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9 months ago
Answered a question: Which solution do you prefer: KNIME, Azure Synapse Analytics, or Azure Data Factory?
I know you're looking for someone who's done research for you but realize that's actually something people get paid to do
That said, what you're asking about is a mix of quite different tools when you throw KNIME in the mix. I don't know that tool but sounds like its for…
Over 1 year ago
Replied to GaryM What do you like most about Azure Data Factory?
See my review at.....
https://www.peerspot.com/produ...
Over 1 year ago
Replied to GaryM What do you like most about Azure Data Factory?
@Evgeny Belenky
I actually went ahead and wrote a review yesterday of ADF if you want to check that out. I included a long list of issues the tool currently has, especially if you're intending to use it for enterprise-wide kinds of use.
Over 1 year ago
Contributed a review of Azure Data Factory: The good, the bad and the lots of ugly
Over 1 year ago
Answered a question: What do you like most about Azure Data Factory?
Nothing to install on the client side and lots of adapters built in.
You do NOT want to ask what I don't like about it ;-)
About 2 years ago
Answered a question: What needs improvement with Azure Data Factory?
Interactive authoring turns off by default after 60 minutes of inactivity but it's needed for pretty much any debugging and previewing data. This gets super annoying after a while and slows productivity. Need to be able to override the 60 minutes of inactivity.
The…
About 2 years ago
Replied to InitZero How does Microsoft MDS (vs Informatica MDM) fit with Azure architecture?
@InitZero Interesting - I like it's so integrated with Azure but not sure what problem its solving. Nothing in what I can find in documentation about just doing simple reference data management. Seems more about profiling/DQ types of functions and assumes you want a new…
About 2 years ago
Answered a question: Which is better - SSIS or Informatica PowerCenter?
Curious why you would compare these 2 tools and why you wouldn't be looking for a PaaS solution?
SSIS is free verses Informatica is the opposite. But there are no plans to fully embrace SSIS within Azure. They have moved to ADF and Synapse pipelines.
That said there is IR…
About 2 years ago
Answered a question: How does Microsoft MDS (vs Informatica MDM) fit with Azure architecture?
I agree with @InitZero...
I would add that there's no future roadmap for MDS and they don't have an Azure solution for it. Since it's a free product with an SQL license, don't expect Microsoft to invest in it.
Even though we are highly dependent upon it currently I'm…
Over 2 years ago
Answered a question: Which ETL tool would you recommend to populate data from OLTP to OLAP?
As someone mentioned, if you're purely Oracle shop and staying that way then there's value with prioritizing Oracle tools. However, let me contrast that with this caveat
Consider expectations for tool and vendor longevity. Oracle has a long history of retiring and/or…
Almost 3 years ago
Answered a question: When evaluating Data Quality, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
Accuracy and reliability. Who can argue with that
But the reality is that your business doesn't give a hoot whether we reach data purity if they don't believe it impacts them. I've seen a DQ "expert" lose all credibility for yelling data quality fire. So that's why I…
Almost 3 years ago
Replied to Paul Kellett Significant architectural issues
@Paul Kellett All
I can say is even Wherescape's own staff couldn't get their product to
work for us. And that was back when we had a super super simple design
compared to what it's evolved to since then. Their solution was built
by their own consultants who left us…
Almost 3 years ago
Replied to it_user827733 Significant architectural issues
@it_user827733 Sorry for delayed response....I've not experienced a reliable code generator for BI ever in my career. I assume someone will come out with one eventually as of course as long as there are predictable patterns you can then automate it. I mean that's what we do…
About 3 years ago
Replied to Jim Youmans SSIS MatchUp Component is Amazing
@Jim Youmans There's a lot of factors involved so would have to see how your implementation to give specific advice. We run similar householding volume in 15 to 30 minutes. The important thing is to understand the principles involved with the tool and then determine what…
About 3 years ago
Answered a question: What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SSIS?
Are you aware that SSIS is free if you own SqlServer? And that’s just production. So it’s a bit of a curious question. You will have to run it on the sqlserver to avoid a separate license but that’s often not an issue and can actually be an advantage depending on how you…
About 3 years ago
Commented on Works well for small and medium-sized projects, but additional SQL connectors need to be supplied
MySql connectors do not need to be purchased. Just use ado.net connector and ODBC. That's been a part of SSIS for a decade. I've used it for Mysql before without any issues. This is all well documented and available from many forums.
