data · open source
dbt development
Transformation as version-controlled, tested SQL.
- Category
- data
- Vendor
- Open source
- We use it for
- 3 capabilities
The honest assessment
- What it is
- Transformation as version-controlled, tested SQL.
- Strongest at
- brings software engineering discipline, tests, review, lineage, to analytics
- Trade-off
- transformation only; it does not move data or orchestrate ingestion
- Category
- data
- Vendor
- Open source
We hold no reseller commission on dbt. That is what makes the trade-off line above worth reading. It costs us nothing to tell you when this is the wrong choice.
Building with dbt
dbt is strongest at brings software engineering discipline, tests, review, lineage, to analytics. We reach for it when that is the property a workload actually depends on, and we say so when it is not.
dbt's real contribution is cultural rather than technical. It puts transformations in version control, under review, with tests attached, which turns analytics from a collection of saved queries into something a team can change safely.
It deliberately does not move data or orchestrate ingestion. Pairing it with a loader and a scheduler is the normal shape, and expecting it to be the whole platform is the usual source of disappointment.
We start from the constraint, not the capability, what the system must never do, who signs off, and what happens when it is wrong. We hand over with runbooks, tests and a team that knows how it works, not a dependency.
Questions
What is dbt best at?
Brings software engineering discipline, tests, review, lineage, to analytics.
When would you not use dbt?
Transformation only; it does not move data or orchestrate ingestion. We would look at pgvector or Pinecone in that situation.
Do you have a commercial relationship with dbt?
No. We hold no reseller commission on any technology we recommend, which is what lets the trade-off above be stated plainly.
Can you work with our existing dbt setup?
Yes. We would rather extend and stabilise something that already works than introduce a parallel system your team has to learn.
Working with dbt?
Tell us the workload and we will tell you whether this is the right tool for it.
Or email bd@dtrasglobal.com · call +91 74118 77878