10 Big Data Management And Business Analytics Tools You Need To Know About

October 05, 2020, 04:53 PM EDT

Collecting, preparing, managing and analyzing ever-growing volumes of data continues to be a challenge for business and organizations. Here are 10 tools and platforms for gaining value from big data.

Big Data: Big Opportunities And Big Challenges

Digital transformation initiatives and becoming a data-driven organization go hand in hand. But data managers, data scientists and business analysts continue to wrestle with the challenge of deriving the value and insights they need from increasing volumes of data.

IT vendors continue to develop leading-edge data management and business analytics software – increasingly cloud-based to help businesses and organizations turn data into actionable insights. Here are 10 recently unveiled introduced big data products that solution providers should check out.

Alteryx Analytic Process Automation (APA) Platform

The Alteryx Analytic Process Automation (APA) Platform is an end-toend data science, machine-learning and analytics process automation system used by analysts and data scientists to prepare, blend, enrich and analyze data. Analytics Hub works with Alteryx APA to consolidate analytic assets into one system where they can be accessed and shared by data workers. Intelligence Suite, part of the Alteryx APA Platform 2020.2 update, works with Analytics Hub and Alteryx Designer to help users without a data science background build predictive models.

Cloudera Data Platform Private Cloud

Cloudera Data Platform Private Cloud extends the cloud-native speed, simplicity and economics of the Cloudera Data Platform and its data lifecycle capabilities to the data center. Built for hybrid cloud environments, Cloudera Data Platform Private Cloud helps IT management better meet the need for data access for analytics and machine-learning tasks while simplifying platform management with container-based management tools. Cloudera Data Platform Private Cloud can reduce data center costs by increasing server utilization by 70 percent while also reducing storage and data center overhead, according to the company.

CockroachCloud

CockroachCloud is a fully managed cloud instance of CockroachDB, the distributed relational database system developed by Cockroach Labs to support next-generation, cloud-native transactional applications. Released in beta in 2019, CockroachCloud became generally available this year on Amazon Web Services and the Google Cloud Platform. Cockroach Labs touts the easy scalability of CockroachCloud as well as its ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability)-compliant transaction and data geo-location capabilities.

Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud

Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud is a fully managed, cloud-native system that automates data workflows, provides visibility into data assets, ensures security and creates a streamlined way for business users to access and analyze trusted data. Collibra Data Intelligence Cloud is built on a microservices architecture for more easily enhancing data services or developing new ones. It also offers data scoring, which computes a data quality measure at the attribute level, and tools for managing individuals’ data requests.

Logi Analytics Logi Composer

Logi Composer provides a way for ISVs and corporate developers to build self-service business analysis capabilities directly into commercial and in-house applications and workflows. Logi Composer is used to design, build and embed interactive dashboards and data visualizations into applications and develop connections to popular data sources that underlie them. The tool’s back-end query processing is powered by the Smart Data Connectors technology Logi Analytics acquired in 2019 when it bought Zoomdata.

MariaDB SkySQL

MariaDB SkySQL is a fully managed cloud Database-as-a-Service edition of the popular MariaDB relational database that supports transactional and analytical applications. SkySQL uses Kubernetes for container orchestration; the ServiceNow workflow engine for inventory, configuration and workflow management; Prometheus for real-time monitoring and alerting; and the Grafana open-source analytics and visualization application for data visualization. SkySQL users also have the ability to customize database options and configurations to meet enterprise-class security, high-availability and disaster recovery requirements.

Scylla Enterprise 2020

Scylla Enterprise 2020 is a major release of ScyllaDB’s high-performance NoSQL database for real-time big data workloads. ScyllaDB positions its software as an alternative to Amazon DynamoDB and Scylla Enterprise 2020 includes Alternator, a DynamoDB-compatible API that helps DynamoDB users switch to Scylla without changing application code. The new release also includes new change data capture capabilities and a new Lightweight Transactions feature that extends ScyllaDB’s data consistency options.

Tableau 2020.3

The latest update to Tableau’s business analytics platform provides a new Write to Database feature, providing the ability to output to, and update, external databases directly from Tableau Prep Builder. The Tableau update, therefore, expands the platform to serve a broader set of data preparation needs. The release also adds a number of new thirdparty connectors to the Tableau Extension Gallery, including connectors built by some of the company’s technology partners—Actian, Dremio, Elasticsearch, Ocient, Qubole, Sqream and Yellowbrick, with more under development.

ThoughtSpot DataFlow

ThoughtSpot’s new DataFlow feature within the company’s business analytics platform makes it possible to load data from source databases and file systems into the Falcon in-memory database that powers the ThoughtSpot system. DataFlow allows users to connect to a data source, preview and select data they want to move into ThoughtSpot, and schedule data synchronizations—and this can all be done without coding. DataFlow significantly reduces the amount of technical resources needed to deploy ThoughtSpot while accelerating data access and analysis.

Zendesk Explore Enterprise

A new addition to the Zendesk customer service platform, Explore Enterprise enables real-time data analysis of customer service data to make more informed decisions around sales, support and products to understand customers’ changing needs and improve customer experiences. Explore Enterprise enables data monitoring across customer support channels using prebuilt and customizable live charts and improves team collaboration with advanced report sharing and scheduling capabilities. ■

Learn More: Database and System Software | Business Intelligence and Analytics

Rick Whiting

Rick Whiting has been with CRN since 2006 and is currently a feature/special projects editor. Whiting manages a number of CRN’s signature annual editorial projects including Channel Chiefs, Partner Program Guide, Big Data 100, Emerging Vendors, Tech Innovators and Products of the Year. He also covers the Big Data beat for CRN. He can be reached at rwhiting@thechannelcompany.com.