Izenda Embedded Analytics and Technology Blog

Nov 21
0

Books on Data, Big Data and Related Topics

By | Technology

Looking for some reading material to keep you up to date on the latest topics and trends in the big data space? We’ve got a list of five books you should consider checking out.

Information Dashboard Design: Display Data for At-a-Glance Monitoring Written by Stephen Few, a leader in the world of data visualization, this book explores one of the most popular methods to get “at a glance” data: the dashboard.

Few explores topics like designing dashboards, presenting data, engaging users visually and efficiently displaying large amounts of data. He also explains he psychological ideas behind his design decisions so developers can understand not only how to design, but why they should be making design decisions based on how users experience the dashboard. Read More

Nov 14
0

The Hybrid Cloud: Why It Is Expected to Continue to Grow

By | Technology, The Cloud

Hybrid cloud IT solution diagramSecurity experts far and wide cry loudly any time there is a suggestion about using cloud services for anything but the most routine of tasks. Hacking is a concern about which many are rightfully concerned.

Yet neither can anyone deny how convenient the cloud is, and how it can increase productivity. That is why a compromise — the hybrid cloud — is continuing to make inroads in the enterprise.

The Hybrid Cloud: What is It?

The hybrid cloud is much more than spinning up a server with a connection to Amazon Web Services and calling it hybrid. The hybrid cloud allows both public and private clouds to remain separate from each other. Read More

Nov 07
0

Microsoft Announces G-Series, Cloud Space and Cloudera

By | Microsoft, Technology, The Cloud

Big news coming out of Redmond (by way of San Francisco) as Microsoft announces a host of new technology to play with in the upcoming months. Here are a few of the highlights.

G-Series Virtual Machine Sizes

One of the big announcements was the new sizes of virtual machine sizes that are coming out. Microsoft is calling these devices the G-Series and is claiming enhanced performance for “your most demanding applications.” They are upping the stakes by providing a variety of choices in processor cores, ram, and Solid State storage.

The smallest of the group, called the G1, starts out with 2 cores, 28 gigs of ram and 406 Gigs of SSD storage. The list is topped with the G5 that has a whopping 32 cores, 448 gigs of ram and over six terabytes of storage.

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Oct 10
0

The Zombies of IT: Legacy Applications

By | BI Innovation, Technology

Zombies in ITMany were predicted to die on January 1, 2000 – but mainframe legacy applications are still around. In some ways, they are the zombies of the IT world. Now they are running on the cloud as well. What are they and why are they still alive?

Mainframe application development was in its heyday during the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s. During this time, hundreds of programmers labored in the salt mines of large IT shops, coding custom programs for corporations. These were one-off systems, each designed specifically for the unique needs of the enterprise. The user interface might employ unconventional hotkeys to iterate through screens or have custom code for specialized business logic or priority clients.

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Sep 16
0

From Ships to Data: a History of the Spline

By | Technology
Even though non-technical people may not be familiar with the word, our world is filled with curves created using splines. Splines are a way to model a curve using a set of points that can be mapped using mathematical functions. But the derivation of this concept predates computers and even the math for it.

What is a Spline?

Boat with spline graph“Spline” refers to both the curve and the mathematical algorithm for determining it. The word itself comes from the same root as “splinter”. Originally, splines were thin strips of wood used by boat builders to create curves. Builders used thin splints pulled into place by weights called ducks or knots. The wooden spline was flexible enough to easily curve when the ducks were moved or their weight changed. This allowed for extensive manipulation of the curve and resulted in the smoothest possible curve between two points.

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Sep 13
0

A Gimlet-Eyed View of Software as a Service

By | BI Innovation, Big Data, Technology

In computing days of yore, a company would buy a license for software and install it in their computer center, using vendor support and a team of systems programmers to get it up and running. In today’s Software as a Service paradigm, things work a little differently. There are clear benefits to SaaS, but also some important disadvantages to consider before moving to a SaaS application.

SaaS Benefits

The most obvious benefit is the IT cost savings realized when there is no longer a need to invest in data center and hardware infrastructure. A recent study by Computer Economics of seven businesses that employ cloud services found an average 15% savings. Lower upfront costs makes SaaS especially attractive for new businesses, which can start up and scale up faster and cheaper. And speed is another crucial benefit. Maintaining a service contract with a cloud provider means there is no time required for an infrastructure implementation and no need to hire and pay an IT staff to support it.

