The document discusses the limitations of traditional centralized data management in analytics and emphasizes the need for a rethinking of data architecture to accommodate modern, connected environments. It introduces concepts such as event streaming, data lakes, and the distributed nature of data, arguing for local context and control in decision-making. Third Nature, the authoring firm, provides insights into analytics, business intelligence, and strategies for leveraging data effectively in enterprises.

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Analytics on the Edge:
Connected Analytics
for the Modern
Enterprise
Analyst commentary
August, 2015
Mark Madsen
Third Nature
@markmadsen

2. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
Order Entry
Order
Database
Customer
Service
Interface
Program
Inventory
Database
Distribution
Interface
Program
Receivables
Database
Accounts
Receivable
Data
Warehouse
Analysts &
users
Someone else always wants to use your data…

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The data warehouse. More of a CostCo, really.
Came about in a pre‐event streaming market

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Core idea: centralize: that solves all problems!
But there are tradeoffs:
Creates bottlenecks
Causes scale problems
Enforces a single model
Injects latency

5. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
New terminology: Data is the new oil

6. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
New terminology: Data Exhaust

7. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
New terminology: the data lake

8. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
There is a different assumption with these terms
“Data isn’t something we make, it’s just there.”
But the prevailing model for management and
use is still “centralize”

9. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
There is a different assumption with these terms
“Data isn’t something we make, it’s just there.”
But the prevailing model for management and
use is still “centralize”
This won’t work

10. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
What happens when (a) there are only messages and no
database? and (b) machines are actors in the system?
Order Entry
Order
Database
Customer
Service
Interface
Program
Inventory
Database
Distribution
Interface
Program
Receivables
Database
Accounts
Receivable
Data
Warehouse
Analysts &
users

11. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
In a mostly‐connected world, events occur in
different time frames, follow different cycles of use
13
Source: Noumenal
Disconnected
Milliseconds Minutes Hours+

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In a mostly‐connected world, events occur in
different time frames, follow different cycles of use
14
Source: Noumenal
Disconnected
Every event is
persisted for some
period of time before
it is forgotten or
forwarded
Milliseconds Minutes Hours+

13. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
In a mostly‐connected world, events occur in
different time frames, follow different cycles of use
15
Source: Noumenal
Disconnected
Local context
and control,
local decisions,
local latency
Milliseconds Minutes Hours+

14. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
In a mostly‐connected world, events occur in
different time frames, follow different cycles of use
16
Disconnected
Source: Noumenal
Milliseconds Minutes Hours+
Bigger context,
likely correlated,
more complex
rules, external
monitoring

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In a mostly‐connected world, events occur in
different time frames, follow different cycles of use
17
Disconnected
Source: Noumenal
Milliseconds Minutes Hours+
Broad context, human
intervention, diagnosis
and analytical tasks that
have to be coordinated.

16. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
In a mostly‐connected world, events occur in
different time frames, follow different cycles of use
18
Disconnected
Source: Noumenal
Milliseconds Minutes Hours+
Data lives in multiple places,
at multiple levels of detail, for
differing durations. Unlikely to
all be in one place.
Nor should it be.

17. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
Flowing Persisted
Sliding window
of “now”
Persisted but not yet
loaded into a platform
Queryable history
Managed history
Streaming isn’t either‐or, it’s part of IT architecture
A DB can get you to within
minutes (at large scale) but it
won’t be easy or cheap, mainly
lives in the realm of history
Event streams, in-mem
stores, CEP streaming
SQL can be used for these
Real time monitoring doesn’t use only real time data: windows, restarts,
detecting deviation, so the above boundaries are crossed.
ESB Cache/Queue Database / platform

18. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
Stream
If you want to do realtime and still manage your data
effectively then you need to rethink data architecture
Collect Refine Manage Deliver
Flowing Managed historyPersisted
Microservices Metadata
Metadata & reuse?
Flow, persisted, managed define different access,
processing, storage and retrieval requirements

19. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
Rethinking software and data architectures is
required. Enterprise IT needs to be renovated.

20. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
Image Attributions
Thanks to the people who supplied the images used in this presentation:
refinery‐hdr.jpg ‐ http://www.flickr.com/photos/vermininc/2477872191/
Building demolition ‐ https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregpc/4429888820
Streaming environment ‐ http://www.noumenal.com/
Slide 22

21. Copyright Third Nature, Inc.
About Third Nature
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and practices in analytics, business intelligence, and performance management. If your
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then you‘re at the right place.
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We fill the gap between what the industry analyst firms cover and what IT needs. We
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