YOGA FOR DATA
databases. Te ability to quickly adapt to new requirements is important because of the ever-increasing constraints on resources and budgets. Using a flexible schema allows teams to develop faster and in a more agile fashion, resulting in lower develop- ment and maintenance costs and higher-quality products.
A database structured by the relationships between its data ele- ments is not flexible enough to withstand the stress of managing requirements from multiple stakeholders. Instead, adding a new field is now as simple as adding the element to the resulting report—there are no direct changes applied to the database or its schema. For example, when there was a new requirement to track mandatory training for personnel, that information was added to the data lake, changing the source code but with no need to change other database objects, like views or stored procedures. Tis capability also helps to resolve seemingly incompatible requirements from various stakeholders, such as associating matrixed personnel with their home organization or their matrix organization, because the data does not need to be changed, only the way each user sees it.
PEO C3T built MIRARS using MongoDB’s nonrelational database software, taking advantage of this structureless revo- lution. MongoDB’s other organizational users include Fortune 100 companies as well as local governments, along with the City of Chicago and Craigslist. Te City of Chicago used MongoDB to build a predictive data management platform called WindyGrid that pairs analytics with maps to provide real-time insights on city operations. WindyGrid’s SmartData project allows Chicago city managers to predict trends and potential situations such as traffic congestion, resident migra- tion and the depth of floods.
With 1.5 million new classified ads posted daily, Craigslist has built an archive of records numbering in the billions. Using a traditional relational database, Craigslist would need to apply schema changes to that entire archive to maintain the integrity of its data. By converting to a data lake concept, Craigslist can change the format for new ads or diversify the format across dif- ferent types of ads without compromising access to its valuable historical data.
Tese applications by the City of Chicago and Craigslist have a clear relevance to today’s Army, extending forward to access and use mountains of data to inform decisions, and bending backwards to maintain access to historical records that could be mined for information if only we could afford to convert them to accessible formats.
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THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT We may never achieve the wisdom of the yogi, but we can learn through seeking and, as we seek, changing. As demonstrated by MIRARS, the endurance of a tool is based on its abil- ity to change with the perspective and needs of its users. Te information systems we’re building now, with their emphasis on responding to yesterday’s questions with today’s answers through a rigorously structured framework, will become legacy systems before we field them.
Because both our tactical and enterprise information needs change so rapidly in contrast with our requirements develop- ment and system procurement, rarely will we field a system that answers the needs of today’s Army, and never will we field one that will answer the needs of tomorrow’s Army. Our continued readiness is dependent on the versatility of our information sys- tems to respond to our information-seeking behavior. Only by building flexibility into our systems through adaptive informa- tion techniques like the data lake will we maintain relevance without continuous unsustainable investment.
Unless we stretch, the peak will be forever out of reach.
For more information, go to
http://peoc3t.army.mil/c3t. Infor- mation about the data lake concept can be found at http://
martinfowler.com/bliki/
DataLake.html, and information about MongoDB is at
https://www.mongodb.com.
MR. THOM HAWKINS is the continuous performance improvement program director and chief of program analysis for PEO C3T. He holds an M.S. in library and information science from Drexel University and a B.A. in English from Washington College. Hawkins is Level III certified in program management and Level I certified in financial management, and is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps. He is an Army-certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and holds the Project Management Professional and Risk Management Professional credentials from the Project Management Institute.
MR. MATT CHOINSKI is a senior software developer at Data Systems Analysts Inc., providing contract support to PEO C3T, and lead software developer of MIRARS. He holds an MBA from Loyola College and a B.A. in business administration from Towson University.
+ Army AL&T Magazine October-December 2016
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