About 3 years ago
Commented on Works well for small and medium-sized projects, but additional SQL connectors need to be supplied
Curious about some things that are said such as other tools are faster. What testing have you done with SSIS and other tools to support this opinion? I have used many ETL tools over the years and I've found SSIS is not faster or slower per se than any of the others, it's…
Over 3 years ago
Answered a question: What needs improvement with SSIS?
SSIS largest weaknesses right now are 1) Visual Studio/SSDT is only 32 bit. It needs to be 64 bit because that's the only thing that gets deployed and SSDT gets extremely unstable when your application gets large - likely because you start going over the max memory…
Over 3 years ago
Replied to PaulOhuche What advice do you have for others considering Microsoft MDS?
Note tThere is some level of logging - you can look in the security area and some level of access although limited. Also you can write your own extensions in the triggers so you could customize the logging yourself.
Over 3 years ago
Answered a question: What is your primary use case for SSIS?
Primarily for enterprise DW data movement from and to sources as well as between architectural layers of the EDW. We also use it for batch operational integration between applications. We integrate data from around 20 sources that include both direct connects to sources as…
Almost 4 years ago
Answered a question: What are the biggest challenges in master data management implementation?
You've already been given excellent advice. There's a multitude of challenges and things that are important to get right.
However in my experience I've found that there can be the best intentions and plans for success but in the end I have too often witnessed significant…
Almost 4 years ago
Commented on SSIS 2016 - The good, the bad, and the ugly
The insight into running packages comes from the BiXpress Audit and Notification frameworks which are an extra cost per developer. But it's invaluable. And I would argue it gives you insight into what's running like no other tool on the market can. Its as if you were…
Almost 4 years ago
Answered a question: What are the pros and cons of SSIS?
Check out my review where I lay out the pros and cons. https://www.itcentralstation.com/product_reviews/ssis-review-30205-by-garym
About 5 years ago
Answered a question: What Is The Biggest Difference Between Informatica PowerCenter and Microsoft SSIS?
There's so much to this question that to answer it properly would require an extensive presentation
I am curious however when people review tools they aren't very familiar with...yes SSIS has debug feature and it's just as robust as any .net debug...with breakpoints,…
Over 5 years ago
Thanks Ricardo, sounds like ODI is vastly improved. The ability to run things like OS code is actually one of the things I like about SSIS as its easy to call out to anything external via script components. However what isn't always easy from any job control type of…
Over 5 years ago
Commented on Makes the search of our applicant tracking system more consistent and relevant through data correction
Which component(s) of their products are you using (there are many different ways to implement from ETL plugins to CRM plugins)? Thanks
Over 5 years ago
Why do you think Oracle will support ODI long term any more than their prior ETL tools such as OWB or the tool they bought in the 1990s from Sagent, both of which are gone now
Some history for you....ODI used to be a weird combination of two completely different tools -…
Over 5 years ago
How does it compare to other ETL tools or have you only ever used this ETL tool? Thanks
Over 5 years ago
Commented on Visual jobs are easier to understand than a piece of Java code and improve collaboration between colleagues
Is this a plugin to Talend ETL or standalone? Why do you need to manually "pen the Talend Administration Center to check the status of the process" to check - does it not notify you (email, txt) if there's an error? What kind of errors do you have (we run similar…
Over 5 years ago
Which product did you use to do this (they have multiple products for this)? Was it the stand alone product, the SSIS plugin, the rest web service call, Dynamics plugin, etc... Thanks
Almost 6 years ago
Commented on SSIS MatchUp Component is Amazing
Thomas, you will have to contact the vendor. I think their list prices are on their web page so not sure why you are asking a technical forum.
About 6 years ago
Answered a question: Which is better, Informatica PowerCenter or SSIS?
Mark Bennett gave an appropriate answer. I have used both and both have pros and cons. The selection starts with your requirements and expectations. If you dont know those then you are just guessing. Careful of anyone who says one " is better because...." as they may not…
Over 6 years ago
An update for us...watch out when you upgrade SSIS to 2016, it's not fun. Also I split matching into multiple dataflows and this slashed runtime by about 75% (from 4 to 1 hour for full exact match with advanced survivorship).
Almost 7 years ago
Commented on Significant architectural issues
An update regarding this software review I want to mention; this review is now 5 years old so if you are evaluating this software you should consider any improvements made since that time
I still stand by my initial assessment for the software that was current 5 years ago…
Almost 7 years ago
Commented on Provides a secure way to manage master data. The business rules definition interface could be improved.
