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William McKnight
President at McKnight Consulting Group
Plano, United States
William McKnight is an internationally recognized authority in information management. His consulting work has included many of the Global 2000 and numerous midmarket companies. His clients have reaped tremendous ROI and turned data into a real corporate asset. Many have gone public with their success stories.
William is the #1 global influencer in master data management, #1 in data warehousing, #3 in data management, #7 in information management and #14 in information architecture.
He is president of McKnight Consulting Group, which provides clients with action plans, architectures, strategies, complete programs and vendor-neutral tool selection to manage information. MCG is #1001 on the 2018 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the US and #743 on the 2017 list.
He is the author of the books "Integrating Hadoop", "Information Management: Strategies for Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Data"? and "90 Days to Success in Consulting".
William teaches Data Platforms, Data Maturity, NoSQL, Graph Databases, Business Intelligence, Data Quality, Project Management, Data Governance, Data Architecture, Data Modeling, Data Integration, Data Return on Investment, Agile Methodology, Big Data, Organizational Change Management and Master Data Management for the Data Warehousing Institute (since 1998) and other events globally. He is a frequent international keynote speaker.
William has hundreds of articles and 50+ white papers in publication and is a prolific sponsored blogger.
An Ernst&Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist and frequent best practices judge, William is a former Fortune 50 technology executive and database engineer. William has taught at Santa Clara University, UC-Berkeley and UC-Santa Cruz.
He has consulted in 14 countries.
Current Services Offered, Presentation Calendar, White Papers, Articles and Press Quotes can be found at mcknightcg .com.
Total cost of ownership: NATS vs Kafka
Synadia
May 10, 2024
Synadia, the company behind NATS, conducted an independent total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis comparing NATS to Kafka. The results showed that NATS offers both simplicity and performance while costing less. This validates user feedback appreciating NATS' ease of use and operability.
Data Lakes vs. Data Warehouses: A Cost Comparison
Fivetran
April 21, 2025
This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the cost and performance benefits of using traditional cloud data warehouse solutions (Snowflake, Databricks, and Amazon Redshift) versus a modern data lake approach using Amazon S3 and Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS) for data storage and Fivetran Managed Data Lake Service for metadata management, open table format conversion, and automated table maintenance.
Data Streaming Performance
Enterprise DB
April 01, 2025
These tests highlight EDB's compelling value proposition, making it a prime choice for
enterprises seeking a single database as a high-performance transactional and NoSQL
database without breaking the bank.
Data Streaming Performance NoSQL
Enterprise DB
April 01, 2025
We tested EnterpriseDB against popular database MongoDB to determine what, if any,
would be the performance, cost difference and the potential worth of going beyond
enterprise agreements for a self-hosted NoSQL database. EDB offers better NoSQL
performance compared to MongoDB, particularly as data volume increases.
These tests highlight EDB's compelling value proposition, making it a prime choice for
enterprises seeking a single database as a high-performance transactional and NoSQL
database without breaking the bank.
Data Streaming Performance SQL Server
Enterprise DB
April 01, 2025
EDB's cost-effectiveness is noteworthy, with a mere $0.21 per unit, compared to SQL
Server's $1.26. In a 3-year comparison, EDB ($205,605) offers substantial cost savings
compared to SQL Server ($957,768). EDB's superior performance makes it ideal for
mixed enterprise workloads where efficient resource utilization and concurrency
management are crucial for maximizing high transaction throughput as well as handling
large volumes of semi-structured data.
These tests highlight EDB's compelling value proposition, making it a prime choice for
enterprises seeking a single database as a high-performance transactional database
without breaking the bank.
Data Stream Processing Ease of Use and TCO, McKnight Consulting Group (2024
Bytewax
October 14, 2024
Bytewax features a modern architecture that combines the performance of a Rust engine for distributed, parallel streaming with the ease of use of Python. The outcome is a stateful stream processor that rivals the functionality and performance of traditional Java-based tools like Flink, without any of the drawbacks. Enable all your Python teams to work with streaming!
Going Head-to-Head Against Flink: Benchmarking Ease of Use and Total Cost of Ownership
Bytewax
August 04, 2024
There is also little debate about the leading stateful stream processor in the market, which is Apache Flink. However, not all is well in the world of modern stream processing. The reason is that the Python implementation of Flink is flawed due to the neglected SDK: It is inefficient, slow to receive upgrades, and exceptionally lacking in user experience.
MCG Stream Processing Ease of Use and TCO
McKnight Consulting Group
July 28, 2024
A comparison of stream processing pipelines was conducted, comparing Bytewax and Flink. The study found that Flink had 8-25 times more memory utilization than Bytewax, consuming up to 3 GB per workload. Bytewax was found to be 4.6 times less TCO than Flink, based on the development, maintenance, and annual infrastructure costs of running these pipelines just 4 times each. These advantages will add up over time and project by project, making Bytewax a more cost-effective choice for data stream processing.
Benchmark of data pipeline performance & cost
Airbyte
April 04, 2024
Database replication benchmark: Airbyte vs. Fivetran
McKnight Consulting Group made a deep benchmark analysis on database replication for Postgres, comparing Airbyte and Fivetran. The analysis focused on 3 elements: performances, costs, and ease of us. Discover which solution is the best in the market for database replication.
High-Volume Data Replication: Evaluating Fivetran HVR and Qlik Replicate
Fivetran
March 01, 2024
Whether for operational or analytical purposes – databases are the backbone of how many businesses run; from collecting consumer behavior on your website to processing IOT data across your supply chain and so much more. Accessing and replicating massive volumes of database content is key to business success and the responsibility of managing this crucial element of your infrastructure falls to data leaders and their teams.
McKnight Consulting Group (MCG)’s 2nd Edition of the Data Integration Enterprise Contribution Ranking Report
Informatica
March 01, 2024
McKnight Consulting Group (MCG)’s 2nd Edition of the Data Integration Enterprise Contribution Ranking Report has been published. An Enterprise Contribution Ranking Report is the most detailed report on the market. It provides a comprehensive study on the offerings in significant enterprise data technology topics.
The study examines market preferences and priorities for data integration platforms including Data Transformation, Data Security and Access Control, Data Quality and Data Governance, Workflow Automation and Orchestration, Analytics, Automation, and AI. The reports also addresses Seamless Integration with BI and Analytics Tools, Data Cataloging and Metadata Management, Enterprise Scaling with Performance, Ecosystem Compatibility and Platform Versatility, as well as Financial Operations, Compliance, and Data Auditing. These are essential key areas for successful enterprise data integration implementations.
McKnight Enterprise Contribution Ranking Reports offer a thorough analysis of enterprise data technology offerings, focusing on the value of product capabilities to the enterprise. The reports emphasize the importance of AI, including Generative AI, in future-proofing technology. Market leaders are evaluated based on their critical capabilities, which include both currently available features and upcoming realistic capabilities. Ratings are assigned to vendors based on expert-opinion assessments by analyst-practitioners, resulting in Advanced, Skilled, Partial, or Beginner capabilities ratings.
Vendors are also plotted on a quadrant based on Project Scope Complexity and Project Technical Environment Complexity. These reports are written by hands-on Data Engineers.
Data Fabric Field Test: SAP vs. DIY Hands-on Assessment and TCO Analysis of Deploying SAP Datasphere vs. Assembled Applications
SAP
March 01, 2024
Interest in building a data fabric is very high, and for good reason. By enabling real-time, trustworthy data across multiple clouds, you can expedite the migration of analytics to the cloud, guarantee security and governance, and quickly generate business value. A data fabric provides a semantic layer that enables a map of your metadata, unifying data based on its meaning, rather than just its location, and preserving the business context and logic of that data across the fabric.
High-Volume Data Replication Evaluating Fivetran HVR and Qlik Replicate
Fivetran
March 01, 2024
Whether for operational or analytical purposes – databases are the backbone of how many businesses run; from collecting consumer behavior on your website to processing IOT data across your supply chain and so much more. Accessing and replicating massive volumes of database content is key to business success and the responsibility of managing this crucial element of your infrastructure falls to data leaders and their teams.
