Fernando Labastida’s Integration Blog

By Nena Marin, Sr. Solutions Architect, Pervasive Software

Real-time data warehousing is at the core of enterprise intelligence initiatives.  Forecasting, trending and what to do next require freshest knowledge of what is happening now.  

Pervasive Data Integrator (DI) provides workflow based ETL for real-time concurrent warehouse loading. As an example, the following integration process implements a Data Warehouse load using Pervasive DI.

In this dimensional model, the data warehouse is comprised of dimension and fact tables.  The fact tables contain measures (like $ and units) and relationship to every dimension or attributes via foreign keys.  The dimensional model provides a framework that is scalable yet standard across the enterprise. 

Pervasive DI process designer provides a canvas to create workflows for data warehouse loads.  Each map/transformation node in the workflow loads a specific table; dimensions and facts.  At load level 1, dimension tables without dependencies can be loaded concurrently.  At load level 2, dimensions with downstream dependencies can be loaded concurrently. In this example, the Product_Dimension includes a foreign key to (or is downstream dependent on) the Product_Class_Dimension.  Since fact tables contain foreign keys or dependencies to all dimensions, fact tables are loaded last in the workflow process. 

Pervasive DI workflow offers seamless concurrency, native connectivity and SQL querying to join data from multiple sources. The pervasive ETL process designer also provides handy features like decision steps, email notification and a scripting language for custom source to target transformations.  There are built in options to profile the ETL engine performance during your load processes. 

Finally, processes are scheduled as tasks for automation. 

Pervasive Software on Tuesday announced the launch of Pervasive DataCloud, a hosted, on-demand integration offering that allows integration to be delivered as a service. For full disclosure, Pervasive software is my employer, but I can’t help get excited  by the fact that this is something that I think everbody can get behind!  Now companies that use a strictly Saas model for all their applications, such as Netsuite for their ERP & CRM, Salesforce.com for their CRM, Google Apps for corporate email and productivity tools, and a host of other Saas applications, can also deploy integration between all these apps “in the clouds,” so-to-speak. They’ll have nothing on-premise but a bunch of wireless laptops!

It will also, of course, be useful for those who are slowly migrating to a Saas computing model for their corporate apps, but still run traditional on-premise applications that they need to connect to their Saas applications.

 This story has been picked up my many sources, such as eWeek, Data Monitor, and Curt Monash, to name a few, and is generating lots of buzz.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! It was yesterday, and today is supposedly a non-work day for everybody too, although you get a few way-too-serious people (me) that can’t seem to stay away from their computer.

Version V.9 Announced

Ok, now for the late announcements. Pervasive Software, my employer, has recently released it’s newest version, V. 9.0. It’s taken a revolutionary step in a sort of open-source-ish-like direction, separating the connectors and adapters from it’s core mapping and data transformation platform. It has included:

“A new Data Services platform with a SDO (Service Data Objects) standards-based Data Mediation Services (DMS) software developer kit that allows Pervasive and subsequently partners and customers to rapidly create new adapters”

(To download a trial version click here, and email me to turn on the license key).

As if 150 connectors to different file formats, technologies, databases, and applications weren’t enough, Pervasive is enabling third parties now to create adapters and connectors to specific applications for which none exist at the moment.

Traditionally, if there wasn’t an adapter for, say, a proprietary ERP system, there were other ways to connect to it, such as with an ODBC connector or via flat files. However, consultants or technical people trained on the integration toolset had to write complex business rules in order to replicate the functionality of the ERP system from which data was being extracted or to which data is being written.

With the new Data Mediation Services (DMS), instead of having to wait for Pervasive to include a particular request for a proprietary adapter in its normal product development lilfe-cycle (which could take up to a year), Pervasive consultants, system integrators, or even client companies, can write their own adapters and drop them right into the Pervasive platform.

Saas Fixed-Price Integration

Another recent development is the announcement of the FastTrack integration solution. Up till now, data integration companies have sold tools that either developers or business analysts use to configure integrations between applications.

“If you want to buy a shirt, we’d sell you a sewing machine,” says our CTO, Mike Hoskins.

Now Pervasive offers a fully configured integration, with software and services included in a fully delivered fixed-price subscription model. This is great for several reasons:

• Companies with no IT departments can buy an integration right now
• All the risk is on Pervasive: fixed price delivery model regardless of end-points
• Pricing model that maps to the current software-as-a-service (saas) paradigm

Ok, my son is about to play in his Thanksgiving soccer tournament, so I am out of here…