Talend vs Pentaho (ETL) review

Informatica happens to be the current leader in the ETL stack, but as a result of rapid business change, the demaqnd of light weight tools for the Small and medium size industry has increased exponentially.This sector is very particular on cost and would need a tool to address its data migration activities across different environments.High end tools like Informatica have thus released their thinner version i.e. Informatica Powercenter express to address such clients, which generally have data migration requirements. It is one time, across heterogeneous sources and very tight on cost.
We shall be reviewing Talend and Pentaho ETL tools which belong to the same space.

Talend

I installed the latest version for talend 5.5.1 and tried exploring the same. My reviews are as follows:

Pros
1. 30 day free trial version available.
2. Server - 2 GB
3. Free and comprehensive documentation.
4. Exceptional tool for people coming from Java coding background. The ETL concept is partially GUI based (unlike Informatica) and uses a lot of Java code to implement data transformations. Good tool for coders who want to learn ETL.
5. No database required for repository metadata.
6. Integration with a wide variety of storage systems including-Amazon Web Services' RDS, Big Data,WSDL etc.

Cons
1. Bit complicated to adopt for people who have worked on complete GUI based ETL tools like Informatica
2. The help center is available for 4 countries only, so your server should reside in one of these countries for you to access the same. India is not one of those countries :D

Pentaho

After my tryst with Talend, I decided to explore the data Integration suite of Pentaho.Reviews are as follows:

Pros
1. Very easy to install and use
2. Comprehensive documentation (better than talend)
3. Less coding more of GUI.
4. No database required for repository metadata.
5. Custom output that can be used by the Reporting tool of Pentaho.

Cons
1. No direct integration with WSDL.

 

Top Technologies/Tools to work for in Indian IT industry

1 Salesforce.com – One of the fastest growing technologies. Provides the platform for custom development of applications on the cloud. It will gradually end the reign of legacy databases like Oracle.

2MDM – Another hot skill to have. Clients are looking for MDM Gurus who could sync the massive volume of enterprise data. Tools: Informatica MDM, Dell Boomi MDM

3 SAP – Consider yourself lucky if you are getting into any of the SAP modules. Excellent technology to work to have a lasting career in IT.

4Data Warehouse – Development Projects in DWH are gradually decreasing. Excellent place for Prod-Support projects and can ensure good job security upto 5-7 years. Tools- Informatica, Abinitio, DataStage

Business Intelligence Reporting – This is front end to DWH. Tools- Cognos, SAP BO

Dell Boomi : Review

We tried implementing some scenarios on Dell Boomi. We were looking for a replacement for Informatica, a tool which would not only be cost effective but would also perform up-to expectations.Dell Boomi follows a different approach to play with data.Following are the pros and cons of the same.

Pros:

1. Cloud based architecture : Atoms (analogous can be installed on the local machines) which co-ordinates with the atom on the main cloud and runs the processes.

2. Connector Cost- The basic model is very cheap and it increases with the kind of connectors you would add. i.e. if you are very specific with salesforce integration then you need to buy the salesforce connector only.

3.Seamless integration across various sources
4. Dedicated online community
5. Good introductory videos on youtube. : http://www.youtube.com/user/boomitraining

Cons:

1. Not a very impressive look and feel.

2. Limited transformations in the expression 

3. Difficult to implement heterogeneous joins.

4. Boomi Suggest: All processes/mappings made on Boomi are saved in the main server.If a similar mapping is made by a third party, Boomi will suggest the developer the mapping architecture based on the mappings stored in the server. This might have intellectual property constraints. Using Boomi Suggest is optional, however if we are not allowing Boomi to include our processes in Boomi suggest , it does not allow us to refer the same as well.

Summary:  I was impressed with Dell Boomi, as it approaches data integration from a new perspective. The Document cache transformation is one of it’s kind, and many features similar to it’s thick client cousins like Informatica , make it an interesting tool to explore. Although it is not recommended to implement a full fledged DWH, it could target the Small and Medium Business (SMBs) who would want to enjoy the benefits of data integration at low costs.

Market Competitors: Snaplogic, Cast Iron