1. Info-Tech Research Group1 Info-Tech Research Group, Inc. Is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns. © 1997-2014 Info-Tech Research Group Inc. Create a Customized Big Data Architecture and Implementation Plan Big data architecture is not your father’s data architecture. Info-Tech's products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.© 1997 - 2014 Info-Tech Research Group

2. Info-Tech Research Group2 Big data provides organizations with opportunities to gain a competitive advantage; however, without a big data architecture, few organizations will see any benefit. Introduction Data Architects, Enterprise Architects, and CIOs tasked with creating a data architecture that can support big data. Understand the importance of a big data architecture: why it is different from traditional data architecture and why it is necessary. Identify big data architectural principles based on the organization’s big data maturity. Develop the organization’s big data architecture by breaking tasks down into manageable decisions. Develop an implementation plan to ensure the architecture is successful. This Research Is Designed For:This Research Will Help You:

3. Info-Tech Research Group3 Executive Summary Many data architects have no experience with big data and feel overwhelmed by the number of options available to them (including vendor options, storage options, etc.). They often have little to no comfort with new big data management technologies. There are a few key reasons big data architecture is different than traditional data architecture: ◦ Big data architecture starts with the data itself, taking a bottom-up approach. Decisions about data influence decisions about components that use data. ◦ Big data introduces new data sources such as social media content and streaming data. ◦ The enterprise data warehouse (EDW) becomes a source for big data. ◦ Master data management (MDM) is used as an index to the content in big data about the people, places, and things the organization cares about. ◦ The variety of big data and unstructured data requires a new type of persistence. ◦ Analytics capabilities need to be expanded to handle the variety, volume, and velocity of big data. ◦ Big data applications leverage reporting and visualization in new ways to integrate information and generate new insights. Before beginning to make technology decisions regarding the big data architecture, make sure a big data architecture strategy is in place to document architecture principles and guidelines, the organization’s big data business pattern, and high-level functional and quality of service requirements. Use the big data business pattern to determine what data sources to use in your architecture, this will then dictate the data integration capabilities required. By documenting current technologies, and determining what technologies are required, you can uncover gaps to be addressed in an implementation plan. Once you have identified and filled technology gaps, perform an architectural walkthrough to pull decisions and gaps together and provide a fuller picture. After the architectural walkthrough, fill in any uncovered gaps. A proof-of-technology project can be started as soon as you have evaluation copies (or OSS products) and at least one person who understands the technology.

4. Info-Tech Research Group4 How to use this blueprint We recommend that you supplement the Best-Practice Blueprint with a Guided Implementation. For most Info-Tech members, these Guided Implementations are included in your membership plan.* Our expert analysts will provide telephone assistance to you and your team at key project milestones to review your materials, answer your questions, and explain our methodology. Info-Tech Research Group’s expert analysts will come onsite to help you work through our project methodology in a 2-5 day project accelerator workshop. We take you through every phase of the project and ensure that you have a road map in place to complete your project successfully. In some cases, we can even complete the project while we are onsite. Do-It-Yourself Implementation Use this Best-Practice Blueprint to help you complete your project. The slides in this Blueprint will walk you step-by-step through every phase of your project with supporting tools and templates ready for you to use. Project Accelerator Workshop You can also use this Best- Practice Blueprint to facilitate your own project accelerator workshop within your organization using the workshop slides and facilitation instructions provided in the Appendix. Book your workshop now by emailing: WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com Best-Practice Blueprint Free Guided ImplementationOnsiteWorkshops * Guided Implementations are included in most advisory membership seats. Or calling: 1-888-670-8889 Ext. 3001 There are multiple ways you can use this Info-Tech Best-Practice Blueprint in your organization. Choose the option that best fits your needs:

5. Info-Tech Research Group5 Book a free guided implementation today! Info-Tech is just a phone call away and can assist you with your project. Our expert Analysts can guide you to successful project completion. For most members, this service is available at no additional cost.* Here’s how it works: 1. Enroll in a Guided Implementation for your project Send an email to GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com Or call 1-888-670-8889 and ask for the Guided Implementation Coordinator.GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com 2. Book your analyst meetings Once you are enrolled in a Guided Implementation, our analysts will reach out to book a series of milestone-related telephone meetings with you and your team. 3. Get advice from a subject matter expert At each Guided Implementation point, our Consulting Analyst will review your completed deliverables with you, answer any of your questions, and work with you to plan out your next phase. * Guided Implementations are included in most advisory membership seats. This symbol signifies when you’ve reached a Guided Implementation point in your project.

6. Info-Tech Research Group6 Book a workshop today! An Info-Tech project accelerator workshop will help you to engage your stakeholders, gather important data, make key decisions, and generate a customized project road map. Here’s how it works: 1. Enroll in a 2-5 day workshop for your project Send an email to WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com or call 1-888-670-8889 Ext. 3001. Your account manager will contact you and quote you the cost of a workshop.WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com 2. Book your workshop A Workshop Coordinator will contact you to book a workshop planning call with one of our Facilitators and arrange dates for your workshop. We can hold the workshop in Info-Tech’s world-class facility in Toronto or at your location. 3. Plan your workshop A Workshop Facilitator will contact you to go over the workshop outline and choose the contents that are appropriate to your situation. 4. Participate in your workshop Our experienced Workshop Facilitators will take your project team through your tailored slides and exercises and will summarize all the workshop outputs into a final report. Some of our workshops are available at no charge. We offer newly introduced blueprints as free pilot workshops to our clients during a short testing period. Each workshop is: Offered for free one time only. Available to all clients after testing, for a very reasonable price. For a current list of free pilot workshops, please contact WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com or see the Upcoming Research page on our website. WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com Also Available: Info-Tech’s Free Pilot Workshops