Ensuring your solution for database replication can keep up with your business is a pressing need for every data leader across every industry and company size. In this report, we investigate two major vendors in database replication and put them to the test in terms of speed and cost.
iPaaS Tools Evaluation: Security and Governance Report: Evaluating Workato and Boomi
Workato
January 11, 2024
We evaluated two leading iPaaS tools—Workato and Boomi—specifically across the top tasks a business would perform with the tools for governance and data security. Both Workato and Boomi offer robust features in these areas. Workato provides a user-friendly interface that allows businesses to easily manage user permissions and access controls, ensuring that sensitive data is only accessible to authorized individuals. Additionally, Workato offers advanced security measures such as encryption and multi-factor authentication to protect data from unauthorized access. On the other hand, Boomi provides a comprehensive set of tools for data
MCG Data Pipeline Performance Testing
McKnight Consulting Group
January 10, 2024
To be agile and resilient in the modern world, an organization’s data infrastructure maturity must be in harmony with its business goals. Limited data capabilities could hinder or even derail all efforts. For a data management plan to be successful in an environment that is changing quickly, adaptability is also necessary.
Our scenario assessed the speed of syncing a 1TB data set between a source PostgreSQL database and a target Snowflake data warehouse. We tested total throughput, cost and total cost of ownership.
Airbyte is a data integration platform that offers a comprehensive catalog of connectors for structured data, including databases and files. Airbyte offers a cloud-hosted solution and a self-hosted one. It supports a large range of data sources and all major databases, and it can connect to over 50 destinations, including databases, data warehouses, data lakes, and vector databases.
Costs and Benefits of .NET Application Migration to the Cloud
Microsoft
January 04, 2024
Thousands of custom applications written using development frameworks such as ASP.NET are deployed by organizations, often running in on-premises environments. At the same time, organizations continue to move larger workloads to the cloud as part of their digital transformation strategies. While the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated these digital transformation initiatives, the competitive advantages realized by organizations have kept the momentum high as business models evolve in the era of AI. The cloud allows them to augment and transform their existing applications using modern developer platforms to increase customer engagement, streamline operations, lower costs, and enhance profitability.
Vector Databases Compared
DataStax
December 05, 2023
The study found that Astra DB significantly outperformed Pinecone p2x8 in ingesting and indexing data, performing six times faster and with a low relative variance, making the ingest workflow more predictable. Astra DB also showed faster response times during active indexing and produced recall ranging from 90% to 94% versus Pinecone’s recall in the range of 75% to 87%. For larger datasets, Astra DB showed better recall and low variance, demonstrating accuracy and consistency. Finally, our testing and configuration pricing revealed that Pinecone’s TCO was 2.2 to 4.9 times greater than Astra DB, making it significantly more expensive to operate.
TCO for Data Masking and TDM Solutions
delphix
October 12, 2023
The increasingly complex landscape of data management for enterprises has brought to light the need for tools to manage diverse platforms and provide overall management. These tools focus on efficient test data management; integration, lifecycle management, security, compliance, and storage optimization. We determined that for the equivalent usage (consisting of typical deployment, provisioning, and masking activities), IBM Optim would result in labor and infrastructure costs of $109,300 compared to $75,164 for Delphix over the first year (one setup), a difference of 31%.
Cloud Data Warehouse vs. Cloud Data Lakehouse: A Snowflake vs. Starburst TCO and Performance Comparison
GigaOm
September 03, 2023
Recently, several architectural patterns have emerged that decentralize most components of the enterprise analytics architecture. Data lakes are a large part of that advancement.
A field test was devised to determine the differences between two popular enterprise data architectural patterns: a modern cloud data warehouse based on a Snowflake architecture and a modern data lakehouse with a Starburst-based architecture. The test was created with multiple components to determine the differences in performance and capability, as well as the amount of time and effort required to migrate to these systems from a legacy environment.
Video SDK Benchmark Comparison
zoom
August 12, 2023
This benchmark report provides insight into how well Zoom and Jitsi supports enterprise applications requiring real-time customer engagement. We capture time to value by assessing the steps involved in initial setup, scaled deployment, and production integration, and we assess TCO by evaluating both software and labor costs associated with a deployment. The benchmark can also be used to determine the implementation steps for each solution.
Edge Bare Metal Benchmark: Lumen vs AWS: An Exploration of Edge Cloud Services: From Bare Metal to Private Cloud
GigaOm
August 08, 2023
This report focuses on the latency of two top bare-metal server providers: Lumen Edge Cloud Services (Lumen) and Amazon Web Services (AWS). For our testing, we defined a high-performance model, mixing applications that can process 1,000 transactions per second and demand a maximum latency of 5ms or less, while the NGINX reverse proxy handles HTTP requests.
Cloud Data Warehouse vs. Cloud Data Lakehouse: A Snowflake vs. Starburst TCO and Performance Comparison
Starburst
August 05, 2023
Recently, several architectural patterns have emerged that decentralize most components of the enterprise analytics architecture. Data lakes are a large part of that advancement.
A field test was devised to determine the differences between two popular enterprise data architectural patterns: a modern cloud data warehouse based on a Snowflake architecture and a modern data lakehouse with a Starburst-based architecture. The test was created with multiple components to determine the differences in performance and capability, as well as the amount of time and effort required to migrate to these systems from a legacy environment.
SAP and Databricks Unveil Strategic Partnership for Seamless Data Integration
McKnight Consulting Group
February 15, 2025
SAP and Databricks are announcing a new strategic partnership to address long-standing challenges SAP customers face in accessing and utilizing their SAP data, particularly for AI and modern data warehousing. The partnership introduces “SAP Databricks” as part of SAP’s Business Data Cloud (BDC) offering.
The key innovation is a zero-copy data access capability that allows customers to use SAP data while maintaining its semantics, without the expensive data engineering and movement traditionally required. This is achieved through a Delta Sharing bridge that works both within BDC and across to native Databricks.
Oracle’s Sovereign AI Play: Bridging the Gap Between Cloud AI and On-Premises Requirements
McKnight Consulting Group
February 10, 2025
Oracle’s introduction of GPU capabilities to their Compute Cloud Customer (C3) and Private Cloud Appliance (PCA) products represents a strategic move in the evolving hybrid cloud and AI infrastructure market. The infrastructure is built around NVIDIA L40S GPUs, offering multi-workload capabilities for AI, graphics, and HPC, and can scale from 4 to 48 GPUs with up to 6 nodes containing 4 GPUs each per rack. The solution supports both consumption-based (C3) and capex (PCA) pricing models and can be deployed alongside existing Oracle infrastructure, including Exadata.
ThoughtSpot Launches Analyst Studio: Speeding Up Data Readiness for AI-Driven Insights
mcknightcg
January 15, 2025
ThoughtSpot’s latest innovation, Analyst Studio, is for data teams. This collaborative creator space empowers analysts to prepare data for AI and analytics, manage cloud costs, and seamlessly switch between ad-hoc analysis and advanced data science. With Analyst Studio, data teams can work faster, smarter, and more collaboratively than ever before.
Using Embedded Databases for IoT
Information Week
December 27, 2024
The edge computing landscape has undergone significant expansion. This growth has been matched by an increase in innovative architectural options, enabling organizations to optimize edge deployments for performance, scalability and security.
Using Embedded Databases for IoT
Information Week
December 16, 2024
Embedded databases are becoming increasingly important for IoT applications due to their ability to handle the growing volume of data generated by connected devices. The future of embedded databases in IoT is bright.
McKnight Consulting Group 2024 Data Integration Market Study is Published
McKnight Consulting Group
March 15, 2024
McKnight Consulting Group (MCG)’s 2nd Edition of the Data Integration Enterprise Contribution Ranking Report has been published. An Enterprise Contribution Ranking Report is the most detailed report on the market. They provide a comprehensive study on the offerings in significant enterprise data technology topics.
Enterprise Data Integration: Now More than Ever
Information Week
March 01, 2024
Data integration stands as the ultimate business ally for modern-day business. Organizations boosting productivity and making better decisions make great use of data integration to optimally place the key asset of data.
Introducing Airbyte Data Integration and Custom Connectors
Linkedln
January 10, 2024
In today's rapidly changing business environment, an organization's data infrastructure must align with its goals. Efficient access, integration, governance, and management of data are crucial for realizing the full potential of the enterprise. However, companies often struggle with data management and integration due to outdated tools or an ineffective implementation.
What to Know About the Differences in Analytic Architecture Patterns
Information Week
November 14, 2023
Enterprise data architects should take into consideration the data lakehouse, data mesh, and data fabric when constructing the analytic environment today. Here are the main ideas these patterns offer.
Showing ROI for Your Analytics Project
Information Week
November 14, 2023
Analytics is no longer an option and no longer a discrete function in the enterprise. If it’s to be measured, it would be in the return on investment increase of the applications.
