big data

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Why the Data Warehouse Is Here to Stay

Why the Data Warehouse Is Here to Stay 768 487 Exist Software Labs

The buzzword has been “digital transformation” and the phrase continues to announce the importance of leveraging new technology as the catalyst of improvement in the enterprise. New ways of doing things have been introduced and this is no less apparent in how data is now collected and used for business intelligence and analytics.

The advent of Big Data many years ago brought about huge excitement in these areas. The recognition that there is more data to be collected and used in the enterprise saw the emergence of technologies that facilitated the ingestion of all types of data, their storage in distributed file systems, the ability to scale out easily to accommodate more data, and the various means of getting at this data. But there was a problem.

While the ability to capture and store all types of data, including unstructured data, seemed to be the panacea, it became immediately apparent that:

  • Most business data is structured   
  • Everybody knows SQL
  • The relational model is popular
  • Dimensional modeling works

While it is true that the Big Data “data lake” has the potential of opening up more insights due to the volume and variety of data, real-world use cases have shown that actionable data almost always came in the form of SQL-interfaced, relational data. And this is why the Data Warehouse never really went away.

But the modern data warehouse is a vastly different animal than the traditional data warehouse of years gone by. For a data warehousing platform to be called modern and a true agent of digital transformation, it must have the following attributes:

  • Support any data locality (local disk, Hadoop, private and public cloud data.)
  • In-database advanced analytics.
  • Ability to handle native data types such as spatial, time-series and/or text.
  • Ability to run new analytical workloads including machine learning, geospatial, graph and text analytics.
  • Deployment agnostic including on-premises, private and public cloud.
  • Query optimization for big data.
  • Complex query formation.
  • Massively parallel processing based on the model, not just sharding.
  • Workload management.
  • Load balancing.
  • Scaling to thousands of simultaneous queries.
  • Full ANSI SQL and beyond.
  • MPP data warehouse able to run seamlessly on-premises, public or private clouds, with a much-expanded mission from previous designs.
  • Primarily based on open source projects with strong communities behind them.
  • Supporting both data science computation and preservation and publishing of data science models.
  • In-database analytics and data science libraries. The alternative is running machine learning algorithms against Hadoop or cloud repositories, but needing to move results to another platform for further analysis and presentation (visualization, dimensional models for scenario planning, etc.)
  • Able to support cost-based query optimizations on polymorphic data, while delaying analysis of the data structure until runtime. 1

As you can see, a Hadoop Big Data implementation and the modern Data Warehouse, combined, can become the all-encompassing data platform and single source of truth of an enterprise.

With that said, the best open source-based, modern data warehousing platform in the digital landscape today is Pivotal Greenplum.

pivotalgreenplumarchi

In a succeeding blog post, we will discuss the many features that make Pivotal Greenplum the best data platform for data-driven digital transformation.

 

Notes:
1  Neil Raden, The Data Warehouse in the Age of Digital Transformation

 

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8 Most Impactful Tech Breakthroughs throughout 2010s – Part 1

8 Most Impactful Tech Breakthroughs throughout 2010s – Part 1 768 487 Exist Software Labs

The 2010s somehow fueled the fastest technological evolution by far. It is a leeway to the rise, and fall of some of the most ground-breaking technologies. We have witnessed the digital world cementing a whole new ground atop the one we had walked on in prior decades.

Despite its backlashes, we cannot deny that it phenomenally transitioned different lenses that we revolve around; social, political, economic, cultural, and etcetera. Buckle up as we take a recap on some of the most significant technological upgrades that occurred within the just concluded decade.

The previous decade kicked-off with promising innovations that were still at its infancy. These innovations took a little time but bloomed into the market around the 2010s, big time! Perhaps, most people can even say that it is almost unimaginable to take it away from the current lifestyle.

Smartphones

It is everywhere, right? People of all ages got one at hand acquiring it for different purposes. But for most, smartphones have been a necessity. The history of smartphones goes back to the ’90s with IBM’s Simon Personal Communicator. According to Textrequest.com, the touchscreen device was said to make its user “computer functional” as it offered functions like e-mail, fax, and predictive typing. Simon was indeed ahead of its time and inspired the rest of the technology world to adapt.

