Actian (re)launches data platform with integration-as-a-service

Actian has just relaunched the Actian Data Platform (formerly Avalanche). Notably, it now includes integration-as-a-service functionality that it is clear the company believes (not unjustifiably) will set it apart from the pack.

But first things first. As you can see from the included architecture diagram, Actian is deployable to on-prem, cloud, and hybrid environments, with support for AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes. It positions a hybrid data plane (that can encompass both on-prem and cloud data, as well both structured and unstructured data) below a control plane, that in turns sits under your other applications via a series of connectors and APIs.

Now, the new bit: data integration, available as a service. The idea behind this is pretty simple, and fits neatly with Actian’s existing modus operandi, in that it aims to make its data integration tooling – alongside accompanying technologies like data ingestion, quality, and preparation – more unified and easier to use. To this end, Actian’s integration service includes (among other things) real-time, event-driven data ingestion from “anywhere” via an extensible library of connectors, REST/SOAP APIs, and desktop data load (indeed, the company talks proudly of its “API-first” approach to integration); data preparation and transformation using a no-/low-code transformation builder; and the integrated application of data quality rules, which can be pre-populated via industry-specific packs of predefined rules suited to various verticals.

The integration processes themselves are designed in Actian DataConnect Studio, using templates and/or guided workflows. There is also a management interface for monitoring all of your ongoing and completed data integrations in a single place, regardless of where those integration processes are occurring or have occurred. This single-pane-of-glass view might be one of the most useful new features the platform has to offer, for its sheer practicality. That said, it is clearly one among many – in fact, the entire update seems to be taking Actian in a good direction.