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Aug 07
1

Embedded BI & Visual Analytics Provider Izenda Secures $3M

By | BI Innovation, Big Data, News & Events, Technology

Ethos Partners and Hawthorne Capital Raise Growth Equity Funding For Expansion

Izenda logo - Embedded self-service business intelligenceATLANTA, GA (August 7 2014) – Embedded BI, visual, analytics and self-service reporting software provider Izenda (http://www.izenda.com) has raised $3 million in a growth equity investment round led by Ethos Capital Partners and Hawthorne Capital. Izenda provides business intelligence visualization software for data discovery via an HTML5 model versus a developer-oriented, desktop-based environment. Current customers include Oracle, Infor, CDC, Volvo, US Navy, and Thomson Reuters.

“We are delighted to be backing Izenda in its continual efforts to accelerate and improve the highly accepted suite of BI and reporting products,” said Dr. Mark Bell, Partner at Ethos Capital. “Our customer interactions confirmed that Izenda provides an experience that is ahead of the trend of placing decision-making tools into the hands of decision makers.”

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Dec 19
0

Graduate Profiles: Izenda Brings the Power of Data to Businesses

By | BI Innovation, Technology

Featured on ATDC.org

Like many startup stories, Izenda began as a business concept drummed up in a college dorm room. The goal: to utilize agile methodologies and software to provide business intelligence to customers on a budget.

Founded in 2002 by Sanjay Bhatia, the company vision changed course a few years later when mounting frustration over the complexity of the industry’s leading reporting databases led to the pursuit of new technology. In 2006, Izenda unveiled and patented a web-based reporting solution that altered the way companies deploy and use intelligence. And the business has been gaining steam ever since. “I didn’t like how difficult the existing databases were to operate and analyze,” said Bhatia, CEO of Izenda. “The world was changing a lot faster than we were. You can’t spend 18 months working on data warehouse for a product that’s only going to be on the market for six months – so technology had to be more agile. That couldn’t be accomplished with the solutions available.” Read More

Sep 17
0

How Data Virtualization Delivers Access to Real-Time Data

By | BI Innovation, Big Data, Technology, The Cloud

As seen on TDWI.org

With so much data in so many places, how can you quickly connect to the sources you need? Data virtualization may be the answer.

In a world where yesterday’s data is like yesterday’s news and users are accustomed to finding out “what’s happening right now” via social media drive-by platforms such as Twitter, virtualization is quickly becoming the ideal data management strategy.

Traditional data integration requires building a data warehouse and moving enterprise data to it on a periodic basis. Today’s modern data virtualization capabilities connect directly to live databases and pull information “just in time.” This solution delivers real-time results without the costs and delays of a complex ETL (extract, transform, and load) project. Business users now accustomed to instant real-time access to data in their consumer lives expect the same experience from their enterprise systems. Generation Y employees who have accessed the Internet from an early age are often surprised that ETL technologies are used to move data to a data warehouse before it can be analyzed, so business reports are delivering yesterday’s data.

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Apr 11
0

7 Ways SQL Server 12 Brings Us into the Heterogeneous Big Data Era

By | Izenda Reports, Technology

SQL Server 12 is out – how do you like the new features?

Most of Izenda’s customers use our ad hoc reporting platform to connect to a Microsoft SQL Server database.  So, we are thrilled about some of the new capabilities available in SQL Server 12.  Here are seven features we are super excited about:

1. Columnstore indexes

You may have heard about columnar databases such as vertical that run some queries 100x faster.  These new indexes bring this feature to SQL Server. For a query like this, the database can process much more data because it does not have to read the the entire table to do the calculation. It optimizes on the specific column.  This makes multi-terabyte database perform a lot faster when only certain columns are used for reporting on specific columns.  A query like this could run orders of magnitude faster.

SELECT SUM(Freight) FROM Orders

2. SQL Azure Enhancements

You can now make individual databases on Azure up to 150GB.  Additionally you can do an azure sync to an on-premise database at this scale.  This accelerates cloud adoption to larger organizations who need more sophisticated reporting capabilities.

3. Hadoop Support

That’s right. The popular open source big data storage engine now integrates with SQL Server.  Having Hadoop integrated into a SQL server deployment will greatly reduce support and maintenance costs and, of course, brings Hadoop into Microsoft shops.  We are excited about this feature because Izenda Reports now has the ability to report on a variety of data sources through an integrated experience using Izenda Fusion.

4. AlwaysOn

You can now create multiple fail over mirrors with a lot less effort.  As an added benefit, the fail over servers can be used in read-only mode for reporting.

5. Windows Server Core Support

For virtualization fans that want minimal overhead, you can now run SQL Server without the windows GUI and administer remotely.  It has a lower footprint so queries should run faster, especially in a virtualized environment.

6. Enhanced Auditing

For customers with compliance requirements, you can not do better tracking of what SQL Server is doing in a more granular way.

7. Linux Client Support

If you haven’t heard, Microsoft is now one of the top contributors to the Linux Kernel. You can now connect to SQL Server databases from Linux applications.  As strange as this feels, it’s definitely a good thing.