In mid-2017, erwin, Inc announced the development of erwin DM NoSQL, the most recent evolutionary step in their expansion of erwin’s software. erwin DM NoSQL is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) application, supporting erwin, Inc’s Any² Data Management philosophy (any data, located anywhere). The new addition to the basic erwin Data Management base offers relational data modeling for MongoDB.  Key features of the erwin DM NoSQL program include:

• erwin DM NoSQL’s greatest strength – its ability to reverse engineer a MongoDB database, translating it into a graphical model, and showing patterns in the data
• Easy migration of traditional database models to the MongoDB platform. Relational schema is transformed and converted to a cloud-based collection structure
• Visualization and investigation of NoSQL Databases
• A high degree of user-friendliness
• The Query Optimized Modeling feature automatically guides users in building MongoDB schemas

According to Adam Famularo, CEO of erwin, Inc.

“Today’s enterprises are faced with challenging digital transformation initiatives, necessitating rapid deployment of new, innovative applications and migration of infrastructure from premise to the cloud. These initiatives require a new approach to data management that enables enterprise IT and business users to leverage the latest NoSQL database technologies while maintaining the integrity, quality and governance of their underlying data. Our new erwin DM NoSQL solution was engineered to deliver against these emerging customer needs.”

How It Works

erwin DM NoSQL is described as “a 100% SaaS Cloud-based tool, providing full capabilities wherever and whenever you need, using any device.” There is no software to install. Instead, a user logs in over the Internet, and starts modeling information for the business. The system records changes and improvements, helping to eliminate redundancy and communication breakdowns. For example, a business’s marketing and finance teams may both need information about the spending habits of customers for purposes of forecasting sales growth. Both teams can use the same erwin template to gain relevant insights, saving them from redundant research. With this information, they can develop individual models suited to their group’s different agendas

After the physical design has been created, erwin DM NoSQL automates the production of JSON-like definition scripts, promoting efficient, accurate deployments of NoSQL designs. Organizations can model and process unstructured Cloud data very effectively, minimizing risk and enhancing Data Governance and collaboration efforts. Angela Floyd, a vice president at Balfour Beatty, stated, “There was a fear early on that this whole process might be restrictive, but this actually frees them to be more creative and productive.”

erwin’s program can categorize information from storehouses and siloed data by way of location, technology, type, or location. It visually displays the data being collected, and its source from within a cloud or a local network. This visual model can then be passed on to decision makers for predicting trends and quirks. Using this system, organizations can change from a traditional storage design to a much more optimized design.

Expansion of the Product Line

• erwin Enterprise Architecture: erwin, Inc offers two programs for Enterprise Architecture. One is called erwin EA, and is for customized and complex EA projects The second program offered is erwin EA Agile. It comes with an SaaS-based platform and provides a complete set of easy-to-use EA tools.
•  erwin Business Process: Helps to align and optimize business operations. It allows business processes to be mapped out, improving their Data Management. erwin, Inc’s business modeling software provides graphics for visualizing business processes, system interactions, and organizational hierarchies. These insights promote better decision-making.
•  erwin CloudCore: Is a response to the need for working in the Cloud. It comes with an integrated, collaborative platform designed for innovation. The erwin CloudCore merges the erwin Data Modeler with erwin EA Agile tools, providing both a complete perspective of the data and EA assets.
• erwin Web Portal: Provides easy access to data for technical and business users. Anyone approved by the organization can use the Portal to view erwin’s Data Modeler solutions. Authorized individuals can use the web-based interface to explore the organizations most important data assets. All data is presented using an intuitive and easily understood format.

Opinions and Reviews

Adam Famularo, the company CEO, stated:

“Today’s enterprises are faced with challenging digital transformation initiatives, necessitating rapid deployment of new, innovative applications and migration of infrastructure from premise to the Cloud. These initiatives require a new approach to Data Management that enables enterprise IT and business users to leverage the latest NoSQL database technologies while maintaining the integrity, quality and governance of their underlying data. Our new erwin DM NoSQL solution was engineered to deliver against these emerging customer needs.”

According to one review on CDW:

“I tested the Standard edition for this review, and I was surprised to find so much functionality in the basic program. I could pull in data from both relational and unstructured databases, as well as from applications running in the Cloud or on local machines in our testbed. Despite having a single-user license, I was able to pull from an unlimited number of databases to feed my models, including Microsoft SQL Azure, Microsoft SQL Server 2016, Progress OpenEdge 11.6 and NoSQL.”

Other features include the ability to compare different databases to see if information overlaps. Users can then remove duplicate data to save space and system resources. The software could easily generate detailed reports about the data it was working with, visually in PDFs for presentations or as text-only files ready for import into other programs. In a way, the erwin Data Modeler lets users instantly become competent Data Scientists for their organizations.

Famularo stated:

“At erwin, we know that as the world changes, data management requirements will go beyond the effective scope of traditional relational databases. We built the new erwin DM NoSQL with this challenge and our enterprise customers in mind, and we are excited to see their broad adoption of the solution over the coming months.”

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