There have been more attempts to popularize smartphones. But it was not until Apple’s introduction of its first-ever iPhone when it finally made it happen. It sold millions of units within just one (1) year. From this point on, smartphone units by different companies came out one after another and kept on getting better every time. As of now, Apple and Samsung are leading the pack, but other brands are also coping up at a fast pace.

Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube; these are just some of the platforms that became a huge part of our everyday lives. But how it made an impact on a personal level is just a portion of how it changed the world, holistically speaking. Even the biggest of big entities join the social matrix wherein they see to it that employees, customers, clients, partners, and other networks alike are reached out through different social media platforms. It also opened the door for business opportunities with the introduction of virtual market places and social media marketing.

Social media also forged the way to faster information dissemination. We see real-time updates and can promptly respond to it. The latest news is always out there, both fake and legit making it a double-edged sword for its users. On one end, it raises awareness, informs, and warns people, but it also spreads hoax like a wildfire.

Big Data

The term “big data” is nothing new to our world. It appeared in passages although used in a different context than what we know of today.

The world shifting into a digital one is the strongest booster of big data technology. Nowadays, almost everything involves data gathering. A nanosecond amounts to billions of data. However, big data is most effective with advanced analytics. Otherwise, it is just a pile of information that might or might not serve its value.

Internet of Things (IoT)

From businesses to households, smart devices have been conquering all possible corners. Where the internet is, smart devices go as well. IoT directly uploads bits of data to the net even in the absence of human interference. Imagine that. For some, it poses security threats. But regardless of what its original purpose is, we cannot deny that it aids in minimizing human effort.

With this at hand, we could say that the growth in the production of smart devices equates to bigger data. Therefore, big data tools are highly significant to IoT, whereas big data systems need volumes of structured or unstructured data for its analyses. These two are complementary; one works better with the other.

Artificial Intelligence

“Artificial intelligence” has been a long-buzzing area of interest. It is the creation of systems to replicate human activities. Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant are perhaps the most digestible examples of AI in action. The rise of voice assistants is one step towards the full employment of AI, as seen in the growing investments in the said field. After being one of the most anticipated technologies for a long while, we could finally say that AI is on its way to its prime.

Cloud-Native Technology

Here is another bummer tech in the 2010s. Cloud-native platforms have been working behind the curtains but are among the most important upgrades in this age of digitization.

Cloud-native applications mainly promote portability, reliability, and speed. Because of this, one can work off-site with no hassle; systems are running at maximum speed thus providing a faster process. It has been winning over on-premise business management and will most definitely impose dominance in no time. 

Businesses most likely experience the benefits of moving to cloud-native applications. An IBM research published in 2018 shows that corporations plan to move 75 percent of its non-cloud applications to cloud within three (3) years. This only suggests that utilizing cloud-native technology is becoming a priority for enterprises.

Mobile Payment

The market welcomed this system with open arms. The soft cash has become more preferred than actual money. With mobile devices everywhere, it quickly earned its merits. It is a fast and convenient method of transaction, so why not?

Ride-Sharing/E-Hailing

A system that allows a person to earn extra from a personal vehicle and offering a ride to someone who needs one is a Win-Win scenario. The transportation industry had a huge progression with the rise of car-sharing. It did not solely provide convenience to its users but also aided in other automotive-related problems such as parking spaces and traffic.

There may be more innovations that earned names for themselves in the past decade. But the ones mentioned in this list had an immense impact on our everyday lives and still got some room to venture in for the coming years. In the second part of this series, we will be diving into how these technologies might grow even bigger in the coming years.

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Software Innovation CEO to Stage Data Warehousing, Big Data on IT for Renewable Energy Tech Forum

Software Innovation CEO to Stage Data Warehousing, Big Data on IT for Renewable Energy Tech Forum 768 487 Exist Software Labs

Having paved the way for digital transformation in the local power and energy sector, EXIST Software Labs, Inc. continues its message of business profitability through information technology by being one of the key participants in the “Information Technology for Renewable Energy (IT for RE) Technical Forum”. The event is organized by the Department of Energy (DOE) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), to be held on September 12, 2019, at The Legend Villas, Mandaluyong City.

