Top 5 Questions Asked from the What Can You Do with a DataDirect Trial Webinar

In a recent webinar, we discussed how to assess the DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline solution.

One of my favorite things about working for Progress DataDirect is that we back up everything we say and market to the world. This isn’t done merely by giving product demos to organizations interested in Progress DataDirect—we also provide evaluations of our software. If our data connectors are not a fit for your organization, we thank you for giving us a try and expect no obligation on your part.

Recently, Progress DataDirect held a webinar on this very subject: What Can You Do With DataDirect Trial. During the webinar, Aaron Burg (Solutions Engineer at Progress) and I (Product Marketing at Progress) explored the ins and outs of how to evaluate the DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline solution. With a large audience on the webinar, we opened the floor to questions. We had so many great questions asked on the webinar that I wanted to highlight the top five questions that we often hear from organizations trialing our software. Hopefully this blog answers one of the questions you may have, but if not, we are always available to answer your questions.

So, without any further delay, here are the top five questions from the webinar.

What concerns should the people looking at DataDirect have about security, and the fact that evaluating our connectors does not require the use of a VPN?

The nice thing regarding the DataDirect Hybrid Data On-Premises Connector is that it doesn’t require any network configuration on the client side. It uses outbound SSL to connect to the Hybrid Data Pipeline instance that's been installed in the cloud or on-premises. It also doesn't allow access to other things on the network. So, where a VPN is traditionally more of a network connection, and you might be able to connect to different data sources, you might also be able to move files and other things through the VPN. With the DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline Connector, it only allows for secure access to the data sources that are configured through Hybrid Data Pipeline. This results in it being easier to configure, and organizations don't have any of the additional security concerns that traditionally come up when connecting networks using a VPN.

While the install of DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline seems straightforward, it was performed by a Progress DataDirect expert. With that said, what procedures does Progress DataDirect have in place in case someone from my company has problems?

We offer a lot of pre-sales assistance. There's a full set of documentation on all the connectors we offer, as well as tutorials. Also, every organization has access to our sales team here, including the solutions engineers. If one were to get stuck, it is as simple as contacting us.

Can Hybrid Data Pipeline manage REST APIs?

Absolutely. DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline connects to REST APIs and can enable them as data sources using our Autonomous REST connector product, which is built into the solution. The magic of the Autonomous REST Connector is it uses models that can be configured via a user interface. It can support a variety of authentication types, paging methods and even pushes down query parameters to the backend REST API.

Our organization already has a vendor in place as our standard for data integration and data quality. How does Progress DataDirect fit into what we currently have for data management? Meaning, what's the puzzle piece here and why should we still be interested in Progress DataDirect if we already have data management capabilities?

That's the great thing with DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline. We're trying to solve many of the connectivity challenges that organizations may run into with data management solutions—for example, if you have data that's behind a firewall, making it hard to access. We also have a wide number of supported data sources that may not be included in those products. Progress DataDirect has proven to be a powerful data connectivity addition to your data management program. So, whether it is DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline, or our full list of data connectors to a multitude of sources, Progress DataDirect is a compliment to your data management program—not a form of redundancy.

In what ways can Hybrid Data Pipeline help save money when using Salesforce Connect?

The concept of Salesforce Connect is that you don't have to pay to store your data inside of Salesforce by allowing for a single source of truth. That's really where the saving comes in with DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline. Also, with DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline, we're providing you with a fully supported solution to OData enable your data sources, as opposed to something you might have to otherwise build yourself. With our Salesforce solutions, organizations have reliable, real-time access to data, creating actionable metrics leading to better customer experiences and improved sales pipelines—not to mention simplified reporting.

We at Progress DataDirect hope you found the webinar and this write-up helpful. If you want to learn even more, visit the DataDirect Hybrid Data Pipeline home page or watch the full webinar. 

Watch the Webinar