Data Mart vs Operational Data Store

Developers should learn about data marts when working on business intelligence (BI) or data analytics projects that require targeted data access for specific teams or functions meets developers should learn about ods when building systems that require real-time or near-real-time data integration from disparate sources, such as in e-commerce platforms for up-to-date inventory and order tracking, or in financial services for fraud detection and transaction monitoring. Here's our take.

Data Mart

Nice Pick

Developers should learn about data marts when working on business intelligence (BI) or data analytics projects that require targeted data access for specific teams or functions

Pros

• They are useful in scenarios where departments need quick, efficient querying without the complexity of a full data warehouse, such as generating sales reports or analyzing marketing campaigns
• Related to: data-warehouse, business-intelligence

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Operational Data Store

Developers should learn about ODS when building systems that require real-time or near-real-time data integration from disparate sources, such as in e-commerce platforms for up-to-date inventory and order tracking, or in financial services for fraud detection and transaction monitoring

Pros

• It is particularly useful in scenarios where immediate data consistency across systems is critical, but full data warehouse processing is too slow, enabling operational analytics and reporting without disrupting source systems
• Related to: data-warehousing, etl-processes

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Data Mart is a concept while Operational Data Store is a database. We picked Data Mart based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Data Mart wins

Based on overall popularity. Data Mart is more widely used, but Operational Data Store excels in its own space.