May 9, 2023 Embedded Databases Everywhere: Top 3 IoT Use Cases The rise of edge computing is fueling demand for embedded devices for Internet of Things (IoT). IoT describes physical objects with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communications networks. Diverse technologies such as real-time data analytics, machine learning,… Read More
April 25, 2023 Best Practices for Using Data to Optimize Your Supply Chain When a company is data-driven, it makes strategic decisions based on data analysis and interpretation rather than mere intuition. A data-driven approach to supply chain management is the key to building a strong supply chain, one that’s efficient, resilient, and that can easily adapt to changing business conditions. How exactly you can best incorporate… Read More
March 23, 2023 Discover the Top 5 Data Quality Issues – And How to Fix Them! Poor quality data can lead to inaccurate insights, wasted resources, and decreased customer satisfaction. It is essential to ensure that all of your data is accurate and up-to-date to make the best decisions. Still, common issues and mistakes costs organizations millions of dollars annually in lost revenue opportunities and resource productivity. Thankfully, these pitfalls… Read More
March 20, 2023 What Makes a Great Machine Learning Platform? Machine learning is a type of artificial intelligence that provides machines the ability to automatically learn from historical data to identify patterns and make predictions. Machine learning implementation can be complex and success hinges on using the right integration, management, and analytics foundation. The Avalanche Cloud Data Platform is an excellent choice for deploying… Read More
March 17, 2023 Data Analytics for Supply Chain Managers If you haven’t already seen Astrid Eira’s article in FinancesOnline, “14 Supply Chain Trends for 2022/2023: New Predictions To Watch Out For”, I highly recommend it for insights into current supply chain developments and challenges. Eira identifies analytics as the top technology priority in the supply chain industry, with 62% of organizations reporting limited… Read More
February 17, 2022 Does Your Organization Have A Data Platform Leader? It Could Soon. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for a modern data platform, and there likely never will be with the proliferation of multiple public and private cloud environments, entrenched on-premises data centers, and the exponential rise in edge computing – data sources are multiplying almost at the rate of data itself. Today’s data platforms increasingly take a… Read More
February 3, 2022 Engineered Decision Intelligence: The Best Way Forward Part 2 Part 2: You Need Composable Data and Analytics In my first blog on engineered decision intelligence, I shared information about what this concept means and why you need it, and then I elaborated on the Gartner recommendation for pairing decision intelligence tools with a common data fabric. But there was a second piece of… Read More
November 17, 2021 Vector 6.2 Delivers Even Faster and More Secure Analytics Actian Vector is a vectorized columnar analytics database designed to deliver extreme performance with a high level of security. But who wouldn’t want analytics that are even faster and more secure? For those who do, the new Vector 6.2 release available on November 10, 2021 is a winner, continuing to push the limits of… Read More
November 9, 2021 Performance Testing Production Workloads for Ingres and Vector One of the main concerns of Ingres and Vector customers whose systems need to undergo a significant change, such as major version upgrades, OS migration, major software releases, increased volumes of usage, etc, is how to properly test the database under realistic conditions in a test environment. Some customers have heard of the Query,… Read More
August 1, 2021 The Top 10 Benefits of an Operational Data Warehouse For 2021 The previous blogs in this series discussed the top 5 pitfalls of traditional operational data warehouses and defined the Operational Data Warehouse (ODW) as a potential solution. Below is a list of my Top 10 desirable benefits of an effective ODW: Current. Continuous data updates via “micro-batches” or streamed singleton updates throughout the day… Read More
August 6, 2020 Machine Learning UDF’s in Avalanche, VectorH, and Vector – Creating UDF’s in Database – Part 2 In the first part of this two-part article, we created the model. In this installment, we will create the UDF’s in database. We can convert the model to Python, and I used m2cgen to transpile the sklearn model to Python model I will be making 3 types of UDF’s, Python UDF JavaScript UDF Saving… Read More
August 6, 2020 Machine Learning UDF’s in Avalanche, VectorH, and Vector – Introduction and Creating the Model – Part 1 Recently in Avalanche, VectorH 6.0, and Vector 6.0, Actian introduced a capability for Scalar user-defined functions (UDF’s). This has given Avalanche, VectorH, and Vector a new dimension to run Machine Learning (ML) models in Python and JavaScript within database. More about UDF’s can be found in our documentation. Model creation is simple with so… Read More
