The rapid explosion of data has fragmented the market for database systems, leaving many organizations with a hodgepodge of specialized databases and ballooning maintenance costs. A company can find itself with NoSQL databases for big data ingestion and transactions, SQL RDBMs for business applications, data lakes for analytics and some type of middle-ware to integrate their many systems.
HarperDB, founded in March 2017 by industry veterans, created an innovative database that eliminates the need for multiple, specialized databases - a next-gen solution. The database combines the powerful capabilities of traditional RDBMS systems with the flexibility and transactional features of emerging NoSQL databases. HarperDB radically simplifies big data architectures, providing a single model, dynamic schema database with SQL and NoSQL interfaces spanning from the edge to the cloud.
The Problem: Connectivity is King, Building It Is Another Story
As HarperDB can be deployed from the edge to the cloud, it was important for their solution to offer enterprise-grade connectivity throughout the data value chain. While HarperDB embeds developer-friendly REST interfaces for developer integration, offering drivers (ODBC, JDBC, etc.) would create a unique, value-added experience for their enterprise customers who wanted to integrate third-party BI, Analytics, Reporting and ETL tools.
As part of their go-to-market strategy, HarperDB has released a community and enterprise edition of their database. To differentiate their community paid enterprise editions, HarperDB chose to include standards-based drivers as a major value add for enterprise customers.
"ODBC and JDBC are complex because of their ubiquitous use. While developing those drivers alone might not be overwhelming, ensuring that they are supported by the vast ecosystem of tools and applications that utilize them was out of scope for a company of our size. We needed to choose a partner who had the experience with this ecosystem and would provide exceptional support."
- Kyle Bernhardy, CTO
The hardest part? Finding the right partner can be a tough process of trial and error.
"While CData's business model was the strongest fit, that is not why we chose them. After evaluating all of the vendors on the market, CData was the only vendor that provided a technical architecture that we were comfortable with, that made sense and that we believed could scale. All of the other architectures we evaluated would not have scaled to our needs or provided the simplicity that is part of our value proposition."
After further research, HarperDB found CData Software and reached out with a list of requirements.
HarperDB's requirements:
- Performance - HarperDB's primary requirement was choosing a partner that could deliver a performant and scalable solution.
- Technology Support - HarperDB needed custom drivers for ODBC and JDBC to add value to their platform for their customers
- Future-Proofing - Standards and customer needs continually evolve, so HarperDB looked to build drivers that would stand the test of time
- Time-to-market - HarperDB needed a partner that could deliver quickly, while freeing up their internal team for core projects
The Solution: Custom, Driver Development from The Experts
HarperDB engaged with CData Software, proven experts in driver development for NoSQL and big data integration, to deliver drivers for a range of frameworks, including:
- ODBC
- JDBC
- ADO.NET
- And more
"We needed to build drivers that met the simplicity, performance and scale our customers expect from us," said Stephen Goldberg, HarperDB CEO "After careful consideration, CData was really the only option that made sense."
As the leading provider of standards-based drivers for data integration, CData has driver development down to a science. CData provided HarperDB with a full complement of custom drivers in a fraction of the time and cost HarperDB would have had to invest to develop them in-house. CData continuously tests drivers on a variety of business information and analytics tools to make sure they're always up to par and exceeding customer expectations. CData provides updates and enhancements whenever they're needed, completely taking over the maintenance load. It's seamless, automatic and expands data connection without increasing work.
The Results: HarperDB Saved Time, Money and Headaches with Seamless Connectivity
CData Software provided HarperDB with a full suite of custom drivers in a fraction of the time and cost it would have taken them to build internally. Following the project, CData also regularly tests and certify their drivers with a variety of tools to ensure continuous quality. CData provides updates and enhancements to the HarperDB team as needed, allowing them to avoid any maintenance burdens or worries.
The new drivers open up the world of self-service analytics and integration to HarperDB customers, eliminating the need to acquire IT or developer resources for building point-to-point integration.
