Sometimes nothing short of total control over data security and data residency is acceptable. At Yellowbrick, we’ve taken a different approach to cloud database deployment. Rather than the pervasive Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS) models, we run entirely inside a customer’s cloud account or data center. You still get the SaaS-like simplified administration, operations and agile elasticity that customers have come to expect. This has many benefits for our customers, in particular those concerned with data residency or privacy, but also for those concerned about cos ..read more

My recent venture has involved a lot of conversations with Redshift users where they shared a wealth of experiences. These discussions, often accompanied by a comforting cup of coffee, revealed interesting patterns unique to Redshift. Some of these were surprising – try not to spill your coffee!   Redshift has done an incredible job on AWS of establishing itself as the go-to choice, offering native AWS integration and a cost-effective entry point that resonates with startups and established businesses alike. A common theme I heard was, ‘If you are moving to AWS, nobody gets fired fo ..read more

The role of the DBA has gone through many twists and turns over the last couple of decades. From the days of deciding which files to put on which disk spindle on which storage controller in which RAID configuration. The shift to SAN storage brought battles with storage admins. Developers needed the DBA’s god-like understanding of database internals and arcane query execution plans to deliver the performance they needed. Mission critical services needed highly available clusters and replicas to be built. And as databases and applications sprawled and concerns about security started to rise, au ..read more

Tea Trays and Cloud Computing I recently set up my mother with an old iPad for bedtime reading and save her from the perilous task of carrying an iPad up and down the stairs on an already overloaded tea tray. While she was initially concerned about manually synchronizing two devices, she quickly experienced the magic of the cloud through Apple Handoff. After reassuring her that her data was safe from spammers, she now happily uses this feature without a second thought. Her conceptual model has been adjusted accordingly.  So Easy, We Don’t Even Think About it Today, we take the cloud for g ..read more

Gratuitous Sales Pitch I’m no fan of corporate sales pitches, but sometimes, the situation is just too compelling to ignore. Despite being in the data warehouse game since my days at Oracle back in the 1980s (yes, computers have been around that long, kids!), I’m no independent data warehouse expert. I proudly acknowledge my pay-for-play credentials, but I also firmly believe in “see for yourself” thinking. So, dear reader, let’s dive in!  Why Modernize Amazon Redshift? Lately, we’ve been witnessing a growing interest in replacing Amazon Redshift with Yellowbrick. It’s understandable; org ..read more

The Snowflake Instacart Situation There’s a lot to unpack with this recent Snowflake, Instacart debacle, and while Instacart has no doubt gotten value from their massive spend on Snowflake, the more exciting part of this story is the millions of dollars in savings as a result of not relying on Snowflake as a one-stop-shop. The waters become muddy because CEO Snowflake, Frank Slootman, sits on the Board of Instacart, and the accusations flying around about these savings and how they were derived – something Snowflake refers to as “misrepresented by some on social media” in this clarifying blog ..read more

Access to good data is the biggest inhibitor of AI success, or at least that was my experience working for automated machine learning pioneers DataRobot. This blog presents a few thoughts on the role data engineering plays in setting a path for AI success. If Data Science is the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century, Data Engineers will be the unsung heroes. Garbage in, garbage out:Data-driven decision-making is only as good as the underlying data. Traditionally, when customers had problems, they called a Customer Service Rep who could navigate the systems, apply business policy, and get an an ..read more

I wrote this blog a while ago, espousing the benefits of using Yellowbrick alongside Snowflake.  I was chatting recently to a Yellowbrick client, NC Solutions, who follows this model to engineer massive quantities of data for their retail customers in Yellowbrick on AWS and use Snowflake’s data-sharing model to disseminate this data. This blog will explore the rationale behind this architecture. The “better together” argument is based on workload and processing window – that some jobs are better suited to Yellowbrick’s unique high-performance architecture. Furthermore, cloud consumptio ..read more

Is your data team budget simply under pressure? Are you aiming to allocate more funds for innovation and AI investment? A good starting point to decrease cloud computing costs is by optimizing your data and analytics platforms. We’ve compiled a list of the best resources on Snowflake cost optimization. Ensure that you are maximizing the benefits of your credits, have implemented appropriate measures, and deactivated any unused features. Check out this advice from Snowflake expert practitioners to improve performance and maximize cost savings. If all this sounds too complicated, o ..read more

In today’s digital world, businesses need to use data to their advantage. Embedded analytics are a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes. By providing users with real-time data insights, embedded analytics can help businesses to enhance user experiences, drive innovation, make data-driven decisions, and improve customer satisfaction. Embedded Analytics: Cost-Effective Data Insights In this webinar, our expert panel discusses the benefits of integrating data analytics capabilities within existing SaaS applications. They also share real-world examples of how businesses have used embedded ..read more