How can you use Fivetran to improve ETL performance?

Fivetran is a data integration platform that helps businesses connect and synchronize their various data sources. It automates the process of collecting and consolidating data from different applications, databases, and systems, making it easier for organizations to analyze and derive insights from their data. Fivetran streamlines the way businesses gather and organize their data, making it easier for teams to make informed decisions based on a comprehensive view of their information.

Fivetran primarly is an EL(t) tool, a tool focussed on onboarding data and tackling onboarding schema changes As in: Extract load with a LITTLE bit of transformation. To call it a tool that automates the ETL process is inherently wrong.

Fivetran can be said to be an Integration as a Service - product, not Integration Platform as a Service since one cannot define much how it works.

TL;DR - it does not. Fivetran is a ELT (NOT ETL) tool that can be set up very quickly, and while at a smaller scale, be very cost effective. You can also use it to trigger a DBT run after a database load, so you don't have to manage infra or use DBT Cloud. It has problems with cost as your business scales, and its missing some (imo) key features, such as being able to rename columns in your target database. It also handles deletes in quite a weird way, which means you have to either accept a higher cost, or code around this limitation. But it 100% has a place in DE - its a good tool at what it does, and its limitations would not stop me using it again. However, it is not an ETL tool. Wonder who writes these questions?

Again, no fully fledged ETL tool. yes, there are dbt core packages / dbt models to alter / aggregate data from some standard connectors. But that's not enough to call it a fully-fledged ETL tool.

Here is some benefits of using Fivetran for ETL are: - Automation: Fivetran automates the ETL process, reducing the need for manual intervention. - Ease of Setup: Fivetran provides pre-built connectors for a wide range of data sources, simplifying the setup process. - Real-Time Data Syncing: Fivetran supports near-real-time data synchronization, ensuring that the data in your destination (such as a data warehouse) is up-to-date. - Scalability: Fivetran is designed to scale with your data integration needs. - Cost Efficiency: By automating and streamlining the ETL process, Fivetran can contribute to cost savings.

Primary benefit would be time saving for those organizations who want data fast to their data platform and who do not want to develop data pipelines of their own.

Fivetran optimizes ETL performance through automated data extraction, offering pre-built connectors for various sources. Its incremental loading reduces data transfer, while automated schema mapping and basic transformations streamline the process. The platform adapts to schema changes and is cloud-based for scalability. Fivetran's managed infrastructure ensures reliability, and monitoring tools with alerts enable proactive issue resolution. Overall, Fivetran simplifies ETL workflows, allowing users to focus on data analysis while improving efficiency and reducing manual intervention in data integration processes.

Total Cost of Ownership is important, do you want to buy or build of your own and what are costs associated with these choices over time?