ChannelVision Magazine

EMERGENT chief executive officer and co-found- er of data cataloging pioneer Alation. “When you have data in that many different places, it’s really hard for people to find, understand and trust the information they are looking at. “A lot of that data is locked away in [backend] systems,” Sangani add- ed. “We developed a catalog so that people could have a single place to search for and discover insight when- ever they need to answer a question.” Since metadata is typically scattered across numerous envi- ronments, a catalog’s robustness can be measured by its overall reach. A catalog must be able to traverse numerous systems in or- der to be effective. “We deeply intersect a large variety of enterprise systems in- cluding databases like Oracle, Teradata and AI tools like tableau and Cliq,” Sangani said. Data catalogs can live both on premises or in the cloud. Some pro- viders such as Alation allow custom- ers to choose how they would like to deploy the service. “We sell software that deploys on premises,” Sangani added. “The primary reason is that it touches every one of our customers’ key data systems and so they have a real interest in making sure that ev- erything is secure.” Some of Alation’s customers do prefer to run their catalogs in the cloud, which Alation can support. This capability will vary from pro- vider to provider. Channel fuels adoption Catalog providers are now building enticing partner programs to increase adoption rates. Alation, for instance, recently launched a multi-tiered partner program that integrates meta- data, data governance and self- service analytics partnerships with technology providers and systems integrators. The program launched with 12 select partners, some of which include Informa- tion Asset, Teradata, Tableau and Agilisium Consulting. These partnerships allow a customer to build a catalog that serves as a single point of reference across the whole enterprise. The program allows partners to resell Alation’s data cataloging ser- vices. It also comes with access to a dedicated enablement portal for collateral and materials. These as- sets, provided by Eckerson Group, explain how to leverage, imple- ment and deploy catalogues along with best practices. Topics include insight into why one would want to use data catalogs, rethinking data governance, the challenges of us- ing data catalogs, and more. “Our work is vendor neutral, and product neutral,” explained Wayne Eckerson, founder and principal consultant at Eckerson Group. “It’s not the typical type of education that you usually get from a vendor, which is how to use the product. Our ma- terial covers how to use a product of this type effectively, so you get value from it and so that it delivers a return on investment.” Big Data Initiative Started by Fortune 1000 Companies Transform business and future 72% Add revenue 69% Launch a new product/service 64% Speed up current efforts 64% Find new ways to innovate 63% Establish data-driven culture 55% Decrease expenses 52% Source: NewVantage Partners Data Under Management Source: 451 Research Magic Quadrant for Metadata Management Solutions Source: 451 Research Slight increase 47% 33% 1 EB or more 1% 10% 3% 12% 28% 46% 19% 16% 28% 13% 18% 4% 4% 500 PB - 1 EB < 10,000 employees > 10,000 employees 1 PB - 499 PB 500 TB - 1PB 50 TB - 499 TB 1 TB - 49 TB Less than 1 TB 1 Terabyte equals 1,024 Gigabytes 1 Petabyte equals 1,024 Terabytes or 1,048,576 Gigabytes 1 Exabyte equals 1,024 Petabytes Q. Approximately how much data does your organization have under management today? Data Advantage Group Alation Collibra Informatica Smartlogic DATUM IBM Infogix Oracle Alex Solutions ASG Technologies Adaptive SAP CHALLENGERS LEADERS Channel Vision | September - October, 2018 16