New technological developments are making it easier for companies and organizations to gain access to Big Data solutions. We have long seen how integral data analytics can be for any B2B firm, and we recognize the importance of staying updated on the latest Big Data news.
Business analytics software company SAS announced the introduction of SAS Data Loader for Hadoop. This new software is expected to make Hadoop easier to use for businesses, thereby giving them more manageable access to big data solutions.
The idea behind SAS Data Loader for Hadoop is to help businesses manage, cleanse, prepare, and transform their stored data. It also tackles one of the most significant problems encountered when using Hadoop: the Hadoop skills gap. Hadoop normally requires a specialized set of skills in order to use it properly and get the most out of it, but SAS Data Loader for Hadoop bridges that gap, giving companies more access to big data analytics. This in turn increases a business’s overall productivity and gets more accurate results, enabling organizations do more in less time.
SAS Data Loader for Hadoop also makes Big Data more accessible by reducing overall data movement, allowing data scientists to analyze and process the data with fewer resources, making the whole operation much more efficient.
Hortonworks Acquires SequenceIQ
This announcement is just one of many recent developments that have many in the big data community excited as big data access increases. Another similar announcement came from Hortonworks in April. In this case, Hortonworks announced it had acquired SequenceIQ, a company based out of Hungary that provides rapid deployment tools for Hadoop.
Hortonworks is well-versed in Hadoop and wanted to acquire SequenceIQ for its development of deployment automation technology that helps to launch on-demand Hadoop clusters with the aid of cloud computing. The acquisition helps Hortonworks incorporate this automation technology into the Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) distribution of Hadoop.
While the announcement seems like a normal acquisition on the surface, it also helps Hortonworks expand its sphere of influence geographically, giving more support to European customers. This will lead to an increase in Big Data access and a significant improvement in the overall user experience.
Startup AtScale Offers MiddleWare for Small Business
Beyond SAS and Hortonworks, a new startup is also doing its part to make Big Data more accessible. AtScale was launched in April as part of an effort to help democratize Hadoop. The founder of the company started AtScale after noticing the lack of viable options for small organizations wanting packaged solutions for Hadoop. Many small businesses want to use Hadoop but simply don’t have the resources and skill set to thoroughly utilize it.
That’s where AtScale comes in, providing middleware that sits between Hadoop and a company’s business intelligence tools. This is especially important since it means companies don’t have to spend money on new tools and can simply analyze data on Hadoop with their existing business intelligence platforms (like Microsoft Excel for example). So AtScale not only makes Hadoop easier to use, it lowers the barrier for smaller organizations which might not have had the chance to use it.
These announcements show how widespread and accessible Big Data is becoming. Whether through easier-to-use solutions, lower cost barriers, or greater geographical reach, many companies are responding to the demands for Big Data by providing better opportunities to gain access to it. Of course, challenges and problems still remain. There will always be efforts to make Hadoop and other analytics platforms more accessible, and such platforms need to protect the data companies use. But it’s also clear the efforts to provide a new level of access are ongoing and improving almost daily.