Try upgrading to 2016, the business rules interface is dramatically improved.
Almost 7 years ago
Curious people's experiences when they mention "fail a lot" or scalability. I've used many ETL tools in my career - most of them very expensive and I'd put SSIS up against any of them for reliability and performance (within limits)
Scalability is largely comparing to…
About 7 years ago
Answered a question: Informatica or SSIS on Azure Cloud?
I suggest looking at comparing SSIS verses Informatica in terms of meeting your unique needs and then assess each one's capabilities in cloud verses your expectations for why you want it off-perm
Note that any tool can run on Azure cloud in IaaS/PaaS. Azure SSIS as SaaS…
About 7 years ago
The big boost you mentioned going from ETL to ELT is to be expected (in other words doing push-down of your joins which is what that really means)
That unfortunately is the typical problem with newbie or incompetent ETL developers - they don't realize that ETL tools…
About 7 years ago
Answered a question: When evaluating Data Warehouse solutions, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?
It 100% depends on your needs in terms of data volume, availability, # of potential concurrent users, # of data sources, complexity of data sources. I'm assuming by platform you mean tools/software/hardware? Are you thinking BI as well or just backend
Cloud-based…
Over 7 years ago
Commented on SSIS MatchUp Component is Amazing
Update - the tool is now SqlServer/SSIS 2016 compatible!
Over 7 years ago
Commented on Significant architectural issues
Joe
Actually we spent 6 weeks and the vendor was doing it and the requirements and all the coding and staging was already done so the amount of actual work to do was relatively small. And there was pretty much nothing usable at the end of that.
The issues that the…
Over 7 years ago
Agreed on all points - especially the need to multi-thread - I also had to split up our processing due to this to speed it up. However even so it still appears much faster than any other similar tool I've used in the past. And YES regarding resize! That's SO annoying. No…
Over 7 years ago
Commented on Better and standardized addresses in our systems.
Why does MelissaData software need to be on the same SQL server instance? You mean where SSIS is installed? That can be installed on a separate server if you want. That's entirely up to you and not a limitation of the tool.
Over 7 years ago
Commented on The SSIS workflow component has been valuable for me to recommend for enterprise-level production work.
What do you mean by "workflow" component? There's no such thing in SSIS - its called Dataflow. I'm also not aware that Melissadata has anything like that either so this is very a confusing review. Please elaborate.
Over 7 years ago
Answered a question: Microsoft SSIS vs. Informatica PowerCenter - which solution has better features?
Is the question regarding Informatica or SSIS? I can't speak for Informatica but SSIS starting with 2012 version allow environment controlled parameter values. What this means is the ETL changes automatically based on where it's running if you use the sql agent scheduler…
Over 7 years ago
What version are you on, please provide more details. Don't plan on millions of records unless on 2016 version - read my review. It starts to choke once you get anywhere near 100K records in an entity let alone millions. Its fine for small reference data - I used it…
Over 7 years ago
You mentioned the admin and BI tools...the issue all the cloud solutions face (at least SaaS) is they don't have all these tools
SqlServer environment isn't just a database, its a really really big toolbox. If you only need the database then a stripped down SaaS solution…
Almost 8 years ago
Howard, yes our database name/server name changes across the environments. We manage this via visual studio configuration environments when creating the ispac or doing deployment from VS but that's just for initial setting defaults to show up within the jobs so we don't have…
Almost 8 years ago
BTW...Re. Integration Services...you mentioned that ..."platform variables, since these are not easily managed and deployed. Our testers have had a great deal of difficulty swapping environments, particularly where the connection information changes (underlying database…
Almost 8 years ago
Commented on If you're evaluating Tableau as a potential data visualization solution, consider these points.
Yes PowerBI is a world of difference from Powerquery/pivot/view - realize those are just Excel plugins, nothing more. PowerBI is both an independent desktop tool like Tableau and Qlikview plus it deploys to the web and soon to on-prem using SSRS server. And it gets updates…
Almost 8 years ago
Commented on If you're evaluating Tableau as a potential data visualization solution, consider these points.
Have you considered PowerBI in comparison to Tableau and QlikView? If not, why not?
Almost 8 years ago
Commented on Significant architectural issues
C Lewis, that's great you've been successful at using the product. I'm completely baffled how you made it work with any volume of data but I'm glad to hear someone can make it the tool work for them.
Almost 8 years ago
Commented on It has enhanced our real time decision making capabilities but SSRS could include some ad hoc reporting.
