The proliferation of the Internet of Things will require that manufacturers conduct business differently, specifically as it relates to collecting and acting upon data. With that in mind, Tibco Software Inc., recently released the second generation of its Live Datamart, push-based operational intelligence technology that analyzes key events as they occur.
Live Datamart 2.0 includes a new implementation of the company’s Continuous Query Processor for streaming data, new Javascript APIs, native support for in-memory data grid technology, and support for the Internet of Things (IoT).
“Live Datamart is about the operational use of analytics,” says Richard Tibbetts, Tibco’s CTO of event processing, explaining that the automated analytical technology extends to the user to provide a deeper understanding of what’s going on in a business or manufacturing situation.
Initially developed for online retail marketing and banking applications, the rise of the Internet of Things, along with advanced connectivity methods-- such as OSIsoft’s PI System used for real-time event management in oil and gas, chemicals, food and beverage, and life sciences industries—has expanded Live Datamart’s reach.
While manufacturers may already have business intelligence (BI) applications in place, what’s unique about the Live Datamart concept is the technology’s ability to run continuous analysis on data as it arrives, presenting only the important alerts and information to the operator in real-time, Tibbetts says.
Traditionally, a business might view an operational report at the end of the day, which is providing information on events after they happen. In today’s environment, people need up-to-the minute information in order to act on conditions as they change. As data streams in quickly from multiple sources, Live Datamart continuously queries the data using pre-determined business rules, and delivers alerts to the operator’s visual dashboard.
An oil company, for example, can connect live streaming sensor readings like pressure, voltage, and temperature from thousands of wells into the Live Datamart and submit queries so that when an oil well shows over 5% probability of failure, it is time to investigate. This helps users spot problems and address them before something happens.
“Getting data into the hands of people who can make decisions within the moment is critical to the success of applications using Internet of Things technology,” Tibbetts says.
New features of Live Datamart 2.0 include:
Embedded R Predictive Analytics. Predictive analytics authored through Tibco Spotfire in Tibco Enterprise Runtime for R can now be “dropped in” the Live Datamart server.
Continuous Query Processor Improvements. A range of new and improved query types including new dynamic aggregation, expanded alerting functionality, enhanced data compression, and improvements on dynamic real-time stream query performance.
Internet of Things Support. Tibco Live Datamart provides continuous intelligence and business operations analytics on streaming IoT data. Release 2.0 features connectivity to Internet of Things data sources, and protocols including OSI Pi and MQTT (MQ Telemetry Transport).
New API Libraries for Mobile and Web Access. Mobile and web access to live data are becoming increasingly important to digital business. StreamBase LiveView 2.0 provides new APIs that allow these devices to provide end-user access to live operational intelligence with standard HTML5 technologies.
Native In-Memory Data Grid Support with ActiveSpaces. Tibco Live Datamart tables can now be streamed directly from ActiveSpaces into the Datamart server.
StreamBase LiveView Desktop Enhancements. StreamBase LiveView Desktop provides end-user query functionality, live graphing, ad-hoc application development, and end-user alerting control. Version 2.0 of the StreamBase LiveView Desktop includes enterprise failover functionality as well as visualization and usability improvements.
In addition to the new functionality, the value-add of the datamart is its ability to deliver business-critical information to key decision-makers. “Not just executives, but also the people on the phone with the customer, or the people who have their hands on the control systems,” Tibbetts says. “They are empowered by having a better awareness of what they’re doing with all of this data.”
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