What Is Airbyte and Why You Should Use It?
Data is an integral aspect of any business. It allows for solution development, metric tracking, and creates a structure for streamlined and integrated processes. Data empowers business decisions.
I say that both from the fact that consulting firms like McKinsey have found that in their research companies that are using AI and analytics can attribute 20% of their earnings to it.
Similarly, I have been able to consult for several clients and help them find new revenue sources as well as cost reduction opportunities.
There is one catch.
You will need to develop some form of data infrastructure or update your current one to make sure you can fully harness all the benefits that the modern data world has to offer.
Just to clarify, I don’t mean you need to use the fanciest and most expensive data tooling. Sometimes I have steered clients to much simpler and most cost-effective solutions when it comes to data analytics tooling.
One of the important decisions points is picking the right data pipeline and connector provider. These data pipelines are what get data into the data warehouses and data lakes of the future.
Many companies struggle at this point and often just pick to custom code data pipelines. This isn’t always a good choice.
It can lead to a lot of technical debt and future costs that can be avoided.
This is where tools like Airbyte come in.
What is Airbyte?
Airbyte is an open-source data pipeline platform that serves as an alternative to Stitch data and Fivetran. Though existing data pipeline platforms offer a significant number of integrations with well-regarded sources like Stripe and Salesforce, there is a gap in the current model that leaves out small services integrations.
Airbyte solves this problem by building and maintaining connectors while fostering a community of users who benefit from one another’s custom connectors. It’s common practice for companies to build custom connectors to support their applications. Airbyte’s open-source model creates a community wherein companies can support one another by building and maintaining their unique connectors.
Connectors on Airbyte run in Docker containers, which allows for independent operating. You can easily monitor each of your connectors, refresh them as needed, and schedule updates. Airbyte first certifies new connectors to ensure they’re ready for production; currently, there are over 46 connectors available. Already, more than 250 companies are benefitting from this open-source data pipeline platform.
Why Are Companies Turning to Airbyte?
There’s an ongoing problem that companies are facing. Their existing ETL (extract, transform, and load) platforms are usually difficult to maintain.
Most require a lot of custom-code and in turn a lot of developers just to create a few pipelines.
In-house connectors are being built across many companies. The problem is the maintenance of custom connectors comes at a cost. ETLs focus on their bottom line, limiting the number of connectors offered, even though this creates gaps in the solution for companies using their platforms.
Additionally, existing ETLs have a volume-based pricing model, which can end up costing a company thousands of dollars should one of their employees accidentally replicate a large database. With security concerns at an all-time high, the lack of visibility from companies into the ETL’s systems creates doubt and mistrust.
As these issues persist, companies are looking for less expensive solutions that allow their companies to scale without having to build and maintain the same kinds of pipelines their ETL solutions are supposed to cover.
Why ETL Needs Open Source – According To Airbyte
ETL needs open source because it grants you direct access to correct code errors. Instead of losing time with back-and-forth support tickets, you have the required access to edit the code, clean up your data, and move on to the next task.
With open-source, you’re no longer at the mercy of your ETL provider. Instead of trying to convince them that the kind of connector you require is worth the time and money spent on developing and maintaining it, you can bypass your ETL provider altogether and move forward with the help of the Airbyte community as you build the connector you need.
Airbyte’s open-source model increases efficiency across the board. Instead of having to depend on a customer service team to tackle your request over several business days, you gain autonomy to debug at will. Cut the time it takes to fix issues in more than half by fixing any bugs yourself.
Where is Airbyte Going?
Airbyte has a goal of providing 200 connectors by the end of this year. Developers can write connectors in any language, and their graphical interface is ideal for users who are not as up to par on tech as developers.
Since their connectors run as Docker images, they are supported by a multitude of systems, including Fargate and Kubernetes. This optimization permits users to run the connectors as needed without worrying about the kind of environment they’re in.
Airbyte Recent Additions
Most recently, Airbyte released a connector development kit (CDK), which allows users to build a connector in about two hours. This is made possible by using connector-specific code, which means users can enjoy a simplified process that takes 75 percent of code out of the development phase.
Airbyte is solving the integration problem through its open-source model and shortening the connector building process while creating a supportive community that benefits from one another’s ingenuity.
Their long-term goal is to carry out an open core strategy, which means they could offer an enterprise edition. They’re working towards including a simple sign-on, role and access management, compliance features, and data quality protocols.
Feedback from current users also has them working toward creating a hosted version. Airbyte is aiming to becoming the data standard for the industry. By growing its community and tooling, it is well on its way.
Should I hire a Data Solutions Architect For Airbyte
Tools like Airbyte make developing ELTs very easy. The scheduling, connectors and transformations remove a lot of the heavy infrastructure lift that requires data and software engineers.
However, this doesn’t mean you don’t need a data expert.
Between needing to build dashboards off the data as well as creating SQL queries that are reliable and robust, having a strong data expert is important.
Our team can help you implement your Airbyte instance as well as develop dashboards and metrics. Reach out to us today for a free consultation.
If you want to read/watch more about data engineering and data science then check out the links below.
What Is Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow On AWS
Challenges Of Being A Data Engineer
5 Great Data Engineering Tools For 2021 – My Favorite Data Engineering Tools
4 SQL Tips For Data Scientists
What Are The Benefits Of Cloud Data Warehousing And Why You Should Migrate
aws cloud computing coding data pipelines data warehouses python