Businesses that utilize the changes in the software industry stand ready to succeed in their respective fields. Those that don’t are apt to fall flat on their faces. One of the most recognized pieces of software that should be taken on by many industries includes ETL. There are different forms of this type of software that assists in this form of data processing. Keep reading for the best ETL tools to use.
Hand-Coding
To get an idea of what the best ETL software is, it helps to first have an idea of what the ETL process (Extract, Transform, Load) means. This process involves data integration that collects data from many data sources. The ETL process takes the data from its multiple original destinations, standardizes it, and then loads it into a data warehouse for further analysis. Many companies like data science software leader TIBCO utilize the ETL process to transform this data that has been spread over multiple destinations in different languages. This raw data is then spread to other unified formats and styles. At this point, this big data integration that is occurring in real-time can be analyzed a bit easier.
One of the best pieces of ETL that can help with the process is hand-coding. With hand-coding custom scripts are created that perform the ETL workflow. During this process, a user is editing an underlying representation of a computer program. This means writing source code, that a lot of people feel helps a developer to grow. There are a few organizations that prefer this method, while not utilizing a specific ETL tool. This provides a user with deeper insight into the task at hand, helping them to process a sort of data transformation.
This process might be easy for some business users when working through the ETL process of coding custom scripts. For others, sometimes it can be seen as a hassle. Some see the hand-coding methodology of the ETL process as challenging to keep up with. They feel that utilizing this method can slow down the data integration, and coding processes. Though business users debate the merits of hand-coding, no one can deny that it is an effective piece of software.
Batch Processing Tools
This form of processing involves running jobs that can run with an end-user interaction. Another example of this includes jobs that can be run as resources allow for. One example of this form of processing includes credit card transactions, generating bills, and the processing of input and output in an operating system. Some of the real-time applications of this processing include ATM transactions, customer services, radar systems, and weather forecasts.
The application of this processing as an ETL tool is when these tools process the data in batches, that occur during off-hours. This off-hours raw data processing allows for no interference of the daily operations for the organization using this piece of software. This real-time functioning ETL process has its advantages also. It allows multiple users to work on and share batch systems. Secondly, the idle for a batch-processed system is low. Lastly, it’s easier to manage large work in batch systems. Batch processing tools are another great example of ETL tools.
Open Source Tools
Another source system that acts as an ETL tool includes open-source tools. These tools are available online and are a low-cost alternative to commercial ETL tools. One form of this ETL tool is the cloud-based tool. In this circumstance, if an organization is unable to afford an entire ETL infrastructure, it can use this ETL platform as a service.
Another type of this tool is real-time tools. These real-time ETL systems use continuous data processing in extracting data from multiple sources. They then store this raw data in a data warehouse. These ETL tools are helpful in processing stream data. Open source tools are a great addition to the ETL tool family.