3 Tips to Recognize Hidden Costs of the Cloud
Information Week
November 14, 2023
Cloud usage and demand has spiked, but businesses must be wary of hidden cloud “gotchas” when it comes to modernizing and scaling their cloud infrastructure.
Exploring the Contemporary Place of Graph Databases
Information Week
August 16, 2023
Graph technology has come a long way and has numerous applications in any enterprise. Here’s advice on how you can determine why, how, and where to apply graph databases today.
Building a Marketplace to Help Businesses Quickly Transform AI Initiatives to Reality (2 of 2)
Linkedln
June 08, 2023
This is Part 2. Part 1 can be found here. In Part 1 I talked about the need for an AI Marketplace, The Challenges of Creating High-Quality Training Data and The Benefits of a One-Stop-Shop for All AI Training Data Needs.
What to Know About the Differences in Analytic Architecture Patterns
Information Week
June 05, 2023
Enterprise data architects should take into consideration the data lakehouse, data mesh, and data fabric when constructing the analytic environment today. Here are the main ideas these patterns offer.
Dell Container Storage Modules for Kubernetes Environments
McKnight Consulting Group
November 11, 2022
Changes in the development and deployment of applications are driving the storage business to adapt significantly as well. Applications are migrating to containerized environments that allow developers to package their code into self-contained units that can be easily deployed and run on any server. As a result, containers and Kubernetes are gaining popularity. Adoption of Kubernetes has grown to the point that it is currently the most widely used container orchestration platform.
Informatica Intelligent Data Cloud 2022
McKnight Consulting Group
November 11, 2022
Informatica continues to reengineer components of its portfolio to be cloud-native and to bundle components into its iPaaS Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC). Informatica is really at the dead center of the digital transformation movement through data and continues to thrill with new product developments, partnerships and global customer stories. Several items caught my eye this year at Informatica World.
MLOps: Applying DevOps to Competitive Advantage
Information Week
August 16, 2022
Developers and data scientists can work together using MLOps through a shared methodology to make sure that machine learning initiatives are in line with wider software delivery and, even more broadly, IT-business alignment.
SecureWorks 2021 State of the Threat: A Year in Review
McKnight Consulting Group
November 11, 2021
As a data professional, I am acutely aware that I am dealing with the crown jewels of the organization. Data is extremely valuable as an asset to company strategy and the essential ingredient for operations. That value, unfortunately, extends to nefarious players within and outside the organization. It behooves the data professional to be aware of the threats and to be an active partner in its security.
High Performance Application Security Testing
Gigaom
November 01, 2021
Data, web, and application security have evolved dramatically over the past few years. Just as new threats abound, the architecture of applications—how we build and deploy them—has changed. We’ve traded monolithic applications for microservices running in containers and communicating via application programming interfaces (APIs)—and all of it deployed through automated continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. The frameworks we have established to build and deploy applications are optimized for time to market—yet security remains of utmost importance.
Enterprise Analytic Solutions 2021 v4.0
Gigaom
September 03, 2021
Enterprises from every industry and at every scale are working to leverage data to achieve their strategic objectives—whether those are to become more profitable, effective, risk tolerant, prepared, sustainable, and/or adaptable in an ever-changing world. An enterprise’s data maturity must grow at pace with the business and its needs to achieve agility and resilience—otherwise it will be hamstrung or tripped up by limited data capabilities. A mature analytic data management strategy includes the ability to adapt.
Integrating Hadoop leverages the discipline of data integration and applies it to the Hadoop open-source software framework for storing data on clusters of commodity hardware. It is packed with the need-to-know for managers, architects, designers, and developers responsible for populating Hadoop in the enterprise, allowing you to harness big data and do it in such a way that the solution:
Complies with (and even extends) enterprise standards
Integrates seamlessly with the existing information infrastructure
Fills a critical role within enterprise architecture.
Integrating Hadoop covers the gamut of the setup, architecture and possibilities for Hadoop in the organization, including:
Supporting an enterprise information strategy
Organizing for a successful Hadoop rollout
Loading and extracting of data in Hadoop
Managing Hadoop data once it's in the cluster
Utilizing Spark, streaming data, and master data in Hadoop processes - examples are provided to reinforce concepts.
Information Management: Strategies for Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Data (The Savvy Manager's Guides)
Morgan Kaufman
January 09, 2014
Information Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Data is about making smart decisions to make the most of company information. Expert author William McKnight develops the value proposition for information in the enterprise and succinctly outlines the numerous forms of data storage. Information Management will enlighten you, challenge your preconceived notions, and help activate information in the enterprise. Get the big picture on managing data so that your team can make smart decisions by understanding how everything from workload allocation to data stores fits together.
Trends Shaping the Future of Cloud ERP in 2025
Acumatica
April 01, 2025
The cloud ERP landscape is rapidly evolving, with AI, automation, and cybersecurity shaping the future of business operations. In 2025, agentic AI, predictive analytics, and industry-specific solutions will drive efficiency and competitiveness. Explore expert insights on how businesses can leverage these trends to maximize their ERP strategy.
2025 Cloud and FinOps Predictions - Part 2
APM Digest
January 13, 2025
As part of APMdigest's 2025 Predictions Series, industry experts offer predictions on how Cloud, FinOps and related technologies will evolve and impact business in 2025. Part 2 covers repatriation and more.
Performance demos at Oracle CloudWorld: MySQL HeatWave Lakehouse vs. Snowflake, Redshift, BigQuery, and Databricks
Oracle
July 07, 2023
MySQL HeatWave Lakehouse delivered an industry first by enabling customers to query data in object storage as fast as querying data inside the database.
How about seeing live how the performance of MySQL HeatWave Lakehouse compares to Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, and Databricks? McKnight Consulting Group will be running demos on the AMD booth at Oracle CloudWorld (booth #16) at the following times:
Total cost of ownership: NATS vs Kafka
Airbyte
July 07, 2023
During RethinkConn 2022, Jean-Noel Moyne, Synadia’s Field CTO, presented a lightning talk Comparing & Contrasting NATS to Kafka. This has been the most popular video on the event’s YouTube playlist and led to a growing number of requests from our community for more content on this topic.
The consistent feedback we receive from customers and the community is the appreciation for NATS overall simplicity. This manifests in the ease and power of developing NATS applications as well as the operability of a NATS deployment.
5 challenges IT faces using open source data management
TechTarget
July 07, 2023
There are a variety of open source challenges for data management software, including lack of real-time BI access, miscalculating costs and underestimating the resources required.
Big Data Benchmark Showdown: Talend Vs. Informatica
TechTarget
May 05, 2022
Talend has acknowledged Informatica's objections to a recent big data integration benchmark test. The company has issued an invitation to Informatica to participate in creating a new benchmark test. Will Informatica agree to the challenge?
Couchbase IPO brings NoSQL database to the stock market
Couchbase
April 01, 2022
Couchbase makes a move into the public markets with a Nasdaq listing as it continues to develop its NoSQL database technology that runs on premises and in the cloud.
Independent Benchmark Demonstrates First Trillion-edge Knowledge Graph – Stardog Recognized for Providing Sub-Second Query Times on Hybrid, Multicloud Data
Stardog
April 01, 2022
New McKnight Consulting Group report proves the significant operational and performance gains users can achieve using Stardog’s massive knowledge graph
Business Intelligence Journal | Vol 26, No 1
TDWI
April 01, 2022
senior editor Hugh Watson set out to better understand the daily challenges of advanced analytics (and how to respond to them) by interviewing four consultants, managers, and professionals. They identified the most important and interesting problems. You’re sure to recognize these problems in your own environment and, like Hugh, gain new perspective on the solutions.
Cloudera Data Warehouse Demonstrates Best-in-Class Cloud-Native Price-Performance
Dataversity
September 01, 2021
Cloud data warehouses allow users to run analytic workloads with greater agility, better isolation and scale, and lower administrative overhead than ever before. With the ability to quickly provision on-demand and the lower fixed and administrative costs, the costs of operating a cloud data warehouse are driven mostly by the price-performance of the specific data warehouse platform. With pay-as-you-go pricing, platforms that deliver high-performance benefit users not only through faster results but also through direct cost savings.
Data Architecture and Artificial Intelligence: How Do They Work Together?
Dataversity
September 01, 2020
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly gaining ground as core business competency. Today’s machine learning (ML) or deep learning (DL) algorithms promise to revolutionize business models and processes, restructure workforces, and transform data infrastructures to enhance process efficiency and improve decision-making throughout the enterprise. Gone are the days of data silos and manual algorithms.
