Feb
06 No SQL to be found

No SQL to be found

 

SQL: Structured Query Language. The technology used by conventional databases (Oracle, MySQL) to store data in rows and columns. Experts in SQL command a high price in the marketplace as Database Administrators (DBAs) or programmers.

NoSQL: Not Only SQL, or Non-SQL databases. A big trend in IT, these databases use views of data other than rows and columns to store and organize information. They may use trees and paths (like a file system on a computer) or documents (like a filing cabinet with indexes).

DataButler is designed for people who have data, but don't have the resources within their business to get into SQL or NoSQL. They are non-SQL shops, and there are millions of them. You may be one of them. You have some accounting application, a bunch of spreadsheets, a folder full of word processing templates that you use as forms. You may have an app or two on your smartphone that simplifies your workload. You may even have a group of SaaS products that allow you to run your business online without anything more than a web browser running on your laptop.

But data is one of the drivers of your business (that and money). If you don't know who, what, where, when, and how, you are making bad decisions and losing money.

Hiring a person to organize all of your data and track the KPIs and metrics is unrealistic. Figuring out how to integrate all the different apps out there could take another full time employee. Let's make this easier.

DataButler is designed for people who know spreadsheets. Spreadsheets are simple, extensible, and valuable for non-SQL people. But the value in databases is the connections they allow, and the connections they uncover. DataButler understands spreadsheets, sees your data, and can make connections (over time, between different spreadsheets, between different authors).

You might not need SQL or NoSQL yet. But you do need Data. In fact, you have Data, but it's not being used effectively yet. DataButler will help you get there.

Sign up for the beta here.

Categories: Software

No SQL to be found

Feb
05 Small Data

Small Data

Everyone is excited about Big Data. Millions of data sources, streaming full time into vast data stores, tended by giant-brained data scientists, producing "insight" for mega-businesses.

But you need to worry about payroll, A/R, A/P, inventory, cash - maybe a few other things. Nothing too big, and you probably have a KPI* that you watch most closely of all.

Not Big. Small Data.

The 90s produced the spreadsheet, a great tool for small data. You can what-if, you can dream, you can look at scenarios and goal-seek. Spreadsheets can even do Medium Data, but mostly you just do Small Data, the important stuff.

If you don't need Big Data, but you do need better visibility into your Small Data, DataButler will help by organizing it behind the scenes. When you need information from someone, DataButler will create a simple form and a link you can send, and it will integrate the information you get back into your spreadsheet.

If you are tracking several things (locations, people, projects), if they have a unique ID, you can put that ID in column A in a bunch of spreadsheets and DataButler will link them all together into one big list of data, notifying you if there are different cell values in that row from different sources.

DataButler will help clean up your spreadsheets by noticing what is changing and what is staying the same over time.

A Butler isn't a scientist. A Butler is personal. A Butler deals with the little things.

Let us help you with your Small Data.

Sign up for the Beta at northcreek.ca.

*Key Performance Indicator

Categories: Software

Small Data