The problem with a technology as important as Big Data is that everyone is jumping in with their own version. That’s to be expected, of course, since companies and vendors all have their own ideas about what Big Data means to them. Unfortunately, getting all those different technologies to work together can be a real trick. That’s where the Open Data Platform Initiative (ODPi) comes in. The ODPi represents a set of common standards for Big Data solutions. In its own words, it’s “a nonprofit organization committed to simplification and standardization of the Big Data ecosystem with a common reference specification called ODPi Core.”

To get some insight into the ODPi project, John Furrier (@furrier) and Dave Vellante (@dvellante), cohosts of theCUBE from the SiliconANGLE Media team, spoke with Alan Gates, cofounder of Hortonworks, Inc. and a member of the ODPi Technical Steering Committee, during the Hadoop Summit Dublin 2016 conference.  

Reducing complexity

“How do we make this so it’s just bonehead simple?” Gates asked, starting the conversation. That was the goal of ODPi, which he described as a way to set things up so everyone can use it. The community, he said, has to come around the project for it to be successful. By proving the value of ODPi standards and getting application vendors on board, it can gain the respect of the community, he added.

The sales pitch, Gates said, is threefold, hitting three audiences: application providers, developers and customers. ODPi can provide a set of tasks to prove compliance to their standards and also offer a stable environment so developers only have to build a product once for it to run anywhere.

Market forces

Convincing the community to adopt a set of standards means getting the big players on the bus. Gates pointed out that doing a better job of making these editions low-friction for the major vendors is better for everyone. He also mentioned that while they wanted to bring other projects into ODPi, they decided to start with a simple core just to get up and running.

So far, Gates said, customers have been very excited with ODPi. However, they’re looking for stronger feedback from the application developer community to help fine-tune the project. The next milestone, he said, is getting the operations side out, along with an update to keep up with how the tech is changing.

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Hadoop Summit 2016 – Dublin. And make sure to join in during theCUBE’s live coverage during the event by joining in on CrowdChat.

Photo by SiliconANGLE