- Our long experience working in the trenches left us with a wishlist of quick-n-easy tools that would simplify and shorten some implementation tasks
- Rather than built several separate tools we built a framework of related tools; we can then augment the toolset more easily in the future
- At the outset of a large implementation it is often true that hardware, operating systems, databases, applications, and people are all in motion.
- For Demantra or other VCP implementers it is helpful to have an immediately available ETL tool to move and clean initial data.
- Further, it is helpful both during and after implementation for application users and management to see the state of the data or application output without having to engage in complex Demantra, ASCP, or other training.
- We developed the entire Zipics framework to simply pop into a basic real or virtual Windows server. Once installed the following are enabled:
- zipETL provides easy but capable data integration.
- zipVIZ provides easy but capable data visualization
- zipDB allows on-the-fly database/table creation (great for injecting data or extracting data)
- zip3D is pending but will allow much more dynamic representation of data in 2D and 3D
- zipDATAGEN is pending but will allow random but representative data generation for Demantra and potentially other VCP apps
- zipPAX is pending but will allow parallel execution of large queries in a manageable way
- The suite is low cost, quick to install, and has value for initial implementations and for later day-to-day operations