Eyes to the Sky: LiDAR Point Cloud in Databricks for Urban Canopy Insights
Editor’s note: This post was originally published June 20th, 2025. What is the Sky View Factor and why does it matter in our cities? I’m back with another sunny, summer-inspired geospatial adventure!Ever wonder how much sky you can actually see when you’re standing on a busy city street or under a cluster of city trees? […]
Building a Geospatial Time Machine
Editor’s note: This post was originally published June 12th, 2025. What is environmental change detection? Think of it as a time machine for planet Earth. No flux capacitor, no DeLorean, and no Marty McFly needed!😉 Just some cool tech that lets us peek into how our world changes over time. Detecting and understanding environmental changes […]
Geospatial Location-Allocation in Databricks: A Scalable GIS Approach
Editor’s note: This post was originally published June 6th, 2025. What is a location-allocation problem in GIS? Summer’s almost here, so let’s start with a sunny example. Imagine you’re tasked with finding the top 1,000 most profitable locations across the UK to park an ice cream cart. It’s not just about sweet treats, it’s a […]
Mastering Location Data: Geospatial Magic Meets Databricks Power
Mastering Location Data: Geospatial Magic Meets Databricks Power Ever used Google Maps to find your way around? That’s geospatial data in action! It’s information tied to a place on Earth-like where your favorite ice-cream shop is, where roads go, where cities are expanding, and how places change over time, just to name a few. GIS, […]
SQL Server vs Apache Spark: A Deep Dive into Execution Differences
SQL Server vs Apache Spark: A Deep Dive into Execution Differences The way SQL Server and Apache Spark (backbone of Databricks) process queries is fundamentally different, and understanding these differences is crucial when migrating or optimizing workloads. While SQL Server relies on a single-node, transaction-optimized execution engine, Spark in Databricks is built for distributed, parallel […]
Optimizing Performance: SQL Server vs Databricks
Optimizing Performance: SQL Server vs Databricks Optimization in a Databricks’s Data Lakehouse differs significantly from traditional SQL Server environments due to its architecture and the nature of data storage. While SQL Server relies on indexing, row-based storage, and dedicated disk structures, Databricks leverages distributed storage, columnar formats, and advanced clustering techniques to enhance performance. Storage […]
Orchestration – SQL Server Agent vs. Workflows
Orchestration – SQL Server Agent vs. Workflows One of the pillars of a migration from MSBI to Databricks is orchestration. For years, SQL Server Agent has been the trusted solution for scheduling and automating tasks. It’s simple, well integrated with SQL Server, and has been the backbone of countless ETL jobs, backups, and maintenance routines. […]
Quick wins in your Databricks journey: Show value early
The common trap: Starting from the bottom Many companies approach their Databricks migration by starting at the bottom of the stack: rolling out the platform, re-integrating data sources (often via ODBC/JDBC), and building a bronze layer before modelling and consuming the data. While this method seems logical, it often leaves teams “below the surface” for […]
From BI to Databricks: Simplifying Architecture Layers
From BI to Databricks: Simplifying Architecture Layers Over the past few weeks, we’ve been exploring the journey from traditional Business Intelligence (BI) to Databricks. As part of this transition, it’s essential to address a key aspect: architecture. While the terminology might seem daunting at first—Bronze, Silver, Gold, these layers aren’t so different from what you’re […]
SBI Developer – what does migration to Databricks mean for you?
BI Developer – what does migrating to Databricks mean for you? When transitioning from MSBI to Databricks, the hardest part often isn’t the tools or the technology—it’s the people and their skills. That’s why, even though it’s listed last on our leaflet, we’re tackling this topic first. Let’s talk about what this migration means for […]