Top Business Intelligence and Data Analytics Influencers on Social Media
BI and Analytics Conference
September 01, 2020
Over the past few years, most companies have moved towards business intelligence (BI) and data analytics in order to make more intelligent and informed business decisions. Today, organizations of all sizes realize that business intelligence and analytics are no longer an option but a necessity if they hope to survive and stay competitive. It is no wonder that Marketwatch predicts the global market for business intelligence to rise to more than $147 billion by 2025.
TDWI Launches New Online Resource, Upside.com
TDWI
May 05, 2016
TDWI, a division of 1105 Media, Inc., has launched a new online media property, Upside.com, to deliver timely, relevant, actionable information about how to transform data into intelligence, insight, and impact within any enterprise.
Proving MDM’s Business Case Still a Challenge, Says Survey
IT Business Edge
May 05, 2016
You’d think master data management would be an easy sell in a world where everyone wants an accurate “360-degree” view of the customer. And certainly, that’s a leading driver of adoption.
Master Data Management for Data Stewards
ELearningCurve
January 06, 2023
Master Data Management (MDM) is complex and challenging, but it pays great dividends when done well. The complexities of managing identities, managing hierarchies, and resolving conflicts among disparate data sources make MDM an ambitious undertaking. Add to these complexities the multi-faceted nature of MDM - with human, organizational, architectural, and technological implications - and it becomes clear that knowledge is an essential component of MDM success.
Since Data Stewards play a critical role in master data management, each steward needs a foundation of concepts, principles, terminology, and methodology of this important information management discipline. This online training course provides an overview of the field of master data management with the goal of building strong fundamental knowledge.
MDM Fundamentals: Architecture and Implementation
ELearningCurve
January 06, 2023
Proliferation of heterogeneous systems creates a pressing need for data sharing and data consistency. When many different systems collect data about master entities – customers, products, suppliers, employees, accounts, etc. – you can be certain that you’ll find inconsistencies, conflicts, and confusion. At best, conflict and confusion leads to waste and inefficiency in business process. More severe consequences include damaged credibility and reputation when errors and inconsistencies are visible to customers, suppliers, and employees. Today’s complex business and information systems must synchronize master data. That is the role and purpose of Master Data Management (MDM) systems.
Data Parsing, Matching and De-duplication
ELearningCurve
January 06, 2023
Data parsing, standardization, matching, and de-duplication are the cornerstones of successful Master Data Management (MDM). They are also critical parts of successful data quality programs, and are key steps in building data warehouses as well as any data integration and consolidation initiatives. You could say that today few organizations can function effectively without implementing data parsing and matching processes often in many data domains.
Introduction to NoSQL
ELearningCurve
January 06, 2023
In this informative class, learn about the emerging class of NoSQL technologies for managing operational big data. This includes key-value, column stores, document stores and graph databases. Learn about the ideal workloads for NoSQL in enterprises and where NoSQL adds value to an enterprise information strategy. Learn how to get the projects started or dropping the “not in production” label.
Big Data Fundamentals
ELearningCurve
January 06, 2023
Data is everywhere today. In recent years we’ve experienced an exponential increase in availability of data—an increase that is widely known as “big data.” Today’s data sources reach far beyond traditional transaction systems. They include smartphones, social media, sensor and machine data, consumer wearables, smart devices such as utility meters, and much more. Data volume is only one of the big data challenges. Data variety and velocity—many types of structured and unstructured data arriving at high speed—compound the complexities of working with big data.
McKnight Associates, Inc.
Conversion Services International
May 09, 2015
William founded and grew McKnight Associates, Inc. during 1998-2005 to placement in the Inc. 500, the Dallas 100 (twice) and the Collin (county) 60. He sold the company to a public firm in 2005.
Pacific Northwest BI Summit
Humphrey Strategic Communications
June 06, 2019
Pacific Northwest BI & Analytics Summit, an annual weekend retreat that assembles the top industry thought leaders, vendors and media in an informal setting to discuss the latest trends and developments, as well as forecast the future.
Ernst&Young Southwest Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist
Ernst & Young
May 01, 2015
Ernst&Young Southwest Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist is an award that recognizes the accomplishments of entrepreneurs in the Southwest region. The award honors businesses that have achieved remarkable success by demonstrating strategic vision, financial performance, innovation, and community and industry impact.
Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Big Data 2024
Thinkers360
December 01, 2024
Here’s the Thinkers360 annual leaderboard for our top 50 global thought leaders and influencers on Big Data for 2024. Congratulations to all our Big Data influencers who participated!
DataIQ most influential people in data
DataIQ
April 04, 2024
The first and only fully-curated power list of the most influential data and analytics practitioners. Since 2014, DataIQ has been tracking the rise of chief data officers, chief analytics officers, data scientists, data governance experts and the leaders of key vendors and service providers. Inclusion in the DataIQ 100 is a notable badge of honour that is widely referenced by the individuals who make the cut.
The Evolution of the Data Platform and What It Means to Data Warehousing
Astera
May 25, 2021
Business landscapes are in hyperdrive. Data volumes are exploding, modern sources are rapidly taking over old legacy systems, and organizations are continually seeking advanced analytics solutions to deliver unparalleled customer experiences and tap into new revenue streams. Amidst all the data chaos, you need an agile, well-knitted, responsive data warehouse architecture that provides information clarity, tackles complexity, and delivers accurate, trusted insights at lightspeed for game-changing decision making.
Opening a new dimension of agility, automation, and simplicity, Astera Software is introducing a next-gen data warehouse automation solution that allows businesses to go from data ingestion to BI & analytics in a matter of hours, all through a single platform.
Whether you want to build a new data warehouse or modernize a legacy architecture, we are bringing a solution that holds the key to unlock the agility and efficiency needed to drive your initiative.
Information - The Next Natural Resource | William McKnight | TEDxUTD
YouTube
May 26, 2015
Big Data is ubiquitous and continuously growing. William reflects on the trends of Big Data and demonstrates that its not the question of how much information we have but how we use that information wisely.
William functions as Strategist, Lead Enterprise Information Architect, and Program Manager for sites worldwide utilizing the disciplines of data warehousing, master data management, business intelligence and big data. Many of his clients have gone public with their success stories.
He is author of the book “Information Management: Strategies for Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Data.”
https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/14564
TEDx
April 12, 2005
Our theme is about looking deeper at ourselves, the world around us, and the problems we face. Topics of our event include: Public Health, Industrial Design, Virtual Reality, Big Data, Teenage Homelessness, The Self, and Theatre.
New AI-powered tools from Dremio target data discovery
TechTarget
April 08, 2025
With relevant data key to developing accurate AI and analytics applications, the data lakehouse specialist's latest new features target making data faster and easier to find.
William McKnight: Listen to Your Data and Unlock Business Success
21st Century Entrepreneur
December 10, 2023
Learn from William McKnight, an expert in data management and analytics, about how to make better decisions based on data. William is the esteemed President of McKnight Consulting Group, specialising in data analysis and strategy projects. He is also a renowned author, speaker, and educator. Hear about insights for small to medium-sized businesses and strategies for leveraging artificial intelligence and ROI. Investing in yourself and deepening your knowledge base of enterprise data topics can be instrumental for the success of your business. From personal research & development, data warehousing, analytics, and integration to quality assurance - learn from one of the industry's leading experts! Tune in now, unlock the power of data-driven decision-making, and increase your knowledge base to drive data success in your business!
The Future of Data Management
Data Privacy Detective
December 10, 2023
William McKnight, one of the most highly published analysts in information management, offers insights into the future of how big data and artificial intelligence are changing the world. The McKnight Consulting Group is a leading data strategy and implementation firm that helps businesses solve complex problems through the use of growing personal information databases.
Learn from this podcast who is watching us and how our personal data is collected, shared, and used. Discover new analytic uses by enterprises in master data management, how artificial intelligence mines our data to create a burgeoning array of products and services. Hear how AI and other critical technologies will change the world in the next ten years. And consider how this will affect our privacy and what we can do about it.
Data is the most significant asset an enterprise has! LISTEN NOW: dataversity.net/podcasts
Dataversity
May 16, 2023
This week we’re happy to chatting with William McKnight, the President and Founder of McKnight Consulting Group, about the importance of commitment and how his athletic pursuits have informed his perspective.