Re. SSRS for adhoc reporting, I would argue SSRS was not meant for adhoc reporting - that's the purpose of PowerBI and Excel PowerPivot. The people who use SSRS should be data consumers who want specific formats whereas adhoc reporting is data explorers who will want a…
About 8 years ago
Commented on SSIS MatchUp Component is Amazing
Oscar - much appreciated. I love your product and just want to see it become even better. I'm very impressed with the improvements over the past few years. I did brief POC a couple years prior before it did survivorship and liked what I saw even then. I'm impressed that your…
About 8 years ago
Commented on Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services is one of the most effective ETL tools available in the market
2016 version due out in a few months is even much better and the first significant upgrade since 2012...if you haven't yet used SSIS I'd wait until 2016 and start there if you can. 2014 is unchanged from 2012.
About 8 years ago
Howard, would like to know more about why its not ideal
It seems to me that even if you could share an instance as both tabular and MDB (remember that they are completely different technologies), it would not allow you to scale easily. In fact I would not run them both on…
Over 8 years ago
Commented on Initial setup was straightforward but had some pain points while plugging it in the ETL.
So what were the pain points? Which ETL tool are you using? Please explain.
Over 8 years ago
Commented on MDS 2016 - Primitive but the price is right
Note: the upcoming 2016 version is a major enhancement especially for UI and business rules.
Over 8 years ago
Commented on SSIS 2016 - The good, the bad, and the ugly
Update regarding deployment instability... It is caused by very large projects and using the default install shortcut 32bit deployment wizard. Running the 64 bit version resolves the issue.
Over 8 years ago
Azhar, SSIS has same issue. SSIS reports "metadata needs refresh" syntax error which is easy to fix but of course requires re-deploying the ETL objects. It begs the question however - do we really want it automatically refreshing and potentially causing data…
Over 8 years ago
Commented on We evaluated Microsoft master data services – it's nice but far from Ataccama RDM especially in workflow features
I suspect that MDS 2012 version is likely very much behind competitors, albeit one must remember that MDS is basically free and competitor products are typically very expensive. It works for our current needs which are simplistic. I've used Oracle DRM - wise choice as its an…
Over 8 years ago
If you don't like visualization features of SSRS in 2012, wait for 2016! Its much improved. And you now have Datazen and PowerBI in the stack if you want to do dashboarding. They now have complete solution stack seemingly missing nothing and almost free if you already have…
Over 8 years ago
Contributed a review of Melissa Data Quality: SSIS MatchUp Component is Amazing
Over 8 years ago
This review is great but should just make clear, this is express version only. There are many versions of sql server.
Over 8 years ago
Note regarding deployment...although file-copy is one way of running it that's not recommended. The tool comes with SSISDB database for deployment to SqlServer server that provides logging, reporting and storage on the server that includes versioning. It also integrates with…
Over 8 years ago
What does "Microsoft BI" mean? I'm confused as that's not actually a tool but represents many. There's many reporting tools in the Microsoft stack, some PC specific, some standalone server, some Sharepoint integrated (PerformancePoint which is being deprecated) and some can…
Over 8 years ago
So tell me why I should buy Tableau (which is quite expensive) over just using free PowerBI Desktop which seems very similar and also built into and integrates with Office365? Seems Tableau made sense a year ago but no longer. Same with Qlikview.
Over 8 years ago
It does in fact allow running both tabular and MDB on same server. You have to run independent installs and name the instance 2 different names. I suggest researching this further as it may not be straight forward but is in fact not a constraint.
Almost 9 years ago
Answered a question: How does DataFlux handle customer data parsing, customer de-duplication, survivorship?
That's an excellent summary of matching thanks! Do you have anything that "addresses" survivorship in dataflux?
Almost 9 years ago
Almost 9 years ago
Commented on Approach your problem incrementally – get quick wins and then improve rather than a big bang approach.
Can you provide more detail regarding it's specifics around de-duplication such as golden record survivorship and any augmentation services it provides?
Almost 9 years ago
Contributed a review of WhereScape RED: Significant architectural issues
Almost 9 years ago
Commented on There were many performance problems during the implementation, but you will be happy with the final result.
How is the scheduler now days in terms of supporting conditional execution of jobs and passing in dynamic parameters? Also with logging - do you still have to write your own extracts to get useful logs out of its repository? Did you use the push-down option and if so, how…
Almost 9 years ago
Commented on SSIS vs Hadoop
Thanks Ibrahim, that's hilarious "Two sweet technologies, probably shouldn’t be compared to each other but we’re doing it anyway" - thanks for doing this comparison! Very nicely written and summarized. Good work.
