As more companies dip their toes into Big Data, they are beginning to create their first Hadoop instances and populate them with data. They benefit from the fact that Hadoop uses MapReduce as a batch query method to massively scale across multiple machines, enabling access to very large datasets.
But batch processes often have latency issues associated, and business users need faster access. They need answers right away, but moreover, they need the ability to refine queries as new questions occur. It became clear that in some cases, batch queries were not going to work for business.
Google wrote the Dremel paper in 2010 to illustrate how they were providing ad-hoc real time queries of nested data such as Hadoop, as a complement to MapReduce. Cloudera took those principles and announced Impala as an open source codebase for real time queries. But while it is based on the Google vision, Impala is differentiated because it:
- Uses the same syntax and user experience as Hive
- Enables multiple tables to be searched using SQL joins
- Is provided as an open source distribution
At Alteryx we are excited about the release of Cloudera Impala. The impact on Big Data Analytics is that ability to perform real-time queries on Hadoop will provide faster access and results. The ability to query and refine quickly is ultimately what will lead business users to insight.
Alteryx provides a user friendly way to access new solutions like Impala. With Impala support in Alteryx Strategic Analytics, business users can get faster access, and can refine data queries and the corresponding analytics to get the answers they need. They can combine these results with other datasets to provide the context necessary to make the right decision, and they can do it without having to go through months of training to master programming and query languages.
Alteryx enables business users to benefit with Impala from huge innovations in the Big Data market. This makes users more productive, and able to focus on getting the answers they need to make better decisions faster.
For more information about the Alteryx integration with Cloudera, visit www.alteryx.com/cloudera.
Brian Dirking
![](http://community.alteryx.com/legacyfs/online/images/brian-dirking-pic.jpg)
Director of Product Marketing.