189: From Data Chaos to Data Maturity – McKnight Consulting Group
Spotify
April 04, 2023
William McKnight, President at McKnight Consulting Group discusses the importance of data maturity in achieving digital transformation and the crucial role of data architects in helping organizations become data-driven.
Gary Fowler and William McKnight: How To Combat Infobesity
YouTube
March 28, 2023
GSD Presents
How To Combat Infobesity with William McKnight
Guest:
William McKnight, Founder & President at McKnight Consulting Group
William McKnight has been recognized as the #1 global influencer in big data, cloud, and data center by Thinkers 360 and the #1 global influencer in master data management by Onalytica in 2022.
He is the Founder and President of McKnight Consulting Group, which advises many of the Global 2000 companies, including Pfizer, Verizon, UnitedHealth Group, Dell, Oracle, and Scotiabank, on ways to faster grow their businesses with big data.
They've been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the US two times and their clients in 14+ countries have reaped tremendous ROI and turned data into a real corporate asset.
My Career in Data Episode 22: William McKnight, President, McKnight Consulting Group
YouTube
March 01, 2023
Welcome back to a new episode of My Career in Data – a DATAVERSITY Talks podcast where we sit down with professionals to discuss how they have built their careers around data.
This week we're happy to chatting with William McKnight, the President and Founder of McKnight Consulting Group, about the importance of commitment and how his athletic pursuits have informed his perspective.
Exploring Master Data Management With William McKnight
Tech Talks Daily
December 10, 2022
William McKnight has been recognized as the #1 global influencer in big data, cloud, and data center by Thinkers 360 and the #1 global influencer in master data management by Onalytica in 2022. He is the Founder and President of McKnight Consulting Group, which advises many of the Global 2000 companies, including Pfizer, Verizon, UnitedHealth Group, Dell, Oracle, and Scotiabank, on ways to grow their businesses with big data faster.
They've been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the US two times and their clients in 14+ countries have reaped tremendous ROI and turned data into a real corporate asset. With over 30 years of experience, William is a highly sought-after speaker who has spoken on four continents for various organizations, including IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Bank of America, Orange South Africa, and SAP.
Listen in as we discuss personal data, who's watching you, and how they can use the data collected from you. We also discuss new analytic uses of master data management in the enterprise, how AI will significantly impact users and how organizations think about their data resources.
Concise Leadership
Concise Leadership
December 10, 2021
Episode #31 Please join William McKnight as he discusses Being Responsible for Future Leaders and Watching People Grow! #salesleadership #podcast #leadership
Pulsar Takes on Kafka with Uniform Architecture, Speed
The New Stack
June 06, 2021
The open source stream processing platform Pulsar has some notable architectural advantages over Kafka, which have helped to drive further support and adoption.
What’s the Deal with Vertica TCO?
Opentext
June 06, 2021
Recently, a colleague of mine was trying to express why Vertica had such a low total cost of ownership (TCO). It’s not obvious. Our customers rave about the fast return on investment. We have a half dozen excellent case studies from third-parties showing Vertica’s ROI. But why?
Disruptive Heroes, William McKnight
Bill Jensen
August 01, 2013
As part of the Disruptive Heroes series, William McKnight, information technology consultant, shares 1. My Favorite Disruptive Hero 2. My Favorite Disruptive Change 3. The Disruptive Change I Struggle With. See www.DisruptMovement.com for more
Integrating GenAI into Data Analytics Workflows | Live Panel Event
Youtube
December 10, 2024
Generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping the possibilities for enterprise data analytics, enabling organizations to uncover deeper insights, accelerate decision-making, and drive innovation. However, integrating GenAI into existing data analytics workflows requires careful consideration of its unique capabilities, challenges, and impacts. From addressing data preparation and model optimization to ensuring ethical deployment and operational efficiency, the journey to incorporating GenAI is as complex as it is transformative.
Storage vendors adding data management tools to meet AI needs
TechTarget
March 10, 2025
Storage vendors are now developing their own tools and capabilities related to data management tasks within their platforms, as interest in enterprise AI development increases.
The Evolving Revolution: AI in 2025
GigaOm
January 13, 2025
AI was 2024’s hot topic, so how is it evolving? What are we seeing in AI today, and what do we expect to see in the next 12-18 months? We asked Andrew Brust, Chester Conforte, Chris Ray, Dana Hernandez, Howard Holton, Ivan McPhee, Seth Byrnes, Whit Walters, and William McKnight to weigh in.
Latest version of Vdura Data Platform aimed at enterprise AI
TechTarget
November 18, 2024
Vdura Data Platform version 11 focuses on a microservices-based architecture and composable hardware for performance and capacity, which includes utilizing HDDs.
Ensuring Enterprise Data Privacy: 2024 & Beyond | Tips From 6 Data Experts
Astera
March 03, 2024
As we approach Data Privacy Day on January 28th, it’s crucial to recognize the significance of enterprise data privacy in our increasingly digital world.
Who’s Who in Cloud? Influential Voices & Brands
Onalytica
September 03, 2023
This category highlights influencers who are Cloud experts, and are
signed up to Onalytica’s marketplace, MyOnalytica. We analyze their
topical influence on Twitter, LinkedIn as well as how much they are
referenced within blogs and online media.
2022 Data Access & Analytics Trendbook
Immuta
September 03, 2023
We’ve compiled a range of expert outlooks on the state of data in an effort to understand what the near future may hold. From new technologies to emerging skill sets and beyond, the ideas collected in this Trendbook point towards a world centered around the importance of data.
Unifying Data Architecture for the Future: Gen AI, Open Standards, Collaborative Analytics, and Next-Gen Data Platforms
BrightTalk
May 15, 2025
The data and analytics landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. Emerging trends in Gen AI, open table formats, collaborative analytics, and next-generation data platforms are converging to reshape the future of data architecture. In this webinar, we'll explore how:
- Gen AI is revolutionizing data roles and workflows.
- Open table and open file formats are breaking down data silos, enabling seamless collaboration, and democratizing data access.
- Next-generation data platforms, including data lakehouses on data meshes, are emerging as powerful paradigms for managing distributed, decentralized data ecosystems
Bringing Data and AI to Life Podcast
Informatica
December 01, 2024
Nick Dobbins, host and Field CTO at Informatica enjoyed the company of William McKnight in this fantastic new episode of Bringing Data and AI to Life. William, President of McKnight Consulting Group has made an impact in data management and when he speaks, people take note. His work has spanned consulting, leadership, and groundbreaking research in analytics and cloud technologies. And it’s work that hasn’t gone unrewarded – he’s picked up plenty of accolades, such as being ranked #1 globally in Big Data by Thinkers 360 and being listed on the DataIQ 100.
Competitive Analytics Architectures: Comparing the Data Mesh, Data Fabric, Data Lakehouse, and Data Cloud
Dataversity
July 24, 2024
In this session, we’ll look at some Data Architecture practices that have emerged in the past few years and are being consciously worked into many enterprise data programs. These are keepers and it will be required that we move towards them, so it’s best to mindfully work them into the environment.
Data mesh is a subdividing of the enterprise Data Architecture into subsystems manageable by non-central teams. The data fabric is a metadata-driven always-on data and pipeline manager. The data lakehouse integrates the data warehouse and the data lake. The data cloud brings widespread data to bear in a single platform.
Learn more in this session and determine which, if any, will provide value to your architecture objectives.
William McKnight: Listen to Your Data and Unlock Business Success
21st Century Entrepreneurship
November 07, 2023
Learn from William McKnight, an expert in data management and analytics, about how to make better decisions based on data. William is the esteemed President of McKnight Consulting Group, specialising in data analysis and strategy projects. He is also a renowned author, speaker, and educator. Hear about insights for small to medium-sized businesses and strategies for leveraging artificial intelligence and ROI. Investing in yourself and deepening your knowledge base of enterprise data topics can be instrumental for the success of your business. From personal research & development, data warehousing, analytics, and integration to quality assurance - learn from one of the industry’s leading experts! Tune in now, unlock the power of data-driven decision-making, and increase your knowledge base to drive data success in your business!
The Pros and Cons of Big Data in the Healthcare Industry with William McKnight
That Tech Pod
August 08, 2023
Today Kevin and Laura talk to William McKnight about big data in healthcare, the pros and cons of companies knowing this much about us, being a corporate influencer and much more!