Almost 9 years ago
Contributed a review of Microsoft MDS: MDS 2016 - Primitive but the price is right
About 9 years ago
Commented on Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services is one of the most effective ETL tools available in the market
Hasham, are you reviewing SSIS 2012 or 2008? Clarifying that would be helpful as there are many differences between the versions
2012 has a repository that logs and reports much more than just errors - it logs performance and comes with performance dashboards. You have…
About 9 years ago
Additional advice...considerations on selection should include: Need to integrate with applications (e.g. MS Dynamics requires SSRS), self-publishing BI, data exploration verses canned reporting, cost (there's world of difference between the tools here from free to 7…
About 9 years ago
Its still unclear if you're already an Office 360 user whether you have to pay for the pro version or not. Does anyone know? Their announcement was sufficiently vague.
Over 9 years ago
Answered a question: A recent user: "I've done some primitive comparisons between Tableau, QlikView and PowView." Have you compared these?
Tableau is a great tool, no doubt about it. However we all want simple answer to the question of whether its the right tool for our organization and unfortunately, it really does depend
If you have small amounts of data in relatively simple data sources and you need…
Over 9 years ago
Commented on SAP Business Objects vs. Microsoft BI
It was an interesting comparison with some useful insight which I appreciate but it gets muddy when you start mixing in the entire platform
I suggest comparing just the BI tools themselves and leaving database and ETL out of it since those are completely separate…
Over 9 years ago
Commented on Great for users trying to perform data visualization with just Excel, but lacks control for some organizations
All good points, but I might disagree with Damien on one point - that sometimes tools such as Tableau are sold as supposed replacements for ETL tools and even the need for a DW. Executives are often sold on the emotional impression that visualization tools with in-memory…
Over 9 years ago
Commented on Great for users trying to perform data visualization with just Excel, but lacks control for some organizations
You stated that its too bad Microsoft didnt include something like Tableau with Excel but it actually did as of Excel 2013! It's called PowerView, coming out I think about the time you wrote your review
Would be very interested in a comparison between the two. I've done…
Over 9 years ago
Commented on Informatica PowerCenter vs. Microsoft SSIS - each technology has its advantages but also have similarities
Use of configuration files for SSIS is a really bad idea and in fact is deprecated by Microsoft with 2012. Not only is using them no longer advisable but the new method of using job and package parameters significant advantage over many competing ETL tools. Managing…
Over 9 years ago
Answered a question: What are the must-have features for a Data integration system?
The assumption that you are referring to batch/ETL data integration rather than process mentioned by Abhishek said is critical. The primary difference between ETL verses IAI being in the areas of expected latency, data format, and data verses process transformation. I say…
About 10 years ago
Answered a question: Microsoft SSIS vs. Informatica PowerCenter - which solution has better features?
Two things
1) we already had this discussion on a LinkedIn group if you can find it. If you have questions about pros/cons of SSIS specifically - see my review of SSIS on this site. If I had one thing I'd say is significantly better with SSIS than Informatica, its parameter…
About 10 years ago
Answered a question: Can someone please share if they did a vendor comparison, why they chose Oracle Enterprise Manager?
So the question I think that's on many minds reading your question is, why? Why would you compare vendors to something you already have that's free? Is it you feel that OEM isn't meeting your needs? If so, then please explain what you need it to do
I would instead…
About 10 years ago
It seems like a lot of how you differentiate Biztalk vs. SSIS would apply when comparing any ETL tool to an EDI/webservices/bus middleware technologies and products. So this may serve as a starting point when discussing when one should use one type verses the other. This is…
About 10 years ago
Contributed a review of SSIS: SSIS 2016 - The good, the bad, and the ugly
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Almost 3 years ago
Building ODS in Azure SQLBuilding ODS in Azure SQL for quick account queries by E-com sites using PaaS Azure SQL. First implementation of PaaS solution.
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About me
Nearly 30 years of IT experience starting with DEC PDP, PC programming and then onto IBM mainframe using Software AG software and a role as an Adabas DBA. Then an Oracle DBA for a number of years in the 1990s on Sun and HP servers with smattering of SqlServer. Started doing data marts and star schema design towards the end of the 1990s. Since then built a number of marts on Oracle and an architect on an EDW using Teradata and Informatica.
Interesting Projects and Accomplishments
Almost 3 years ago
