The Democratization of Data Analytics – SQL Server

In a consumer-driven economy, it is imperative that data be delivered swiftly and in a comprehensible format to support a company’s business intelligence efforts.

“Databases of the past were about recording and retrieving data. Databases of the future are about recording and retrieving intelligence. If you look back at databases of the past, indexing and querying mechanisms were to officially retrieve data. We look to databases of the future (and) we want to create models and algorithms to predict information from our data…” — Ross Mistry, Senior Director for Technology and Innovation, Microsoft Technology Center Silicon Valley

Companies everywhere are now gaining the ability to implement business intelligence programs through what is called the Democratization of Analytics, or the availability of tools and technologies that enable companies to analyze data without significant investments. With self-service analytics on the rise, there is a need for systems capable of supporting these tools and making full use of their potential. SQL Server assists in this by making data analytics readily available to almost everyone, providing users with great tools that support faster data delivery in an easily understandable format.

The future of SQL Server in data democratization

With innovative new tools and platforms capable of handling the exploding volume and variety of data, SQL Server has a great future in the world of data democratization. Agile BI is causing a shift in the decision-making toward the business needs of people who need and use these applications. Businesses are learning more about their consumer behaviors through data analysis in order to understand them and be able to sell more of their products and services.

Today’s data analytics tools have become cloud-native as a result of the flexibility of the cloud. This has made it possible for petabytes of data to be digested at rates that were not possible before with results displayed on any device to anyone, with answers understandable to all.

More businesses are embracing cloud database management systems due to their ability to quickly analyze large amounts of unstructured data in order to detect patterns and gain insights. This, in turn, gives a business a greater chance of success by improving its strategies and insights in an easily scalable and affordable way. With data democratization, fast response times can be achieved, enabling businesses to take advantage of opportunities revealed from sophisticated analysis.

Why companies need consulting solutions more than ever

An overhead lag in data from the core transactional environment can slow down or cripple a business both financially and competitively. The real value of data lies in its ability to be analyzed in large and diverse data sets in the shortest time possible. Though a variety of business intelligence toolsets are available to IT and finance departments, this doesn’t necessarily mean they know how to optimize them to their advantage.

A consulting company can make a big difference. In fact, now that companies are freed from investing big dollars in analytics resources, that money can now go towards bringing in partners that can enable better, more accurate business insights – which is exactly where the greatest Return on Investment lies. Business can also glean great benefits from outsourcing BI-related database administration. With the role of the DBA consistently changing and maturing, many outsourcing companies can provide the kind of data management expertise that can support an entire IT department at a fraction of the cost of an in-house analytics team.

“Businesses used to rely on databases to be sound, run smoothly and give good reporting. But now, data actually makes you more competitive, and there are more job titles working with data and more technologies that use it. And the database professional is at the core of that.” — Kenny Gorman, a database veteran and co-founder of the real-time data service company Eventador

The world is consistently evolving and, as it evolves, more businesses are gaining access to more sophisticated tools. The democratization of analytics can help any company evolve with the tide of change as long as the proper resources are utilized to make the most of the data and reporting platforms at their disposal.

Datavail is the largest provider of data and database administration (DBA) services in North America with more than 600 DBAs, analysts, developers and consultants. We offer 24×7 managed services and project consulting in database administration, BI/Analytics, data warehousing, and enterprise performance management. Datavail’s expert consulting team specializes in integrations, implementations, and upgrades for applications across the Oracle stack, including Hyperion, OBIEE, OBIA, GoldenGate, Weblogic, and more.