>> Announcer: Live from San Francisco, it's theCUBE, covering Informatica World 2017. Brought to you by Informatica. (Upbeat music fades) >> Hey, welcome back everyone. We're live here in San Francisco for Informatica World 2017. I'm John Furrier with theCUBE, SiliconeANGLE's flag shift program. We go out to the events and extract the seth-a-pla-noids. My co-host for the next two days is Peter Burris, general manager of Wikibon Research. You can find that research at wikibon.com. Our next guest is Deepak Gattala. Big data architect, enterprise business intelligence strategy and planning with Dell, EMC Dell. Welcome to theCUBE. >> Deepak: Thank you so much. >> Or Dell Technologies. That's a big company now. You got a zillion brands. We just came back from two days at Dell EMC World in Vegas. A lot of action goin' on in your world, but you're here in Informatica World. You are the distinct winner of the Innovation Honorary Award. Tell us about that. That was last night. >> Yeah, exactly. It was a really good. It was great to be there, and part of the Honorary Awards and things like that. Its been really trusting that, well, you should know, big data is coming into maturity at Informatica, and we use a lot of Informatica products to be successful in the big data site. >> So, you're a customer I n this case, with Informatica. You're a customer of theirs. >> Deepak: Yes >> Alright, so how are you guys using Informatica? >> So, Informatica, we use, uh... Well you name it, and we have it so many products that are out there for Informatica right now, so, we started our journey back in 2007 with Informatica Power Center. As we evolved in different silos and different data sets, that got into, over a site regard lot of structure and unstructured data, and the first of big data also started growing tremendously. So, we have a new platform, and we have a data lake today that we harvest a lot of data that's coming from different sources. Some structured, unstructured, semi-structured data. We needed a tool and technology that can help us to actually use our existing skill set, and the army of the people who knows Informatica from the days of 2007 til today, that we have kept in sight. We wanted to level raise our skill set. Then you're creating a bunch of new folks in the big data platform, and starting them from scratch. >> Deepak, Hadoop was supposed to change the world, and like actually kill Informatica. All the press had, "Low End for Matica," and "Big Data Hadoop." Hadoop is just one element, now, of the big data space, or, how we wanted to describe it. Data lakes are also just fine. I don't like the them data lake because they become data swamps if you don't use the data, and as Informatica-- My question is, as data is gettin' laid out, whether it's Hadoop, or in the clouds, making it relevant is a real architectural challenge. Can you share your insight into, how do you guys look at that data architecture? >> Differently, right? So, like anybody else, you know we also face the same problem off record a lot of data or that we put it on, whether it is water data or lake? Whatever you want to call it. Then over the time we realized like, "Oh, okay. "Now what do we do with this data? "What is the value? How we can extract it," right? That's how the tools and technologies around this whole ecosystem comes into the play, which actually provide that value to get that data value extracted from it. Informatica is one of the tools that our choice was offered doing some of the big ops, and going though a process off proof of concept, and we are identified. This is the stage that we have to make a conclusion to say that we want to go with Informatica because of too many reasons I can't speak about, but one the major reason was, what I can say, I can do the same existing skill sets of what we have in house, and improve on top of it. >> So Deepak, the concept of data management used to be associated with managing a file, managing a data base, effectively managing tools that handle data. As we're hearing it increasing applied in the digital universe, I presume at Dell as well, the notion of data management is starting to extend and generalize a little bit differently. How do you see data management? And the next question I may ask you is, from an architectural standpoint, what's the relationship between what you do an architecture standpoint and how you envision data to managed. What is data management to you? >> So the data management is basically like harvesting your data, right? So basically, drives, like I said, data is coming in different forms. You wanted to go and get the data consumption happen from different sources and different silos that we have one time. Now we are at the situation like, what kind of data exists? What is a metadata? What is the governance unearned it, right? So those are becoming more and more and more important as we move and getting mature in this whole data management prospective. >> So, its looking at data across applications and across tools to try to increasingly treat data as an asset that can be managed just like a plant can be managed. Do I got right? >> Exactly. So, we have to realize that now data is an asset. That's where the value is. Your business and your stakeholders, everybody is looking at the data that we extract a value enough. >> So, does a data architect, then... Again a data architect