Big-data company HVR today launched its real-time data integration platform for enterprises that need to leverage information from multiple sources.

The company said in its pitch that while most large enterprises already have business intelligence systems in place, many still struggle to access the data they need to make the most of those tools. This is particularly true when moving exponential volumes of data into the cloud, or back again, in real time, the company said. The problem stems from enterprises using increasingly disparate information technology infrastructures that reside both on-premises and in the cloud.

“Data remains the singular most important piece of modernization, even more so than the database or sources and targets, which will continue to evolve,” said Anthony Brooks-Williams, HVR’s chief executive officer (pictured). “[But] the ability to generate insights from this data will be predicated on the ability to move the data and manage that movement in the most efficient way.”

HVR said its new real-time data integration architecture provides a more efficient method of moving data around. The company says its platform is an alternative to traditional data integration tools such as those offered by Talend Inc. and Informatica LLC, which move data via the traditional extract, transform and load process. Instead of these batch updates, HVR moves data continuously using a log-based change data capture method, which is a low-impact way of moving data from a variety of sources into target systems, Brooks-Williams told SiliconANGLE.

“After the initial data load, which is integrated with incremental change data movement, we only move incremental changes to destinations such as cloud and/or data lakes, which not only enable continuous updates but also minimizes load on the system,” Brooks-Williams said. “As the data is moved, it is compressed via our proprietary compression algorithm further limiting the bandwidth required to move the data.”

Brooks-Williams said HVR’s platform was targeting customers that need flexibility with their technology choices and want to avoid vendor lock-in. To that end, HVR supports more than 30 data sources and targets, and it provides an application programming interface for targets that don’t have native support. The HVR platform also stands out thanks to its modular architecture, which the company said is more suitable for complex data environments.

“For example, we have customers who have hundreds of source systems from around the globe that want to integrate the data from each into a centralized data lake for real-time reporting,” the CEO said. “The question then becomes, how do you manage that? What if you need some of the data to update in more systems, not just the targeted data lake?”

HVR simplifies this type of operation with a distributed architecture that’s accessible by a central console. From there, users can quickly point-and-click at where they want their data to move, instead of having to set up new integration tasks each time, Brooks-Williams said. So, if a customer has a new destination for data from multiple sources, it can be integrated with just a few easy clicks.

Another benefit of HVR’s platform is its compare and repair functionality that helps to maintain the manageability and visibility of data. Customers can use this feature to compare the data they are moving and identify when there is a problem with it.

Brooks-Williams said HVR is similar to Oracle Corp.’s GoldenGate data integration tool, which also uses log-based data capture to move data around systems. Perhaps that’s not surprising, given that Brooks-Williams and HVR’s chief technology officer Mark Van de Wiel are both former members of Oracle’s GoldenGate team. However, Brooks-Williams pointed out that Oracle GoldenGate is packaged very differently and requires a separate license for additional features such as the compare and repair functionality, whereas HVR offers this as a standard feature.

“Organizations looking to adopt modern technologies for real-time analysis that also need flexibility with how they integrate their data, such as the ability to add and remove new sources and targets, are good candidates for HVR,” Brooks-Williams said. “At the end of the day, sources and targets will change as new technologies are adopted, but HVR ensures data remains accessible and that timely business decisions can be made.”

Image: HVR