Big Data is invading corporate discourse and information systems alike.
Mastering data in order to exploit it - in a word, using it - should be within everyone's reach, but this is not the case.
So how do we design the ergonomics of a solution so that it delivers on this promise?
Guilhem Malichier, developer at Tale of Data, provides the answers.
Extracting, moving and transforming data to meet operational constraints is not a new need.
ETL (Extract Transform Load) solutions have been around for a long time to meet this need, but they are aimed at sophisticated users who know how to code or, at the very least, have a technical background.
Tale of Data's solution was born of this realization, and of the desire for everyone to have direct control over their data, so that it can be used in their business. "There's nothing more complicated than making things simple", says Guilhem Malichier from the outset.
Data is the property of the whole company, not just the IT department. Users should be able to access it easily, without compromising security and confidentiality. But for this to happen, they need to be provided with tools that they will be able to handle, without having to follow (or even undergo) long, costly and tedious training courses.
A user with a particular need should be able to find the tools and functions that will help him or her. But it's even better if they can do so without having to wade through dozens of pages of documentation or navigate endless menus. Tale of Data pays particular attention to the application's integrated search functions: for example, you can search for transformation functions in natural language, without having to know any technical jargon.
The solution also offers intelligent suggestions and default parameters, to speed up and simplify the user's path to the expected results. As soon as a file is opened, for example, data types are automatically detected, and any input errors are highlighted, with relevant suggestions for correcting them. "Many of the steps that would normally require manual configuration are done automatically, to encourage the user to move forward: often all he has to do is validate the result at a glance" says Guilhem Malichier.
Another feature that makes the Tale of Data solution unique is Mass Data Discovery. As its name suggests, this search function enables business users to identify data of interest from among the sometimes enormous volume of data to which they have access. This massive scan of data, whatever it may be, wherever it may be and whatever its format, is carried out on demand and provides an exhaustive mapping of the data to facilitate its organization and use, while respecting security and confidentiality constraints.