CyberSide Chats An Interview With William McKnight
Cyberside Chats
June 14, 2023
While we are all appropriately focused on #AI, there are a number of issues that must be considered to maximize the value of AI. In this podcast, I spoke to William McKnight, of McKnight Consulting Group, about how companies should think about and organize #data to begin to maximize the value of AI.
Welcome back to a new episode of My Career in Data – a DATAVERSITY Talks podcast where we sit down with professionals to discuss how they have built their careers around data.
This week we're happy to chatting with William McKnight, the President and Founder of McKnight Consulting Group, about the importance of commitment and how his athletic pursuits have informed his perspective.
Maximizing the Power of Enterprise Data
Terminal Value
February 08, 2023
Doug and William spoke about maximizing the value of enterprise data is essential for large companies to make better decisions, it involves organizing data from different systems and extracting insights from it. This process can be costly, requiring specialized tools and skilled personnel, but is necessary.
Business owners should pay attention to the analytics to gain insights and inform strategic decisions, and having the right strategy and vision is important to know what to look for and ask.
Data Mindset podcast
That Data Mindset
August 08, 2021
In this episode of the #datamindset series, William McKnight shares his insight around his 22 plus years in working with data.
William is the President at McKnight Consulting Group, has worked in Data Strategy & Projects, Data Analytics is an Author, Speaker and Educator.
He further shares his passion for constantly analyzing the market to help companies plan and navigate their data journey through the development of an agile mindset.
Data Architecture for the CEO
Data Leadership for Everyone
June 17, 2021
William has advised many of the world’s best-known organizations. His strategies form the information management plan for leading companies in various industries. He is a prolific author and a popular keynote speaker and trainer. He has performed dozens of benchmarks on leading database, data lake, streaming and data integration products. William is the #1 global influencer in data warehousing and master data management and he leads McKnight Consulting Group, which has twice placed on the Inc. 5000 list.
The Pre-Requisites for Analytics to Happen
Super Data Science
August 08, 2018
This is what William McKnight, our guest for today, wants for all the business owners, leaders, and data scientists to take note of. Listen as we talk about how data is a big asset in a company, the five levels of data maturity inside a business, and the four quadrants or aspects that should be improved inside your business!
TDWI Las Vegas 2013 World Conference Thursday Keynote: William McKnight
TDWI
May 19, 2013
Capitalizing on Chaos: Navigating Information Management Possibilities to Build Organizational Value
Increasing data volumes and data's high utility have led to an explosion of capabilities and possibilities in the past few years. While stalwart structures of our information, like the enterprise data warehouse, remain highly supported, it is widely acknowledged that no single solution will satisfy all enterprise data management needs. Many are confused by the value of Hadoop, data warehouse appliances, and stream processing, with their seemingly conflicting value propositions for current information management infrastructure. Although storage remains historically inexpensive, costs for keeping "all data for all time" are still escalating. The key to making the correct data storage selection is understanding your workloads—current, projected, and envisioned. This practical session will organize and explore the major categories of information stores available and help you make the best choices to keep information as an unparalleled corporate asset.
President of the Data Warehousing Institute Dallas chapter
TDWI
January 01, 1016
Represented the organization in my local community and promoted its values and mission. As President, I worked with a team of volunteers to organize and lead local events such as seminars, meetings, and social networking opportunities. Additionally, I was responsible for promoting TDWI’s educational activities, such as certification programs, and strengthening the local chapter by networking and developing relationships with vendors and other organizations.
Streaming data and message-oriented Middleware fundamentals /
Villanova
November 18, 2018
This video series provides an overview to the world of streaming data and message-oriented middleware. There are three clips in this series: Streaming Solutions for a Modern Enterprise Data Fabric; Performance and Scalability in Streaming; Major Players in Data Streaming.
Enterprise Enablement in the Age of AI with William McKnight
Solutions Review
February 10, 2025
John Santaferraro sits down with William McKnight / wmcknight , founder of McKnight Consulting Group, about how enterprises are adapting to the age of AI. They discuss the importance of maintaining solid data architecture while embracing AI innovation, the evolution from BI to AI capabilities, and how organizations can prepare for the rise of AI agents. McKnight emphasizes the need for strong leadership, clear ROI focus, and thoughtful architecture choices in successful AI implementations.
Unlocking AI and Not Getting Left Behind with William McKnight of McKnight Consulting Group
Informatica
December 09, 2024
Nick Dobbins, host and Field CTO at Informatica enjoyed the company of William McKnight in this fantastic new episode of Bringing Data and AI to Life. William, President of McKnight Consulting Group has made an impact in data management and when he speaks, people take note. His work has spanned consulting, leadership, and groundbreaking research in analytics and cloud technologies. And it’s work that hasn’t gone unrewarded – he’s picked up plenty of accolades, like being ranked #1 globally in Big Data by Thinkers 360 and been listened on the DataIQ 100.
Demo: MySQL HeatWave Performance
MySQL
November 11, 2023
McKnight Consulting Group performed a 100 TB TPC-H benchmark of MySQL HeatWave vs. Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Databricks, and Google BigQuery. Watch this demo video to see the query performance and price-performance comparison.
William McKnight Interview with theCUBE | Teradata Possible 2023
The Cube
November 11, 2023
theCUBE's Rob Strechay and Rebecca M. Knight interviewed William McKnight, President of McKnight Consulting Group, during Teradata Possible 2023 in Orlando. In this interview, they discussed:
- How organizations are embracing AI
- How leaders can educate their teams on AI
- LLMs and their place in the future of AI
- How to prepare yourself to embrace AI
William Mcknight, President, McKnight Consulting Group will present at the Master Data Management and Data Governance Conference Europe, 9 - 12 May 2023, London.
In his presentation, William will discuss how AI and data use are already revolutionizing how we live today, with applications in healthcare, transportation, education, and many more fields.
William will also project AI and data use into the future and make predictions about the technological advancements that will be commonplace in 25 years. In the next 25 years, we can expect to see revolutionary advancements in AI and data technologies leading to increased personal convenience, a different quality of life, an ever-evolving understanding of the world around us as well as the potential for new and unexpected risks. The near-term advancements that AI and data use are projected to bring about will undoubtedly alter the course of the world's future.
Teradata Columnar with William McKnight
Teradata
July 07, 2023
Teradata has added Columnar capabilities ... perhaps the most significant enhancement in the last decade," says William McKnight from McKnight Consulting Group.
Using Data in a Downturn Building Business Resiliency with Analytics with William McKnight
Actian
May 11, 2023
In today's rapidly changing business landscape, data has become a crucial asset for organizations seeking to thrive and avoid costly pitfalls. The headlines in 2023 have included the failures of major brands like Party City and Bed, Band and Beyond. Logistics issues that originated in recent years are still causing chaos for inventory levels.
With the looming threat of a recession, geopolitical instability, and rising inflation are causing uncertainty across the economy. Companies must leverage data to inform their decisions to navigate these potential headwinds effectively.
How To Reduce Your Total Cost of Ownership for Cassandra
GigaOm
May 05, 2023
Everybody wants data without limits - infinite scale, zero-downtime and software velocity without going over budget. The weapon of choice is Apache Cassandra, but how do you control data costs and complexity without sacrificing performance? The answer to this is serverless Cassandra! No more nodes, no more servers, no more idle/wasted capacity.
Information - The Next Natural Resource | William McKnight | TEDxUTD
Tedx
May 19, 2015
Big Data is ubiquitous and continuously growing. William reflects on the trends of Big Data and demonstrates that its not the question of how much information we have but how we use that information wisely.
William functions as Strategist, Lead Enterprise Information Architect, and Program Manager for sites worldwide utilizing the disciplines of data warehousing, master data management, business intelligence and big data. Many of his clients have gone public with their success stories.
He is author of the book “Information Management: Strategies for Gaining a Competitive Advantage with Data.”
Big Data with William McKnight
Teradata
August 28, 2014
William McKnight from McKnight Consulting Group defines big data - data that accumulates more rapidly -- structured and unstructured -- in order to get a lot of analytical value out of it. He also talks about MapReduce and Master Data Management.
Disruptive Heroes, William McKnight
Bill Jensen
October 29, 2013
As part of the Disruptive Heroes series, William McKnight, information technology consultant, shares 1. My Favorite Disruptive Hero 2. My Favorite Disruptive Change 3. The Disruptive Change I Struggle With. See www.DisruptMovement.com for more
Data Virtualization: William McKnight of McKnight Consulting Group on DW Trends
Cisco
July 24, 2012
William McKnight of McKnight Consulting Group gives his tips on how the vision, architecture, and tools in your organization can enable the full use of information. Also, watch to see what William says is essential to every enterprise architecture.
