Item: Matillion
Rating: 9
Author: Daniel Zielinski

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We utilize Matillion to transform data from multiple source systems into a cloud-based database. Our department is the sole user of Matillion and is managed exclusively by our team. Matillion allows our organization to consolidate our various data sources into a singular environment where our dashboard tools access data to provide valuable insights into the various units within our organization.

Pros and Cons

Connection to numerous data sources
Validation of objects and components
Ease of use to schedule run-times
Variable driven code development

Documentation examples
Speed of processing
Requires upfront investment in design of system processing.
Assistance with upgrades

Return on Investment

Our team can dynamically make modifications to code and deploy them immediately.
Source control and access via the cloud has enabled us to onboard new employees quickly.
The only negative is that it is relatively new to folks and it takes a little time to ramp up, however, the long term ROI pays off.

Usability

In previous organizations and projects, I utilized Microsoft's SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) to perform all data transformation. I found the transition to Matillion to be much easier and flexible to fit the needs of our organization. The key benefit that we experienced with Matillion is the reduction in the amount of time required to deploy changes and work through modifications to the code. Being a cloud-based system, it is very easy for all of our team members to access the most recent code and not have to concern themselves with source control problems.

Time to Value

Matillion was already implemented at our company and any time requirements to learn the tool was based on my ability to translate my previous ETL coding experience into Matillion's structure. Our team inherited an existing ETL process built-in Matillion and were able to add/modify/delete new objects and components within several weeks of having access to Matillion. It was necessary to understand the business rules prior to making any changes, but the tool itself is very intuitive.

Scalability

The architecture of our enterprise data warehouse drives the scalability of the application. It is paramount to invest time and resources into building a proper data warehouse. By having a well-designed data warehouse, our ability to add new input data sources to our system allowed us to take advantage of Matillion's flexibility.

Alternatives Considered

SQL Server Integration Services

SQL Server Integration Services was the only application that we examined since most of our primary data sources are built in the Microsoft environment. Matillion's ease of use and cloud-based architecture allows our team to have a single entry point to examine the most recent version of code and make modifications to it. Matillion seamlessly integrates with Snowflake and is a much easier product to work with, especially from a source control perspective.

Other Software Used

Snowflake, DBeaver, Tableau Desktop, Microsoft SQL Server

Likelihood to Recommend

Matillion is perfect for our organization since we are migrating to a more hybrid cloud-based architecture. I especially appreciate how changes to code are reflected immediately and can be seen by all developers instantaneously. This is of particular importance when employees are working remotely. The data that we ingest is processed twice a day, which is ideal for our organization. Any company that wants to invest in Matillion needs to determine and test the frequency of data ingestion.

My experience as a newbie to Matillion

Overall Satisfaction with Matillion