IT Briefcase Exclusive Interview: Integrating a World of Information with Todd Goldman, Informatica

In this interview, Todd Goldman from Informatica offers expert advice for organizations looking to effectively prepare for the integrated information age, and outlines ways in which data quality can be preserved within this Big Data revolution.

• Q. How do you see cloud computing and big data changing the way people need to look at data management and integration today?

A. These two trends create even greater opportunities for more data endpoints to be integrated. Some of these data endpoints are controlled by corporate IT departments. Some are not. As the number of endpoints increase, big data enables people to analyze them. At the same time, the cloud is creating data outside of  IT’s control. Both of these trends increase data fragmentation. Companies will need to be able to integrate data and manage it across all of these environments. This will only increase the need for data integration and data quality solutions.

• Q. In your opinion, how important is bridging the gap between business and IT, and how does Informatica’s platform work to accomplish this?

A. Technology can only solve part of the data integration challenge. The biggest issue that slows down time-to-deployment is miscommunication between business and IT. We see this repeatedly with our prospects. We are helping customers bridge this gap through an agile process for data integration and data quality projects.

• Q. What are the biggest data management challenges your clients are bringing to the table, and how is Informatica working to overcome these challenges?

A. The challenges are related to the volume, variety and velocity of data – and the fact that legacy data and systems never go away. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to developing solutions for customers’ business problems. Hadoop, for example, isn’t the answer for everything. Our focus is to develop a data integration platform that enables customers to leverage their skills across all of these environments and technologies – from on-premise to the cloud; batch to real-time; and from the entry level, to the enterprise, to Hadoop.

• Q. How is Informatica working to prepare businesses for the rapidly emerging integrated information age, and in your opinion, what role should quality play in this evolution?

A. We are living in the integrated information age right now. The role of data quality is evolving in much the same way that manufacturing evolved from the 1980’s to today. Auto manufacturers, for example, used to check on the quality of the cars coming off their lines, after the cars had been built – and fix any problems post-manufacturing. Now, they build quality into the process, each step of the way. Data quality will evolve in much the same way. That’s why we look to embed data quality directly into applications.

• Q. What major trends do you foresee emerging within cloud, big data, and data analytics over the next five years?

A. We see two major opportunities emerging:

 * The ability for business users to better self-serve, in their business analytics and decision making, without requiring as much help from IT professionals.

* The use of data, not just as an asset, but as a strategic competitive advantage, in creating new products and services.

Todd Goldman

Vice President and General Manager for Enterprise Data Integration, Informatica

Under Todd’s direction, Informatica delivers data integration and data quality software that transforms fragmented data into business-ready information used to fuel competitive advantage.    Before joining Informatica, he held leadership roles at Nlyte Software, Exeros, ScaleMP, America Online/Netscape and Hewlett-Packard.  Todd has an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S.E.E. from Northwestern University.