- Data Virtualization
- Big Data
- Data Warehouse
- Business Intelligence
- Master Data Management
- Combine Disparate Data
- Essential Architecture
William McKnight Interview with theCUBE | Teradata Possible 2023
theCUBE
October 11, 2023
theCUBE's Rob Strechay and Rebecca M. Knight interviewed William McKnight, President of McKnight Consulting Group, during Teradata Possible 2023 in Orlando. In this interview, they discussed:
- How organizations are embracing AI
- How leaders can educate their teams on AI
- LLMs and their place in the future of AI
- How to prepare yourself to embrace AI
Demo: MySQL HeatWave Performance
Oracle
October 09, 2023
McKnight Consulting Group performed a 100 TB TPC-H benchmark of MySQL HeatWave vs. Snowflake, Amazon Redshift, Databricks, and Google BigQuery. Watch this demo video to see the query performance and price-performance comparison.
Promising AI Use Cases for the Enterprise in 2025
Dataversity
June 12, 2025
As artificial intelligence continues to mature, enterprises are discovering transformative applications that extend far beyond traditional use cases. This forward-looking webinar will examine the most promising AI implementations across industries, from predictive maintenance and personalized customer experiences to advanced risk management and strategic decision support. We'll analyze real-world case studies, emerging technologies, and the strategic considerations that will define successful AI adoption in 2025.
The Data Observability Advantage – Unlocking the Secrets to Reliable, High-Quality Big Data
Dataversity
May 08, 2025
In the age of big data, observability has become a critical competency for ensuring data reliability and performance. This session will provide a comprehensive exploration of modern data observability strategies, demonstrating how advanced monitoring, lineage tracking, and anomaly detection techniques can dramatically improve data quality and build organizational trust. Attendees will learn practical frameworks for implementing robust data observability across complex, distributed data environments.
Edge Computing Evolved – Introducing the Zero-DBA, Zero-ETL Embedded Database
Dataversity
April 21, 2025
This session emphasizes the critical role of embedded databases in the evolving landscape of the Internet of Things. As IoT devices proliferate, the need for efficient, localized data management becomes paramount. Embedded databases offer a solution by enabling data processing directly on devices, thus reducing latency and enhancing resource utilization. The session will underscore the importance of high-performance capabilities in embedded databases to fully leverage data for real-time insights and data-driven decision-making. Also selecting the right embedded database is crucial for organizations to achieve operational efficiency, agility and a competitive edge in the data-driven IoT landscape.
The Rise of Automated MDM – How AI and Machine Learning Are Revolutionizing Master Data Management
Dataversity
April 10, 2025
Master data management (MDM) is undergoing a radical transformation through AI and machine learning technologies. This webinar will showcase how intelligent algorithms are automating data quality, reducing manual reconciliation efforts, and creating more dynamic, adaptive data governance frameworks. Participants will discover cutting-edge techniques for entity resolution, data matching, and continuous data enrichment that are making MDM more intelligent, efficient, and strategic.
From Models to Data – How GenAI Is Changing the Game for Data Scientists and Data Teams
Dataversity
March 13, 2025
GenAI is changing how AI and data teams work together. Before, data scientists focused on models and algorithms, using tools like R. Now, the focus is on gathering all data in one place for frameworks like RAG and ensuring it’s accurate and reliable. This shift is bringing teams closer, aligning their goals. It’s also pushing data management vendors to go beyond ETL and offer solutions for more users and use cases.
Standardizing Data Collaboration – The Role of Open Table Formats in Data Architecture
Dataversity
February 13, 2025
In an era of increasingly complex data ecosystems, open table formats are emerging as critical infrastructure for seamless data collaboration. This webinar will explore how technologies like Apache Iceberg, Delta Lake, and Apache Hudi are breaking down traditional data silos, enabling unprecedented interoperability across cloud platforms, and democratizing data access. Attendees will learn how these open standards are transforming data architecture, reducing vendor lock-in, and creating more flexible, scalable data environments.
Where Do Companies Go Wrong When Implementing AI and Data Governance?
Solutions Review
January 09, 2025
Our expert panel discusses common challenges companies face when implementing AI. They emphasize that poor data quality and inadequate data infrastructure are major hurdles in successful AI implementation. GenAI might help improve data analysis and quality, but new AI initiatives may require re-architecting data systems. The conversation also touches on the benefits of adopting streaming architectures and the importance of balancing comprehensive re-architecting with tactical, incremental improvements.
AI Implementation Advice for Data Leaders
Solutions Review
January 09, 2025
Our expert panel share their advice on AI implementation for data leaders: the importance of responsible AI usage, proper data governance, and the need to balance rapid adoption with compliance and risk management. They particularly stress that organizations should focus on business value while maintaining proper guardrails and governance structures.
How Can Organizations Stay Ahead of Evolving AI Regulations?
Solutions Review
January 09, 2025
Our expert panel discusses how organizations can navigate the challenges of using generative AI while staying compliant with evolving regulations and industry standards. The panelists explore AI governance, including legal and regulatory compliance, data provenance, ethical use, and ensuring the accuracy and safety of AI outputs. They emphasize the importance of human oversight, especially for critical tasks, and suggest using AI as a supportive tool for internal processes rather than for external-facing applications without proper checks.
How Can Companies Actually Use GenAI?
Solutions Review
January 09, 2025
Our expert panel discusses the use of generative AI in corporate settings, focusing on its potential applications and associated risks. Think about generative AI as a "smart intern" - capable but naive. They explore how it can be integrated into various business processes, including risk management and compliance. They also address the challenges of data security and privacy when using AI, emphasizing the need for careful implementation and oversight.
How Important is Ethics When it Comes to GenAI and Data Analytics?
Solutions Review
January 09, 2025
Our expert panel discusses the importance of ethics in AI use and governance.They share their insights about data rights, bias prevention, and the need for clear guidelines before implementing AI solutions. They emphasize the importance of cross-functional leadership teams in evaluating ethical challenges and provide real-world examples of potential pitfalls in AI implementation.
2025 Trends in Analytics Architecture
Dataversity
January 09, 2025
as we enter 2025, the landscape of data and analytics architecture is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by technological innovation, artificial intelligence, and the increasing complexity of enterprise data ecosystems. This forward-looking webinar will provide a comprehensive exploration of the pivotal trends reshaping analytical architectures, offering strategic insights for data leaders, architects, and technology professionals.
How to Become an AI-Ready Organization
Dataversity
December 12, 2024
Investments in artificial intelligence will only pay off if paired with people success. Managing this transformation is key to AI success.
Information management professionals and business leaders must concern themselves with the organization’s acceptance of these efforts. To be successful in achieving the larger enterprise goals, AI initiatives must transform the organization. However, it takes more than wishful thinking to bridge the gap. It takes knowledge and leadership.
The complexities of engaging behavioral and enterprise transformation for AI are going to be underestimated at great peril. Join us to discuss preparing the organization for AI.
What Does Information Management Maturity Look Like in 2024?
Dataversity
November 12, 2024
Maturity frameworks have varying levels of information management maturity. Each level corresponds to not only increased data maturity, but also increased organizational maturity and bottom-line ROI. These are the recommended targets to achieve an effective information management program. The speaker’s maturity framework sequences the information management activities for your consideration. It is based on real client roadmaps.
This webinar will offer a wealth of ideas for key quick wins and ideas for roadmap development to benefit the organization’s information management program.
Attendees can self-assess their current information management capabilities as we go through data strategy, organization, architecture, and technology, yielding an overall view of the current level of information management maturity.
This is always a hot topic when the speaker gives this presentation, so be sure to come plot your shop on the curve and your actions toward improved information management maturity and business success.
Future-Proof Your Workflow: Automate Legacy Migration to Airflow
Solutions Review
October 22, 2024
Are the growing complexity, inflexibility, and costs of legacy orchestration tools holding your business back? As traditional systems struggle to keep up, enterprises must choose between maintaining expensive, outdated solutions that slow cloud and AI advancements or modernizing with cloud-native, open-source tools like Airflow.
Airflow offers a cost-effective, scalable orchestration solution that seamlessly integrates with cloud services, optimizing both performance and cost. AWS Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow (MWAA) further enhances orchestration on AWS Cloud, providing automated provisioning, management, and monitoring, along with a pay-as-you-go model for cost efficiency and scalability.