June 7, 2020 Actian Vector for Hadoop Enables Fuller SQL Functionality and More Current Data In this second of a three-part blog series (part 1), we'll explain how SQL execution in Actian Vector in Hadoop (VectorH) is much more functional and ready to run in an operational environment, and how the ability for VectorH to handle data updates efficiently can enable your production environment to stay current with the… Read More
June 5, 2020 Actian Vector for Hadoop File Format is Faster and More Efficient In this third and last part of the series on Actian Vector in Hadoop (VectorH), we will cover how the VectorH file format supports the performance and efficiency of our data analytics platform to accelerate business insights, as well as some of the other enterprise features that can help businesses move their Hadoop applications… Read More
April 24, 2020 Introducing Actian VectorH 6 Actian VectorH 6 Enables User Defined Functions, Machine Learning, Semi-Structured Data Support, and Enhancement of Workload Management Capabilities. Actian is pleased to announce the availability of Actian VectorH 6. This release includes new features, including User Defined Functions (UDFs), JSON Support, and Workload Management. This post provides an overview of some features that have… Read More
March 27, 2019 Understand Customer Buying Behavior To Improve Customer Targeting Imagine what you could do if you actually understood your customers’ buying behavior. You could predict future purchases, identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities and personalize messaging that would resonate and drive the behavior you desire. Instead of taking broad strokes to your marketing campaigns, you could focus on specific opportunities and pursue them more… Read More
February 19, 2019 Use real-time data to achieve better business optimization. Here’s how. With increasing competition in the marketplace and shrinking profit margins in many industries, companies are increasing looking for ways to achieve higher levels of business process optimization throughout their supply chain. This isn’t a new challenge, but it is one that has recently taken on greater importance with the acceleration of the speed of… Read More
March 2, 2022 Enterprise Data Warehouse Do you need a Data Warehouse or Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) in your organization today? Its functional units, people, services, and other organizational assets support the vision and mission of an organization. An organization can have strategies, tactics, and operational activities that are performed to meet the overall vision and mission of the organization… Read More
October 23, 2018 What is an Operational Data Warehouse and why is it the next big thing? Data warehouses have been around for decades, and have established themselves as reliable reporting systems with consistent value. They have also evolved into data marts, specialized appliances and EDW variants to meet emerging needs, but all of these solutions have their drawbacks when it comes to meeting today’s business demands. Some of the common… Read More
January 12, 2018 Integrating Python with Vector or Actian X Introduction Today we're going to look at how to get started with Actian Vector, our high-performance in-memory analytics database, and Python, one of the most oft-used languages by data scientists in recent times. Using the techniques below, you'll be able to get started with Python using Vector ODBC and JDBC. (You'll be able to use… Read More
December 27, 2017 High-Performance Realtime-Analytics on Hadoop Data The Challenge I have spent many years working with Actian's customers on database solutions and thought it'd be useful to discuss a recent customer experience at a large media company (I will call it "XYZCo"). This experience is similar to what I continue to see with other customers and the lessons learned apply to… Read More
November 21, 2017 Announcing Actian Vector – Community Edition support for Mac OS X via Docker We’re pleased to announce that Actian Vector 5.0 Community Edition now includes support for Mac OS X via Docker. Over the last few years Mac OS X has become increasingly popular with Developers, as has Docker, the virtualization platform that allows you to bundle applications along with their native OS and run them in… Read More
May 4, 2016 Pssst .. Have you heard about VectorH? Hello World! We’ve been busy building some innovative features into the Actian Vector in Hadoop (VectorH) product and we would love to tell you all about them. So, the list of the features and innovations that we have done recently for VectorH… wait .. do you even know what VectorH is about? Yes, it’s… Read More
September 5, 2014 An Analytical Mind: A Smart Interview with Peter Boncz on Vector Processing Known as the Father of Vector Database Processing, Peter Boncz is the Senior Research Scientist at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), Professor at VU University Amsterdam, and Chief Technical Advisor to Actian Corporation, the first company to assemble an end-to-end big data analytics platform that runs natively on Hadoop. He architected two breakthrough database… Read More
September 7, 2022 The Data Challenges of Telemetry Telemetry is the automated communications process by which measurements are made and data collected at remote points. The data is then transmitted to receiving equipment for monitoring. The word ‘telemetry’ is derived from Greek roots: tele = remote, and metron = measure. Telemetry is not a new concept, that’s for sure. We’ve been watching… Read More