Introduction
Data virtualization tools have emerged in recent years, providing an approach to data management that overcomes the limitations of traditional data tools. In this article, we will explore virtualization and some of the key features that you should look for when choosing a data virtualization platform. Keep reading to learn more.
What is Data Virtualization?
Data virtualization is a process that allows businesses to create a single view of their data, regardless of its location. One data virtualization example is the integration of data from multiple sources into a virtualized layer, which can then be accessed and analyzed by business users. Virtualization is useful for consolidating data from multiple sources into a single location or providing a simplified interface to complex data stores.
Data virtualization allows businesses to manage this process, as well as the security and governance of their data, with ease. Some key features of data virtualization platforms include:
- The ability to integrate data from multiple sources, including both on-premises and cloud-based systems
- A user interface that allows business users to access and analyze the data
- The ability to govern the security and privacy of the data
We’ll take a closer look at these, as well as some other useful features, below.
Four Useful Features of Data Virtualization Platforms
1. Integrate data effortlessly with data virtualization.
Data virtualization platforms allow companies to integrate data from a variety of different sources, both inside and outside the company, in real time. This gives businesses a single view of all their data, which can be used for reporting and analysis. One key feature is the ability to map different schemas between the physical data stores and the virtual data store. This allows the platform to combine data from multiple sources even if they use different schemas.
Real-time data integration and streaming allow businesses to get new data into their data virtualization layer as quickly as possible. This helps ensure that businesses have the most up-to-date information for making informed decisions. It also helps reduce the amount of time needed for data preparation, which can lead to faster insights and better decision-making.
Virtualization platforms also provide a way to manage data from a central location, allowing the organization to control access to the data while ensuring the data is consistent across all the applications that use it. And, since the platform keeps track of the history of each piece of data, virtualization also makes it easier to keep track of changes in data and helps ensure that the data is accurate.
2. Data virtualization platforms make data easier to use and manage.
The data virtualization platform you choose should be easy to use so that even non-technical users can still get value from it. This is an important point, as many businesses don’t have the time or resources to learn a complex platform. The platform should be intuitive and easy to use, with a minimal learning curve. Additionally, it should be regularly updated with new features and enhancements to ensure that users can continuously make the most of their data.
Data federation is an important capability for virtualization platforms. By allowing data to be queried and analyzed regardless of where it is stored, data federation enables organizations to get the most value from their data. But some key factors need to be considered when choosing a virtualization platform with data federation capabilities.
One of the most important features is the ability to query data regardless of its location. This includes being able to query data that is on-premises, in the cloud, or located in other data stores. Another important factor is the platform’s ability to integrate with a variety of data sources. This includes both traditional data sources, such as relational databases, and big data sources, such as Hadoop and NoSQL databases.
3. Virtualization improves organizational performance and efficiency.
Data virtualization can be used to pre-process data before loading it into a data warehouse or data mart. This can improve the performance of your data warehouse or data mart by eliminating the need to load data that is already in the correct format. It can also improve the efficiency of your data storage by reducing the amount of processing that is needed to load the data.
Another key feature is the ability to handle incremental updates. When changes are made to the underlying physical data stores, the virtual data store will automatically reflect those changes. This eliminates the need to manually update the virtual copy whenever changes are made to the source data stores.
Additionally, many data virtualization platforms include features that allow for parallel querying and analysis of all or part of the consolidated dataset. This can be done using standard SQL commands or through an integrated graphical interface designed specifically for working with Virtual Data Stores (VDSs). The result is that users can get insights into their business operations quickly and easily, without spending time integrating disparate datasets.
4. Enhance your company’s data security and governance.
When it comes to data security and governance, businesses have a lot of concerns. Ensuring that your data is properly secured is critical, but it can be difficult to do when you have multiple systems and applications spread out across different locations. Data virtualization can help to enhance the security and governance of your business by providing a single view of your data that is secure and governed by your specific policies.
Data virtualization can improve security in a few ways, starting with data visibility. When you can see all of your data in one place, it is much easier to identify and track any potential security threats. With data virtualization, you can also apply security policies and controls at the data level, which helps to ensure that your data is always secure. Additionally, data virtualization can help to improve collaboration and communication between teams, which can help to identify and address potential security issues before they become a problem.
Governance is another critical concern for businesses. With data virtualization, you can create a single point of governance for your data. This ensures that all data is properly managed and that everyone is following your specific policies and procedures. Data virtualization is also an effective tool for improving data access and control. You can use data virtualization to create specific user roles and permissions, which helps to ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive data.
The Takeaway
Data virtualization is a process that allows businesses to create a single view of their data, regardless of its location.
Virtualization is useful for consolidating data from multiple sources into a single location or providing a simplified interface to complex data stores.
Data virtualization also allows businesses to manage this process, as well as the security and governance of their data, with ease.
