ETL Tools for Extract, Transform, & Load Process

Have you ever heard of data warehousing tools? You might be nodding your head saying YES if you belong to the business world. Well, data warehousing tools are the tools that can be used to support data warehouse operations at different levels. In simple words, these software applications that are needed for the ETL, short for Extract, Transform, Load process.

Also known as ETL tools, these tools first extract and transform data from several operational systems and then load the transformed data into the data warehouses. These further assist managers or end users in the business through the decision-making process. Not to your surprise, ETL process involves a set of complex activities. Therefore, to facilitate and smoothen the ETL process, it is recommended to employ the right ETL tools.

Most of the companies these days, either buy data warehouse tools from third party vendors or develop their own tools. To do this task efficiently, companies seek help of the in-house programmers. However, when the data transformation requirements go beyond the managing ability, then companies should seek the help of third party tools.

In order to find the best data warehouse tools, it is wise to browse online portals. Since, the internet is flooded with a line of such tools, you will not find much difficulty in locating the best one. Before making a choice, it is recommended to go through the comments and reviews of the customers who have already bought these tools. This may take some time, however never overlook the comments.

ETL Tools: The Perfect Platform to Have Data Connectivity Solutions

Not to your surprise, ETL is powerful application that can simplify, automate and execute significant integration processes. The ETL tools are taken into consideration for creating and populating data marts from a line of internal or external database resources. Besides these, data conversion is the main feature of these tools that can convert any format into any. For example, XML can be converted into CSV, HIPAA into XML, HL7 into XML and a lot more.

If you look closely, then you will find that the main objective of ETL tools is to extract, transform and load records of data from source to another. Therefore, this accelerates the data integration process of enterprises. Given are the THREE main components of these tools:

•  Central Repository: This is the point, where all the rules and mapping objects of a business are saved.

• Design Studio: This offers wizard-driven and geo-graphical ability to the business rules, as these are related with the validations and mapping processes.

• Run-time Execution Engine: This is the point, where the flow transactions and mapping rules are executed, during incoming files or messages.

Now, have a look at the key capabilities of ETL tools:

• Data Mapping: The tools should be designed graphically and web-based, as these really make it easy to specify conversion, validation and cleansing rules.

• Data Schemas and Transport: Whether it is a Text, CSV, XML, EDI, HIPAA, ACORD AL3, or any Fixed-Length file format, the tools support processing of data in any format.

What to Consider Before Purchasing ETL Software Tools

While looking for ETL tools, you may come across many, as an array of ETL tools is available, ranging from from open source to java based. Before making a purchase, you must compare and evaluate the tools. Moreover, you should also consider the process for data management. To your surprise, only a few IT departments are able to determine the current and future development needs to choose the right ETL software tools and that too without extensive growth. One of the effective ways to compensate the requirements for extra headcount is to choose the effective and efficient tools for handling complex database.

Given below are the steps that need to be followed before purchasing ETL software tools;

•    List the operating systems (OS) which support these tools
•    Amount of data (in GB) that need to be processed by these tools
•    Determine the connectivity along with the type of data sources that these tools have
•    Check the data format for which you have requested these tools
•    Choose the web based tools for better execution
•    Enforce information acceptance rules by indicating them in procedures
•    Check the document and formalize data streams and mapping standards
•    Determine the logging elements and check the load

Selecting ETL software tools may seem an easy task, but never take it lightly, as selecting these tools can indeed help grow your business. Since, most of the ETL tools are meant to support for non-technical staff, thus, you don’t need to hire expensive technical staff. Simply, choose the best ETL tools and reduce your time and overhead expenses.