Why startup Cinchy wants to kill data integration

Conventionally, data has needed to be processed where the machines live: servers and storage in data centers, cloud clusters and edge devices. However, as datasets have ballooned in size over time due to increasingly heavy applications such as AI and analytics, it’s become far more problematic to move all that data from one corner of the Earth to another to be put to work.

If Cinchy has its way, all data will become indigenous to where it’s created and never leave home. The Toronto-based software developer wants all processing to move to where it needs to be deployed in order for data to be used as efficiently as possible.

Cinchy, which today released the v5.0 version of its Dataware platform, claims to provide data management that disconnects data from enterprise apps and reconnects it together in a universal data network, CEO Dan DeMers told VentureBeat. “We want to kill data integration,” he said.

Developed for real-time data collaboration, the Cinchy Dataware platform is designed to address the root cause of data fragmentation and data silos, eliminate the cost and need for time-consuming data integration and mitigate risks of data duplication, DeMers said. 

Cinchy, itself based on open-source components, claims with v5.0 to have expanded scalability with the addition of open-source Kubernetes and a PostgreSQL database option. 

The birth of a new tech category: dataware

As a new technology category, “dataware” takes its place alongside hardware and software by freeing data from applications and eliminating obstacles such as data silos and data integration, CTO and cofounder Karanjot Jaswal said in a media advisory. 

“This is what Cinchy has brought to life, and the foundational advances in version 5.0 go even further: They enable the platform to scale to address the needs of the largest and most complex enterprises,” Jaswal said.

Dataware has the potential to revolutionize both software development and analytics, Joe Hilleary, senior analyst at Eckerson Group, said in a media advisory. 

“Just as the advent of software decoupled function from hardware and enabled the birth of the modern computer, dataware decouples data from software to enable a new paradigm of application-independent data,” Hilleary said.

Dataware as the next tech revolution

Five-year-old Cinchy sees dataware as the next tech revolution, having the same impact as hardware and software, DeMers told VentureBeat. 

“It’s a category of technologies that enables organizations to free data from the applications used to create, store or analyze it, so they can better control their data and place it at the center of the IT architecture,” DeMers said. “We’ve become accustomed to data-serving applications; this new breed of technologies flips that equation. Dataware offers greater business value in areas such as accelerating the delivery of digital solutions and enhancing business agility while providing stronger privacy controls.”

What’s in the new version

Cinchy Dataware Platform v5.0 includes the following key features, according to DeMers: 

• Expanded scalability: This represents an advance in scalability on two fronts. First, Cinchy and all its components can now be deployed on an unlimited number of servers. Second, it can now be deployed fully on Kubernetes for containerization and clustering that simplifies deployment and management of the platform. It also reduces costs, provides the ability to dynamically spin up and down servers and clusters of servers and enhances monitoring. Finally, with Kubernetes being open source, it can be used in any cloud environment.
• Open-source database option: Cinchy Dataware features PostgreSQL as a new database layer option, expanding on the existing capability to utilize Microsoft SQL Server. PostgreSQL is one of the most advanced and powerful open-source object-relational database systems currently available; it’s reliable, high performance, standards-based, compliant, works seamlessly with Kubernetes, and comes with a thriving community to offer ongoing support. This degree of scalability will help organizations reduce licensing fees, DeMers said. 
• Support for HPE Ezmeral Runtime Enterprise: The new release includes features to enable Cinchy Dataware to be integrated with HPE Ezmeral Runtime Enterprise to provide a turnkey platform for enterprise IT and business teams to collaborate and build new business solutions without complex point-to-point integration services. Organizations can deploy and scale digital transformation projects with out-of-box capabilities and easy-to-use developer management tools, securely access enterprise data sources and integrate with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) services.
• Version 5.0 features a list of enhancements to the technology’s core capabilities, including an operational data fabric, a user-friendly data browser, data persistence-as-a-service, universal data access controls, domain-centric data governance (data mesh) and active metadata. 

According to industry analyst G2.com, Cinchy competes in a market that includes the following data management providers: 

• Clearbit Data Activation Platform
• Cleo Integration Cloud
• Microsoft SQL Server
• Zapier