In my opinion, with the launch of Informatica 9, it looks like the role
of the developers is brought down considerably as the Business users
themselves are able to customize the data objects to their need. The
development effort is also coming down, as the Logical Data Objects
created can be deployed across any service like Virtual SQL Federator
Service or a Web service, etc. Flexibility is alright, but what is the
cost involved in training the Business users to customize the delivered
objects? What is the change that is brought about in Informatica's
flagship product, PowerCenter? Is version 9 mainly focused on the
requirements of "Executive Dashboard"? If so, does it have any impact on
other kinds of projects like Data Migration, the focus of which is not
related to any reporting? Do you really think Informatica 9 can reduce
the IT project costs by reducing the effort? Finally, what do you think
about Informatica 9?
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This product is still in Beta Stage and many of their (Informatica) clients haven't used this version yet. Having said that my observation on this version 9 is as follows.
Business/IT Collaboration:
Requirement - Design - Development can be done thru informatica version 9 suite that contains Informatica Analyst and Developer.
Informatica Analyst would replace our existing word/pdf documents, excel spreadsheet and any customized tools which are used widely by our business users.
Even though during the launch presentation they have shown how easy the tool is but in reality, most of the business users will hesitate to move towards using informatica analyst.
Consider the current scenario. Business have an requirement - BA's analyze those - create specifications - Developers coordinate with business analyst and they develop the application and roll out. We have 3 different groups involved in this process and each of them have their unique roles and responsibilities. Apart from these people we have infrastructure folks who help us to achieve our requirement.
In the version 9 scenario, Business user can create their own requirement using Informatica Analyst Tool and developers can develop those using Developer Tool. This would eliminate the involvement for business analyst role. This would be impossible to achieve because not all business users can act as an business analyst.
If you want to launch this product in any financial institutions most of the employees will resist because this would encourage employer to lay off most of their BA's.
Pervasive Data Quality:
In reality we can't achieve this 100 % data quality. The reason is very simple 'Too many cooks spoil the broth'. Especially for a datawarehouse you will be receiving data from many internal/external systems it's very very difficult to achieve 100 % quality because there are too many people,process and apps involved in this process.
SOA-Based Data Services :
This is a good feature where by we can publish our data as a web service.
I don't know about the impact of this release on power center. Version 9 launch does not speak about existing informatica products.
I think you are reading too much into it. Since the beginning of time (or at least since PC's became prevalent in the business environment) vendors have cooked up tools that 'empower the business and circumvent traditional IT approaches'. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, I'm all for it.
However, the reality is, these tools are only as easy and productive as the technical environment behind it. The information environment in any business is very complex and requires architecture, planning, design and delivery to make sense of it. This requires strong technical skills as well as an understanding of the business.
Business people don't want to be technicians... they don't want to be spending their time burried in a tool defining and testing rules. What something like INFA 9 does is blur the boundaries between IT and the Business. This is good as there shouldn't have been boundaries in the first place (that is why there are so many screwed up systems out there).
What is does mean is that IT and Business need to, and should, work closer together. One is not replacing the other.
---
This discussion is part of Toolbox for IT's new Featured Discussion program, which offers open-ended discussion group conversations that enable participants to engage around issues that are slightly broader than traditional group message topics. If you're interested in submitting a topic for a future Featured Discussion, or if you would like to lead a future Featured Discussion, please contact moderator at ittoolbox dot com.
This product is still in Beta Stage and many of their (Informatica) clients haven't used this version yet. Having said that my observation on this version 9 is as follows.
Business/IT Collaboration:
Requirement - Design - Development can be done thru informatica version 9 suite that contains Informatica Analyst and Developer.
Informatica Analyst would replace our existing word/pdf documents, excel spreadsheet and any customized tools which are used widely by our business users.
Even though during the launch presentation they have shown how easy the tool is but in reality, most of the business users will hesitate to move towards using informatica analyst.
Consider the current scenario. Business have an requirement - BA's analyze those - create specifications - Developers coordinate with business analyst and they develop the application and roll out. We have 3 different groups involved in this process and each of them have their unique roles and responsibilities. Apart from these people we have infrastructure folks who help us to achieve our requirement.
In the version 9 scenario, Business user can create their own requirement using Informatica Analyst Tool and developers can develop those using Developer Tool. This would eliminate the involvement for business analyst role. This would be impossible to achieve because not all business users can act as an business analyst.
If you want to launch this product in any financial institutions most of the employees will resist because this would encourage employer to lay off most of their BA's.
Pervasive Data Quality:
In reality we can't achieve this 100 % data quality. The reason is very simple 'Too many cooks spoil the broth'. Especially for a datawarehouse you will be receiving data from many internal/external systems it's very very difficult to achieve 100 % quality because there are too many people,process and apps involved in this process.
SOA-Based Data Services :
This is a good feature where by we can publish our data as a web service.
I don't know about the impact of this release on power center. Version 9 launch does not speak about existing informatica products.
I think you are reading too much into it. Since the beginning of time (or at least since PC's became prevalent in the business environment) vendors have cooked up tools that 'empower the business and circumvent traditional IT approaches'. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, I'm all for it.
However, the reality is, these tools are only as easy and productive as the technical environment behind it. The information environment in any business is very complex and requires architecture, planning, design and delivery to make sense of it. This requires strong technical skills as well as an understanding of the business.
Business people don't want to be technicians... they don't want to be spending their time burried in a tool defining and testing rules. What something like INFA 9 does is blur the boundaries between IT and the Business. This is good as there shouldn't have been boundaries in the first place (that is why there are so many screwed up systems out there).
What is does mean is that IT and Business need to, and should, work closer together. One is not replacing the other.
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