7. Info-Tech Research Group7 Guided Implementation points in the Big Data Architecture project Book a Guided Implementation Today: Info-Tech is just a phone call away and can assist you with your project. Our expert Analysts can guide you to successful project completion. Here are the suggested Guided Implementation points in the Big Data Architecture project: Section 2: Design a Big Data Architecture Strategy Moving forward after the big data architecture strategy: Discuss with an Analyst the implications of your maturity on your principles and guidelines. Validate your pattern selection tool results and ensure there are no requirement gaps. Section 3: Build the Big Data Architecture Moving forward after the Big Data Architecture Decision Making Tool: Validate your Big Data Architecture Decision Making Tool results and receive guidance on next steps to understand the implications on your common services. Section 4: Determine Common Service Needs Moving forward after the common services decisions: Receive guidance on your common services needs and advice on beginning your implementation plan. Section 5: Plan the Big Data Architecture Implementation Moving forward after the implementation plan: Grasp how initiatives can be grouped together and the dependencies between initiatives. Recognize metrics for determining the success of your architecture. To enroll, send an email to GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com or call 1-888-670-8889 and ask for the Guided Implementation Coordinator.GuidedImplementations@InfoTech.com This symbol signifies when you’ve reached a Guided Implementation point in your project.

8. Info-Tech Research Group8 What’s in this Section:Sections: Recognize the Importance of Big Data Architecture Design a Big Data Architecture Strategy Build the Big Data Architecture Determine Common Services Needs Plan the Big Data Architecture Implementation Big data is centered on the volume, variety, velocity, veracity, and value of data. Why is big data architecture so important? Info-Tech’s Big Data Reference Architecture.

9. Info-Tech Research Group9 Big data is rapidly increasing amounts of data, generated by multiple sources, in many formats & analyzed for new insights The variety of data types are increasingly diverse. Structured data often comes from relational databases, while unstructured data comes from a number of sources such as photos, video, text documents, cellphones, etc. Variety Velocity Volume Veracity Value The volume of data being produced has increased rapidly. Organizations are faced with data from numerous sources including the enterprise, the cloud, and social media. Data is being generated at increasing rates. Organizations not only need to address how quickly data is generated, but also how quickly the data needs to be analyzed before it becomes stale or obsolete. Getting value out of big data is dependent on having quality data. If an organization’s data lacks veracity, decisions may be made that do not actually benefit the organization. Consider the five V’s (volume, variety, velocity, veracity, and value) when creating a definition of big data. The value of big data comes from the analytics. Organizations can perform more in-depth analytics, delving into data and connecting previously unconnected data sets.

10. Info-Tech Research Group10 Big Data architecture can be mandated or it can be done proactively: Why are you here? Generally data architects implement big data because they are mandated to, but occasionally some take a proactive approach. This blueprint presumes that you have already made the case for big data in your organization. If you have not made the case, please refer to Develop a Pattern-Based Big Data Strategy to Accelerate Big Data Value.Develop a Pattern-Based Big Data Strategy to Accelerate Big Data Value You are reading this because (1) you have been mandated by the business to implement a data architecture that can support big data, or (2) you are choosing to take a proactive approach to building the foundation for big data within your organization. This blueprint will help you regardless of which scenario you fall under. Below is a list of the specific benefits for each use case: ◦ If you have been mandated, this blueprint will: –Assist you in making technology choices much quicker. –Provide you with metrics to demonstrate your success to the business. ◦ If you are being proactive, this blueprint will: –Help you get ahead of the curve. –Prepare you to handle requests from the business when they come. –Give you a head start in understanding how big data architecture differs from traditional. IT and Data departments should be the ones driving the initiative. They should be the spark, they should provoke, and they should make presentations for users. If IT doesn’t, the users are already doing it and they may go to other sources and overlook IT. -- Mario Faria, Chief Data Officer, ServiceSource

11. Info-Tech Research Group11 It’s a cultural change, a change in the mindset. As an example, one big change is a shift from RDBMS to files. Architects and developers have to understand and adapt to that. There is a lot of learning and investment upfront but companies will reap the benefits in the long run. What happens when everything you have ever learned about data architecture gets thrown out the window? The business is demanding big data capabilities and has forced data architects who haven’t planned for big data into a difficult situation. Many data architects have no experience with big data and feel overwhelmed by the number of options available to them (including vendor options, storage options, etc.). They often have little or no comfort with new data managing technologies. ◦ Data architects are struggling with the departure from SQL (relational) databases to NoSQL (non-relational) databases, having little experience and comfort with the lack of standardization and the need to code each individual query. ◦ Data architects are most comfortable with structured data, and big data often includes unstructured data (e.g. tweets) and semi-structured data that needs parsing. This is a new skill for many data architects and can seem daunting. ◦ Big data often involves blending of internal and external data. Data architects are not used to grappling with external data sources and trying to integrate them with internal data. This raises a number of issues including privacy, data matching, and security. -- Sushil Dhankani, Manager of Data Architecture & Analytics, Cardinal Health

12. Info-Tech Research Group12 Info-Tech Research Group Helps IT Professionals To: Sign up for free trial membership to get practical solutions for your IT challenges www.infotech.com Quickly get up to speed with new technologies Make the right technology purchasing decisions – fast Deliver critical IT projects, on time and within budget Manage business expectations Justify IT spending and prove the value of IT Train IT staff and effectively manage an IT department “Info-Tech helps me to be proactive instead of reactive – a cardinal rule in a stable and leading edge IT environment. - ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co., LP Toll Free: 1-888-670-8889