ETL Tools
(Source: Windsor)
What are ETL Tools? A Definition and Comparison
Overview
In this post, I will be reviewing the ETL process and covering some major ETL tools, including various use cases and features. I will then discuss the relevance of ETL tools have in today’s ecosystem.
To get started with ETL, see this ETL wiki, which includes a collection of resources to get you acquainted with basic ETL and data integration concepts.
Definitions
What is ETL?
ETL is a process in data warehousing and is responsible for pulling data out of the source systems and placing it into a linked data warehouse. This process includes the performance of three tasks: Extracting the data, transforming the data, and then loading the data.
Data must be properly formatted and normalized in order to be loaded into these types of data storage systems, and ETL is used as shorthand to describe the three stages of preparing data. ETL also describes the commercial software category that automates the three processes.
ETL Process
In ETL, the following three tasks are performed:
Extract:
the extraction process is the first phase of ELT, in which the desired data is identified and extracted from one or more sources, including database systems and applications.
Transform:
After data is extracted, it has to be physically transported to the target system or to an intermediate system for further processing.
Load:
The load phase moves the transformed data into the permanent, target database. It loads data into data warehouses or data repositories other reporting applications as well.
Once loaded, the ETL process is complete, although many companies perform ETL regularly in order to keep the data warehouse up to date.
For more info on the process its individual steps, check my previous blog post on this.
What are the Tools?
Leading data integration vendors must manage small and big, unstructured and structured data, batch and real-time streaming, on-premises and cloud or hybrid deployments, and deliver trusted data in a self-service fashion to everyone from business analysts to citizen integrators. All built on a unified metadata management foundation. Here is five of the best ETL Tools with some of their features and use cases:
Informatica Powercenter
Informatica PowerCenter is an enterprise data integration platform working as a unit, and it performs well in terms of features, capabilities, job opportunities, future as well as career growth.
With its high availability as well as being fully scalable and high-performing, PowerCenter provides the foundation for all major data integration projects and initiatives throughout the enterprise.
Informatica PowerCenter enables access to almost any data sources from one platform. It is because it uses technologies like Informatica PowerExchange and PowerCenter Options.
IBM InfoSphere
Information Server is a line of products from the IBM company responsible for data warehousing and data integration.
IBM introduced Infosphere Information Server as a complete set of business intelligence and data warehousing products which operate in four functional areas: Source data profiling, data quality assurance, transformation and delivery.
Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services
It is a part of the Microsoft’s database product – Microsoft SQL Server. It has great features like the connection monitoring and the tasks managing component.
Integration Services is a great tool not only for companies keeping data warehouses, but also for administrators of small databases. List of its features is impressing, but there are some things that should be changed.
Amazon Web Services ETL
AWS is a cloud-based computing service offering from Amazon. AWS offers over 90 services and products on its platform from storage to game development. As part of their services, Amazon offers ETL services and tools. AWS Glue is a managed ETL service and AWS Data Pipeline is an automated ETL service. Whereas AWS Elastic MapReduce (EMR) and Amazon Athena/Redshift Spectrum are data offerings that assist in the ETL process.
BusinessObjects Data Services
It is a complex platform for the data integration process and constitutes the latest version of Business Objects application. In comparison with previous versions of BO ETL (BusinessObjects Data Integrator), a Data Quality module is the integral part of Data Services. The SAP BusinessObjects Data Services platform has a modular structure and consists of a Data Services Designer that offers a number of pre-defined transformations and functional objects that allow modeling of the ETL flows.A Management Console and Central Respiratory.
For a bigger list, check this webpage.
What is the relevance of ETL Tools today?
When creating a data warehouse, it is common for data from disparate sources to be brought together in one place so that it can be analyzed for patterns and insights. It would be great if data from all these sources had a compatible schema from the outset, but this is rare. ETL takes data that is heterogeneous and makes it homogeneous. Without ETL it would be impossible to analyze heterogeneous data in an automated method and derive business intelligence from it.
Because of ETL Tools, analysts, business users, and data scientists could interact and query the data without disturbing business operations. More importantly, most ETL tools
eliminated the need to code: They provide a drag, drop, click, and configure
interface which breaks the transformation steps into distinct “stages”. ETL
specialists could build step-wise routines that were easy to trace and debug
without the need to understand code written by engineers.
Closing Thoughts
Building a data warehouse is a major undertaking that’s expected to yield substantial business benefits in order to justify the cost and effort. Using the right ETL Tool(s) is essential for success and for keeping up with the market and what it is demanding.
We have seen the definition of ETL, the process with its three stages and the some of the numerous Tools available in the market when comparing their usage. After that, we saw different reasons that make ETL Tools relevant for many users from different fields.
References
ETL Software tools
https://www.etltools.net/
ETL Process
http://datawarehouse4u.info/ETL-process.html
What is Extract, Transform, Load (ETL)?
https://www.informatica.com/services-and-training/glossary-of-terms/extract-transform-load-definition.html#fbid=RjHRT3238g7
Overview of ETL
https://docs.oracle.com/cd/B19306_01/server.102/b14223/ettover.htm
ETL Tools
http://datawarehouse4u.info/ETL-tools.html
Top 3 of the Best ETL tools in the Market in 2017