Mr. Mike Lim, CEO and president of EXIST, will be speaking on the topic of “Data Warehousing VS. Big Data”. The talk will shed light on the importance of business intelligence and how these two enabling technologies could catalyze further innovation in the nation’s power and energy sector.

“The presentation is about data warehousing and big data: how they are different from each other, when to use one over the other, and when both can be used in certain situations. The audience can expect to know what data warehousing is, what big data is, and how it is used in real-world scenarios,” Mr. Lim explains.

According to the CEO, the audience will be given the tools and categories to better appreciate the data that they have and decide which of the two approaches, or even combined, would best suit their needs. A discussion on how other power and energy organizations have adopted these technologies would then fill out the picture.

“They will learn when to transition to a Data Warehouse or when to transition to a Big Data stack depending on certain situations that can be driven either by business or by the amount of data that they have. The audience will be able to decide, especially in the renewable energy sector, if they will now be more open to applying big data to their organization. I will also present some real-world use cases in both our region and other regions so they would have more appreciation of the technology.”

As a veteran of the digital transformation speaking circuit, Mr. Lim expressed gratitude for being given the opportunity to represent EXIST Software Labs, Inc. in this event. 

“As a software company, it is a privilege to be able to share our thoughts, our knowledge, our experience to organizations like DOE. The bottom line is how we as a company can provide real business value to DOE concerning technology and how this translates to more clear, real-time and faster decision making. Being able to be part of that process is a highlight in our organization. As I said, it is a privilege. It means that we are living up to our purpose as a software technology company by contributing to the nation’s progress through the advancement of appropriate technologies. It is a big milestone for us,” he asserts upon concluding the interview.

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Exist to Present Value of Blockchain at the Philippine ITO/BPO Seminar & Networking in Tokyo

Exist to Present Value of Blockchain at the Philippine ITO/BPO Seminar & Networking in Tokyo 768 487 Exist Software Labs

Manila, Philippines – Exist, a global consulting and IT solutions leader, is set to participate at the Philippine ITO/BPO Trade and Investment Seminar & Networking in Tokyo, for the second consecutive year.

Led by the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) and supported by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and Department of Trade and Industry Export Marketing Bureau (DTI-EMB), this year’s Philippine ITO/BPO Trade and Investment Seminar & Networking in Tokyo will be held on May 8 at the Osaki Bright Core Hall in Osaki, Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan.

The event, which will gather more than 100 decision makers from Japan’s technology firms, aims to raise awareness about the Philippines as a software and ITO hub for Japanese requirements, and provide a networking venue between potential Japanese clients and providers from the Philippines.

During the seminar, Exist president and CEO Michael Lim will present the value of blockchain in various industries in his talk entitled “Understanding Blockchain and its Business Benefits.”

“As a country, Japan’s widespread use of cryptocurrency is above almost everybody else but people need to understand that the technology that underpins it — blockchain, has much to offer beyond just finance”, reveals Michael Lim. “Given our experience with Exist and our clients, we hope to shed light on how valuable a technology blockchain can be — for retail, manufacturing, logistics and other industries.”

At the event, Exist will showcase its full cycle software development capabilities, its product offerings — Medcurial Healthcare Solution, Anahaw Retail Solution and Digital Banking Solution, as well as their technology expertise in Big Data, DevOps and Blockchain.

“We’re excited to return to Japan and continue the momentum we started in developing our market presence,” shares Michael. “And we’re looking forward to meet new and existing Japanese contacts who can benefit from our technology expertise to help them be better equipped to compete as they expand globally.”

Aside from the seminar, the event will also feature pre-arranged and walk-in one-on-one business matching meetings between participating Philippine IT-BPO companies and Japanese companies.

To reserve a meeting with the Exist team at the Philippine ITO/BPO Trade and Investment Seminar & Networking event, visit: www.exist.com/exist-japan-2018.