If you’re relying on your OLTP system to provide analytics, you might be in for a surprise. While it can work initially, these systems aren’t designed to handle complex queries. Adding databases like MongoDB and CassandraDB only makes matters worse, since they’re not SQL-friendly – the language most analysts and data practitioners are used to.…
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Photo by Lukas As you increase your analytical processes and abilities, you’ll unavoidably increase costs. But there are definite ways to avoid having your costs grow at an unsustainable rate. This is the topic of a panel at the Modern Data Stack Conference featuring Maura Church, ex-director of data science and data engineering from Patreon.…
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Apache Airflow is an extremely popular tool that data engineers rely on. But why? Why do data engineers like Airflow? Also, what does the Apache Airflow event do? In this article, we will answer questions like: What is Airflow? What is a DAG? Why do people use Apache Airflow? Why do we like Airflow?…
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Photo by Fotis Fotopoulos on Unsplash Recently several consulting calls started with people asking, “Do we need a data warehouse?” This isn’t a question about whether you need data warehouse consultants, but instead whether you should event start a data warehouse project. Which is a very fair question. Not every company needs a data warehouse.…
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Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash Modern data stack consultant plays an important role in companies looking to become data-driven. They help companies design and deploy centralized data sets that are easy to use and reliable. They do so by using cloud based solutions that help automate data pipelines and processes with less code than in…
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Good Design Is Easier to Change Than Bad Design – The Pragmatic Programmer Programming is just one aspect of the difficulties of tech work for data engineers. Creating simple yet robust systems that help manage your data infrastructure is equally important. This challenge of building a simple yet robust data infrastructure remains even with no-code/low-code solutions. Just…
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Photo by Nana Smirnova on Unsplash With all the recent data events I have put together I inevitably run into new data engineers who are either finishing up college or looking to transition into a data engineer or data scientist position. In fact I have talked to several newly graduated engineers who are struggling to…
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Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash 2022 is coming to an end. What is the state of data infra? Are Snowflake and Databricks still fighting over total cost of ownership? Is everyone switching to DuckDB? Are data engineers all learning Rust? Let’s try to answer these questions. Building field-level lineage for modern data systems Lineage…
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A data warehouse consultant plays an important role in companies looking to become data-driven. They help companies design and deploy centralized data sets that are easy to use and reliable. But in order to understand why you need a data warehouse consultant we should take a step back. In this article we will not only…
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Data has been consistently demonstrated to be a valuable asset for businesses of all sizes. Consulting firms, like McKinsey, have found that companies using AI and analytics attribute 20% of their earnings to it. As a consultant, I have personally witnessed how data can uncover new sources of revenue and cost reduction opportunities for clients…
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