UPDATED 14:33 EDT / SEPTEMBER 01 2015

NEWS

Syncsort open-sources Spark connector for mainframes

The clash between old and new gripping the analytics world moved up yet another notch this morning with the release of a connector from Syncsort Inc. that aims to make it easier for organizations to tap records in their mainframes using Apache Spark. It’s being made available under the same open-source license as the data crunching engine.

The launch comes two months after IBM Corp., the leading producer of big iron, committed a cool billion dollars and some 3,500 engineers to accelerating the development of Spark. The two technologies represent two entirely different eras in data processing that have been in desperate need of bridging.

That’s because many of the mainframes still operating today are found in the financial sector, which is one of the leading adopters of modern analytics technologies such as Spark. In fact, one of the top use cases for the engine is finding anomalies in transactions, which often as not pass through an IBM system during processing.

The new connector will allow organizations to feed financial logs and other important data from their mainframes into Spark without the manual integration needed otherwise, saving time and effort. That information can then be integrated with other records to provide a broader view of operations.

But Spark is hardly the only tool in enterprises’ analytics arsenal, which is why Syncsort released a similar connector for Apache Sqoop, a likewise open-source technology meant to automate the migration of data from relational systems and Hadoop, last year. The pair will likely be joined by more integrations in the future as the company continues to work on simplifying the process of moving data out of aging mainframes.

Photo via IBM

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.

  • 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
  • 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.

Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.