Skip to main content

ETL Tools

Image
By

Source

In the current business world, every organization is flooded with data and you need appropriate tools to get the most out of your data. One such tool is ETL. Let's start with understanding what does it actually means. ETL is an acronym for Extract, Transform and Load. As the name suggests, ETL is used for consolidating data from various data sources, transforming the data according to your needs, and then loading the data into the desired database. ETL plays a pivotal role in managing your data, making it ready for analysis, and improves data warehousing.

If data warehousing is something that your organization depends on then ETL tools can prove out to be a vital part of your organization. ETL tools provide process data for analysis which lets you make better graphical representation and can lead to informed decision making. Does it create any difference if we interchange the position of "T" and "L"? Yes, there's a difference between the two as in ELT after extracting your data you need to load your data in the database and it is transformed into the database. In ELT source and the target database is similar, unlike ETL.

According to my experiences, I believe that ELT helps you to utilize cloud technologies in the most effective way and it can prove out to be the future of data warehousing. As the dependency on the data is amplifying day by day and it requires ELT which can manage large datasets with ease. It is quite a subjective thought and I would love to know your thoughts about it.

There are plenty of options available but I will focus on the most popular ETL tools are available in the market. These tools prove out to be a great aid in designing the ETL pipelines and can connect to the various relational databases.

  • Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services- If you are a SQL user then you must be aware of this. It is widely used for data migration. It costs lower than the other ETL tools and it is very convenient to use.
  • Oracle Data Integrator (ODI)- It uses a different approach than other ETL tools which is ELT. It offers similar functions as ETL tools. ODI transfer the data into a separate destination then transformation is performed.
  • IBM InfoSphere Data Stage- It is an ETL tool that is used to provide data-integrated solutions. It is widely used with mainframe computers. IBM offers some other similar products and data stage overlaps within the family. It is difficult to get a license of data stage and also it costs more as compared to other ETL tools.
  • Informatica Power Center- It is one of the most widely used ETL tools by organizations. There is a reason why it is used by various industry experts because it is more IT-centric as compared to other tools. But it works well with structured data you need to opt for some other tool if you are data is unstructured in nature.
There is a pool of options like the above mentioned. But the question is how to select the right ETL tool for your organization? The main idea behind the ETL is data integration. If you need to invest in such tools make decisive data integration and business intelligence strategy which can vary from business to business. Be confident about your requirements and business strategy because that will decide the success of using any ETL tool. There are several other aspects associated with choosing the right ETL tool. If you are using for personal purpose then open source ETL tools are the best options as they are available at lower cost and can be perfect for smaller datasets.

Thanks for Reading  Let's connect on  LinkedIn


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Copying Bookmarks from one Power BI report to another

By
Let's think of a scenario, where you want to copy the bookmarks from one report to another. Most obvious approach is to just do a copy paste of the bookmarks. What's wrong with this approach? This approach only works for all visuals but not for bookmarks and field parameters.  If you are not familiar with basics of bookmarks and field parameters do refer to the beginners guide for bookmarks  and introduction to field parameters . Then how do you copy the bookmarks? Power BI enhanced report format (PBIR) for Power BI Project files (PBIP) will help you in achieving this. Let's check it out, I have 2 reports one contains the bookmark called Bookmarks PBIR Test (origin) and other one is Rolling Average PBIR Test (destination) .  Before we get started, you have to enable Power BI Project save option under preview features. Once enabled, restart Power BI desktop. There is a TMDL icon appearing on the left pane. What is TMDL and what's in it for me? There's a lot of possi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Playing with Totals in Power BI

By
Are you a fan of matrix visual in Power BI? If you are as I am, I always struggle to get the correct totals and get something else instead of the totals it can be average. After a lot of research and going over different community posts, finally we have found 3 common scenarios that can elevate your matrix to the next level. To start with, I am using Sample Superstore data. Let's first explain the 3 different scenarios that we will tackle - We  would like  to show both Total Sales and Average Monthly Sales across different categories and different periods. We  would like  to show the Average Sales in the row subtotals and Total Sales in the column subtotals. Last and the  most interesting scenario is to show the Total sales excluding the furniture sales in the row subtotals and total sales in the column subtotals. Let's start by getting the correct totals in a matrix. Generally, if  use  basic Sum, Average... functions in your measures then most likely...
Post a Comment
Read more

Identify and Delete Unused Columns & Measures

By
Heavy dashboards and a bad data model is a nightmare for every BI Developer. Heavy dashboards can be slow due to multiple reasons. It is always advised to stick with best practices. Are you still figuring out about those best practices then you should definitely have a quick read on Best Practice Analyser ( link ). One of the most common issues with slow dashboards is unused columns and unused measures.  It is very normal to load some extra columns and create some test measures in your dashboard but as a part of cleanup process those unused columns and unused measures should be removed. Why we are removing them? Because if you keep them then ultimately it will increase the size of your data model which is not a good practice.  How to identify the culprits (unused columns and unused measures)? In today's blog we will provide you with 2 most common external tools which will help you in identifying the culprits. More external tools😒. Who's going to pay for this? To your surprise...
Post a Comment
Read more