isn't crashing, it is having the best year ever, what has happened is the…
Selecting the best location for your analytics compute poses an interesting dilemma leading to thoughtful debate in some companies while others don't even consider the topic. If you're dealing with distributed systems, embedded sensors in machinery, mobile apps, or IoT devices, this topic is for you! Where you locate compute resources for analytics has…
This is the final installment on the series of blogs I wrote on the continued use of flat files and why they are no longer viable for use in the future. The first installment focused on flat files and why embedded software application developers readily adopted them. Then in the second installment, I discussed why embedded…
Social relationships hold a wealth of information about your customers, employees, and suppliers that (if you have the tools to harness them) can provide you valuable insights about the factors that influence behaviors that ultimately impact your bottom line. The challenge with analyzing and visualizing social relationships is that the underlying data doesn't match…
Customer churn is a big concern for the sales and marketing teams. It is far easier (and cheaper) to keep your current customers happy than it is to acquire new customers. But how happy are your customers? Do you really know? Leveraging a connected data warehouse to develop a 360-degree view of your customers…
How Avalanche and DataConnect work together to deliver an end-to-end data management solution Migrating to a cloud data warehouse makes strategic sense in the modern context of cloud services and digital transformation. Operationally, connecting disparate data sources into your cloud data warehouse, managing ongoing change in your IT environment, and delivering on the promises…
Checklist: Critical Capabilities to Consider when Selecting a Data Integration Vendor That Enables Real-Time Analytics Use Cases Migrating to a cloud data warehouse makes strategic sense in the modern context of cloud services and digital transformation. Operationally, connecting disparate data sources into your cloud data warehouse, managing ongoing change in your IT environment, and…
Technology is continually changing and determining the right time to upgrade and modernize can be tricky. If you adopt new technology too soon, this may result in churn within your organization and the implementation of immature solutions that may not meet your needs. If you wait too long, you miss out on market opportunities…