Modernizing Workloads and Unifying Data Governance on Databricks
Solutions Review
October 22, 2024
️Hear from industry experts: Sachneet Bains, Global Head of Solutions Architecture at Impetus, their client, David Garcia, Director Software Data Engineering at Copa Airlines, Franco Patano, Strategic Data and AI Advisor from Databricks, all moderated by William McKnight, President of McKnight Consulting Group and Data Strategist. Learn how to fully realize the benefits of a cloud-native data warehouse with Databricks.
Future-Proof Your Workflow: Automate Legacy Migration to Airflow
Solutions Review
October 14, 2024
Are the growing complexity, inflexibility, and costs of legacy orchestration tools holding your business back? As traditional systems struggle to keep up, enterprises must choose between maintaining expensive, outdated solutions that slow cloud and AI advancements or modernizing with cloud-native, open-source tools like Airflow.
Digital Transformation in the Age of AI Revolution
BrightTalk
October 14, 2024
As AI reshapes the business landscape, enterprises in the technology, media, telecom, and professional services industries must adapt their digital strategies to effectively integrate these advanced technologies. Join our expert panel as they explore how AI drives digital transformation, define an ideal digital enterprise, and assess current industry practices. We’ll cover overcoming challenges in digital initiatives, leveraging ERPs like SAP for AI integration, and optimizing procurement and contracting processes. Gain actionable insights and strategies to embrace AI while transforming your business to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.
Data Quality When the Data Spigot Is Turned Way Up
Dataversity
October 12, 2024
Data Quality is an elusive subject that can defy measurement and yet be critical enough to derail any project, strategic initiative, or even company. The data layer of an organization is a critical component because it is so easy to initially ignore the quality of data or make overly optimistic assumptions about its efficacy.
Having Data Quality as a focus is a business philosophy that aligns strategy, business culture, company information, and technology in order to manage data to the benefit of the enterprise. It is a competitive strategy.
Addressing Data Quality has to change when you are talking about streaming and high-velocity data. How? Is there less? Are there different methods? Do you have to tackle it at the source? Are there different rules that can be checked? Don’t let Data Quality go, and pay for it, just because it’s streaming data. Let’s see how we can maintain Data Quality in a world that is quickly moving to streaming approaches to data.
AI Language Models for Enterprises
Dataversity
September 11, 2024
An AI language model is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that is trained on a massive amount of text data. This data can include books, articles, code, and other types of text. Once trained, the AI language model can be used to generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer your questions in an informative way.
In this session, we will see what is happening in the enterprise with AI language models and what the possibilities are, and we will compare and contrast some popular language models.
Promising AI Use Cases for the Enterprise in 2024
Dataversity
August 11, 2024
Enterprises make use of AI to gain actionable analytics and intelligence from a universe of data sets. Harnessing artificial intelligence for the enterprise is a critical competitive advantage. Algorithms are becoming embedded in the fabric of the enterprise as well as all major software in use. Early adopters will reap the most benefits, which can be exponential.
In this session, we will review some of the most promising use cases for AI right now. For example, AI can be used to improve traffic flow management, optimize supply chains, and improve patient care pathways. It can also be used to design smart cities, develop autonomous routing systems, and create drilling patterns and asset utilization. Additionally, AI can be used to improve safety and security, by identifying fraud and theft.
The ROI of Master Data Management Is (Usually) There – Let’s Run the Numbers
Dataversity
July 11, 2024
Master data is a key to digital transformation. All transformative projects require master data and usually many subject areas.
What could you accomplish if cultivating customer, product, supplier, and other subjects didn’t have to be part of every project and could be accessed as a service?
The value of all data goes up exponentially when it can be coupled with corporate master data, and MDM is one of the best means to compound the value of any data, including big data.
Technology professionals need to calculate and present business value in terms business executives can understand. Unfortunately, most IT professionals lack the knowledge required to develop comprehensive cost-benefit analyses and return on investment (ROI) measurements.
This session provides a framework and examples to help technology professionals research, measure, and present the economic value of a master data management initiative, no matter the form that the business benefit arises. The session will provide practical advice about how to calculate ROI and the formulas, as well as how to collect the necessary information.
Every Database Is Multi-Modal – What Does This Mean to an Enterprise?
Dataversity
June 13, 2024
Today’s enterprises have an unprecedented variety of data store choices to meet the needs of their varied workloads. Because there is no one size fits all when it comes to data stores, this can lead to confusion and chaos.
Enterprises have many needs for databases, including cache, operational, data warehouse, master data, ERP, analytical, graph data, data lake, and time series data. In most cases, regardless of enterprise agreements, it is advantageous to seek out the best fit for each distinct workload. Spending time making a smart determination up front can lead to the best price-performance and capability results.
What The? Another Database Model — Vector Databases Explained
Dataversity
May 13, 2024
Vector databases are a type of database that use graph embeddings to represent and compare data, making them ideal for fuzzy match problems. Graph embeddings are created using machine learning algorithms and compress the attributes of data into a low-level representation. The process of creating a new embedding vector is called encoding.
Through their support for LLMs, vector databases are expected to make a dramatic impact on IT budgets this year. Join us for the speaker’s unique voice to the enterprise on this important subject.
Architecting a Modern Data Platform
Dataversity
April 15, 2024
Organizations require a comprehensive enterprise data cloud platform to modernize applications and utilize machine learning. This research-based session will discuss the components of modern enterprise data stacks, such as dedicated compute, storage, data integration, and streaming, and focus on total cost of ownership. The infrastructure alone for a modern data platform will be a significant cost, so decisions must be made with care.
The webinar will discuss emerging data architecture practices, such as data mesh, data fabric, data lakehouse, and data cloud, which are essential for modernizing applications and addressing data and analytic challenges. By integrating these practices into the environment, organizations can better architect their data platform and achieve the highest return in the coming years.
Are you planning a data-intensive initiative? Targeted Marketing, Predictive Maintenance, Internet-of-Things, Customer Retention or most any other modern initiative are data-intensive. Their success is largely dependent on access to high-performing, high-quality, supported and understandable data. You may be planning to build or improve a leverageable platform such as a data lake or a data warehouse to support the initiative.
There is a demand for information to be an asset that fuels organizational growth. Greater volumes of data are generated and service level expectations continue to rise. Tolerance for poor quality is lessened, and the underlying complexity and load on the systems is amplified. Discussions around data warehouses, data integration, big data, business intelligence, and data management occur more frequently. Probably you’ve implemented one or more of these projects but at the end of the day, you need to take your information management capabilities to the next level.
MCG’s 2- to 8-week Information Management Action Plan (IMAP) is designed for organizations that want to advance their analytical capabilities across the spectrum of information management. Information management comprises the disciplines of data warehousing, big data, business intelligence, master data management and data governance. These disciplines are incredibly interrelated. Operating them in silos will not lead to success.
MCG will analyze your needs and provide expert advice across the process, people, and technology that drive your organization and are so critical to its success. MCG has built over 40 Action Plans for our clients and contributed to business successes worldwide.
Are you planning to launch a cloud data warehouse, a Big Data/NoSQL/Hadoop/Cloud Storage/Data Lake structure, Master Data Management, or a Data Integration/Prep/Streaming project? While the cloud offers simplicity and quick provisioning, it also offers a path to sure failure if the model is misused.
The cloud analytic database needs to be built to give users and applications access to high-performing, high-quality, supported and understandable data, and it needs to built as agile.
This agile need means producing a Proof of Concept (POC) or MVP (minimum viable product, with the ability to expand from there.
We have built proofs-of-concept as part of many of the Information Management Action Plan (IMAP) and Data Warehouse, Big Data and Master Data Management clients we have delivered for over the years.
Get help from the experts who have worked on the data challenges of 15 of the Fortune 1000 and numerous others; the highly published in-demand keynote speakers and analysts in the space who run the benchmarks and author the industry analysis. Your experts will be career-long data professionals who have done this 50-100 times or more.
Join Thinkers360 for free! Are you a Reader/Writer, Thought Leader/Influencer (looking to increase your earnings), or an Enterprise User (looking to work with experts)?
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Future-Proof Your Workflow: Automate Legacy Migration to Airflow
Data Quality When the Data Spigot Is Turned Way Up
AI Language Models for Enterprises
The ROI of Master Data Management Is (Usually) There – Let’s Run the Numbers
Every Database Is Multi-Modal – What Does This Mean to an Enterprise?
Promising AI Use Cases for the Enterprise in 2025
