Imagine choosing one application for Linux that worked on the version you currently use. You choose another program but find that it doesn’t work on that version of Linux. A third application? It works with another version of Linux.

Luckily, that rarely happens. In 2001, the Linux Foundation established Linux Standard Base (LSB), which provides a set of open standards that helps software developers create more compatible applications on the Linux operating system.

Standards like these are critical for emerging technologies. From ASCII to USB, these standards have become part of our computing lexicon. More than that, they help vendors develop and test on the same code base – and users get technologies from across the spectrum that integrate and interoperate.

Hadoop is emerging as a popular new platform due to its relatively low cost for high-capacity storage and high-speed processing. As companies like SAS build technologies to work with Hadoop, this rapidly growing and expanding platform gives us a ton of options.

Since Hadoop is an open-source technology, frequent product updates can introduce a level of complexity. Different vendors may be testing technologies against different versions of Hadoop – meaning users may have to run different instances of Hadoop to make these tools work. That means the potential for Hadoop headaches. And it’s why SAS and many other companies are joining together for the Open Data Platform (ODP) initiative.

The ODP will define, test and certify a core set of compatible versions of select Apache Software Foundation (ASF) projects that provide a platform that solution providers, including SAS, can use to build and test solutions. The ODP will produce a set of methods that enable members to create offerings based on the ODP core platform, which will help minimize fragmented efforts within the industry.

What does this mean for customers? It will take some of the complexity out of Hadoop initiatives, since vendors in the ODP will be testing on the same instances. For SAS, that means that we can find ways to explore, manage and analyze data in Hadoop more rapidly – and get those solutions to you faster.

For more information, visit the Open Data Platform website to see what the initiative can achieve and who is involved.