used to be the person who laid out the database manager, and what not. Do you see your job now more as, design plus implementation with an eye towards performance and ensuring peple understand how to use data. Making sure things can be governed. What does the emerging and evolving job of a data architect in this new era of data management as managing data assets? >> So, traditionally with the relational database, it worked pretty well for the architects with the work they are doing, and it worked pretty well. But the thing is with the new changes we are going though, with the fast evolving technologies that we are having and the mobile data that we are getting in different forms. It always gets challenging that it's not just a data architect. It have to be co-- Together with some of the solution architecture together, to see how we have to go and consume all this information, but at the same time, Paul, we are providing value at affect >> So the tools that Informatica is providing are helping you do that? >> Yes the tools at Informatica have definitely helped us, starting at the power center site, which is more inclined towards conditional databases. Today we use big data management tools on our website, which is actually helping us the same kind of value that it provided with the power center. Now we can provide the same value at our new platform. >> So as you look forward over the course of the next few years, do you anticipate that the assets, the data assets that you're creating in Dell, are going to be applied to... How developers going to do things differently? How users are going to do that things differently. How do you see the data architect and data management serving these different consumers of data within Dell? So, what all includes, like, you know the business satisfaction right? The business is trying to get the value of the data yesterday. So, you know what? You need to be so fast enough to deliver the stuff to the business. One of the major capabilities that we are looking at is, to have the self-service capabilities for the business stakeholders so they can go and do themself rather than waiting for the IT or being a bottleneck for them to deliver what they want. >> So I got to ask you about this award. Dell was recently selected as the grand prize winner of the Informatica one million dollar software and services big data ready challenge. Was that cash prize? Michael Dell just spent 69 billion dollars on EMC, you'd probably use-- No, I'm only kiddin' (Peter laughs) Was that cash or was that product services and-- >> No, it's not the cash. You're suggest I'm one of the hundred year award that we got as Dell, being a proactive customer. A few guys who got inbranded. And, so research and the software that actually we are looking at Informatica data and degration hub and Informatica Intelligence Data Lake, which actually will provide self-service capabilities and integration at a single point. >> So you apply-- so, the objective of the self-service capaibility. The outcomes that you seek, you use the data inegration hub and some, for a period of time, some free software and free services to build that pilot, and then roll it outto the organization. >> Exactly. The whole idea is to show the values out of the these tools and technologies that Informatica has been investing` and helping the whole ecosystem to improvise the standards. >> So, Deepak, I got to ask you. We had some of the execs on earlier, and they're talking about, "oh, data's the heartbeat of the organization." You know, kind of cliches, but kind of accurate. We believe that to be true. Certainly, data is the center of the action. But then, it brings up the whole data conversation. Who's the practitioner? Do you have heart surgeons? And then, what about the hygienist? You know you got to have data hygiene. The big data ready challenge is interesting because its always been a challenge to go from pilot to production, but then also its the readiness around an organization's ability to understand what the hell they have, how do they use it, and then how do they take it to the next level? The mastery of doing the data. So, certainly there's different skill sets. How do you look at that analogy, and how would you organize teams around that, because in some cases, there's a heart surgeon needed. You got to redo some surgery on the company, Felt at the data strategy. And, sometimes its just know your hygiene, brush your teeth, if you will, kind of a concept of being ready. Your thoughts and reaction to that? >> So, yeah, initially we also started in the simplest days just to get the data and put it in one place, but it's not; it's just one part of the whole equation. You have so many things like data governance, data quality, data security, because you know, you might have a PIAD now that you want to secure it, and you might have something like, weblocks is doing your security. Everybody has a play in this. Its not just a one thing that you know, here we have the data fusion done, and then, you know, you're good. So it's not that the case. You should just always that the maturity happens in different stages. >> So the hiring and organizing a team, that's a specialty right? You're going to have the more skilled folks, and then some of the, you day to day, maybe an analyst or citizens data wrangler. You know, these things going on. Your