As organizations increasingly look to unlock the full potential of their data by implementing AI into their overall data strategy to drive critical business decisions, the need for high-quality data and seamless integration of data sources becomes paramount. However, the complexities around integrating disparate data sources, limited resources, and regulatory compliance continue to pose significant challenges to delivering real-time, high-quality data for AI and analytics initiatives.
IBM StreamSets, as part of IBM's Data Fabric, offers real-time data integration capabilities for streaming data across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. With its intuitive no-code interface, StreamSets enables efficient pipeline creation and data movement that support various business requirements critical for time-sensitive decision-making.
To address the needs of organizations in regions with stricter regulatory compliance, IBM announced the general availability (GA) of a client-managed version of StreamSets. This empowers organizations to take complete control of their data integration and transformation processes within their infrastructure. With this release, IBM addresses the needs of enterprises that require greater control over their data environments, whether due to regulatory compliance or data sovereignty concerns.
The SaaS version of IBM StreamSets operated the Control Hub (also known as the control plane) as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering, while customers managed the Data Plane independently. With this new release, IBM StreamSets is expanding the options by introducing a fully client-managed version of the Control Hub software. This addition allows customers to have complete control over both the Control Hub and the Data Plane, providing greater flexibility and autonomy in managing their data infrastructure. All this while preserving the capabilities of StreamSets.
Benefits of a client-managed control plane
Data Sovereignty
Data sovereignty requires that digital information must be stored according to the laws of the country where it was created. Organizations must ensure strict compliance with national data protection regulations while maintaining complete control over their sensitive information. The existing SaaS model ensures robust data sovereignty by separating the control plane from the data plane, with only metadata flowing through the control plane, keeping client data within their environment. While IBM StreamSets is secure by design, the client-managed version caters to organizations and countries with stricter compliance requirements for metadata management.
Regulatory and Compliance
On-premises infrastructure provides organizations with direct control over their compliance measures through physical access to servers and data centers. Local hosting enables businesses to implement precise regulatory controls without depending on external provider certifications. With the client-managed version, companies can readily overcome industry and region-specific regulations and expeditiously integrate StreamSets into their systems.
This version allows organizations to customize their deployments to specific operational requirements, including secure air-gapped environments. Teams maintain complete authority over upgrade schedules, allowing thorough internal validation before implementing changes. This level of granular control ensures that infrastructure modifications align perfectly with organizational needs and security protocols.
IBM StreamSets client-managed version offers organizations greater flexibility and control over their data integration processes. With the latest version, companies can quickly adopt StreamSets, bypass complex regulatory requirements, and utilize real-time data to drive key business decisions.