Top Three Questions to Ask Hadoop Vendors

In a recent post for DataInformed, David M. Fishman, VP of Marketing at Arcadia Data, a company that we recently wrote about as one of the more interesting up-and-comers in the enterprise Big Data market outlined the top three questions you should ask Hadoop vendors at the Strata Conference. The conference has already passed, but the questions are still relevant to those who may be on the hunt for enterprise Hadoop solutions for their organization.

Hadoop has evolved into one of the predominant tools in the enterprise Big Data industry, making it possible for companies to gain the maximum value from their data. Hadoop saves businesses money, provides scale and speed and has seen adoption explode, according to Hortonworks. Cloudera reported similar findings, saying that its base of enterprise subscription software users grew by 85 percent in 2015.

Companies are making big bets on the Hadoop platform for their Big Data needs, and now they are looking for ways to extract value. New tools built to deliver upon the promises of Hadoop are cropping up all the time, making it easier than ever to find exactly the software your organization needs to use Hadoop to its fullest potential. Here are the top three questions, as developed by Fishman, that you need to ask Hadoop vendors during the buying process:

How does your solution increase the value of Hadoop data?

According to Fishman, the answer to this question should be “address scale and access, essentially making Hadoop more than just a storage system.” Many business users are moving from systems of looking at samples of data to one where all of their data is available at the same time, so analytics tools that can scale from millions of data points to billions of data points offer a massive competitive edge. The data sitting inside Hadoop can only provide business value when more users can extract insights.

Does your solution make it easier for non-technical users to access Hadoop data?

Big Data can only provide the type of value companies seek if it is spread across a range of users, so asking vendors how their solution will appeal to functions across the business team is important. Each user is looking for something different to accomplish a task. Two other important things to inquire about are user experience attributes and whether or not non-technical users will feel comfortable exploring data while using a specific software platform.

How can Hadoop help to simplify the complex data warehouse and BI server stacks in my company?

Fishman explains: “Every vendor should be able to give you a pitch about how their solution can democratize granular data access and cut costs by simplifying and converging the data stack.”, adding: “Hadoop essentially collapses the stack: in the era of big, constantly flowing data, it is too expensive and cumbersome to scale these traditional systems at the pace of digital information.”

Interest in Hadoop has exploded as more organizations have come to the conclusion that it can help them extract insights from their vital business data. Fishman explains that the conversation surrounding Hadoop has changed from “what if?” to “how?” The answer to that question will likely come from more user-friendly tools.

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