thoughts on organizing, and the teams around data. >> Yeah, so one of the teams is that we are starting looking at these. We are harvesting a lot of data scientists interknow to Dell. That's because Dell's the ones, guys stuck Bill Nye on mostly to see, to extract the value of the hidden stuff, that we are not able to see as of today. To do that in an effective manner, we need to know how to unleash those guys and be self sustained by themself, so they can improve the quality and provide the value of innovation. >> The folks that have been following Informatica over the years, they were once a public company. The data warehouse was all the rage. Now, its real time. All kinds of landscape changes in the marketplace. What's Informatica all about today? >> Informatica is no more just data platform. I think its fanning it's wings to do more stuff. Especially on the beginner side. Now you have this Informatica data degration hub, and you are talking about having this intelligent data lake, and things like that. Which is going to be a link to use in learning off machine learning algorithms and things like that, having this whole meditator concept that is matured, or just a metadata manager. And right now, its going very huge because of the different big data platforms are coming together. Its not only the big data platform. The big data platform is very loose term to me. It's just not the Hadoop, you know? It could be... At Dell, we have so many different technologies come together and recall all of them as a data platform for us. We did a platform for us. We know how to just being one of the competent ones. >> So you're saying basically is there's no silver bullet. >> Yes. >> and there is no magical answer. >> But there are skills. >> Yes. >> And so, increasing what you're looking to do, is saying, what are the outcomes? What are the objectives? What are the skills we need to get there? And then, lets look for tools you today are lining up nicely with Informatica. >> Deepak: Exactly. >> So if you think about the next steps that you're going to take, where does the function of a data architect go within Dell, and what kind of recommendations would you make to those users out there who are thinking about how they want to optimize their skills. Their use of their skills in a data analytics world. >> Yeah, sure. So the data architecture is, like I said, knowing the previously in their traditional data warehouse kind of stuff, it was pretty straight forward. But now, they don't-- we are seeing that data architects are getting more and more matured, and I'm getting this data into semi-structured data, and improvising that how the data fit actually get readjusted in the right manner, so that, you know what we can really... Is it like three and one half, or whatever? Is it-- You can't have a data silos anymore? It's like what you need to bring in all data sets together to actually making a meaningful answer-- >> Peter: Well, at least make it possible to bring it together. >> Exactly. >> We had a lot of costs and a lot of pain. >> Yes. >> You may not have to bring them all together. As you said, you don't, its not all about putting it all in the data lake, its about making it possible to acquire. >> Exactly. So you have to know where the data is, you have to be able to quarry, you have to build and reformat on the fly, all these other things to servwe your customers, especially in the self-service world. >> Right. >> So, where does this go? How is this going to drive? What recommendation would you give to companies who are looking to accelerate their use of these new technologies and new approaches? >> I would say this to everybody. Adhere to your customers. Adhere to your business. They are the reason it is for your-- like you know what? There's no person in the organization that knows every domain. So you need to be in a way where right off your sneeze off different data domains that you have, and make sure you pull all these resources together to actually contributing to the whole arbitrational white impact. >> So, start with-- be true to your business. Your customers. Focus on finding data. And then focus on bringing the appropriate level of integration. Not putting it all in one place, but so your customers can be matched to the data they need. >> Deepak: Exactly. >> John: Alright, Deepak, final question. Just your thoughts on the show here. Again 3,000 people and growing every year. The new rebranding, Informatica going into the cloud world. Automation, you're seeing CLAIRE, this new AI meets data. What's your thoughts? >> I think this is phenomenal approach that Informatica is taking right now, and I'm glad. Like you said, there's 3,000 people here really interested to know what's going on and how the things are evolving with Informatica. It's a really great show to be here. Thank you. I'm very glad to be part of it. >> Congratulations on your award for the Big Data Ready Challenge, grand prize winner. A million dollars worth of products. I can knock down some of that purchase price, but I'm sure you guys are big customer. (group laughs) >> Thanks for coming on and sharing your insight as a customer of Informatica. >> It's my pleasure. >> It's theCUBE. I'm John Furrier with Peter Burris. More live coverage in San Fransisco. theCUBE at Informatica 2017. We'll be right back after this short break. Stay with us. (upbeat music)