Astera 12.0 - Release Notes

This release is a major milestone for Astera, introducing:

• Astera Cloud - A comprehensive cloud-native platform that combines our different product offerings into a unified web-based portal. The portal serves as a single hub enabling users to sign up for a personalized experience with our products, download and get started using the right product in the configuration that best fits their needs, and handle administrative tasks such as adding or managing other users. The platform now supports both Dataprep and ReportMiner with scalable cloud infrastructure, dedicated storage, and seamless asset management.

• Astera Express Editions - Lightweight versions of our core products designed for faster onboarding and streamlined usage scenarios. These editions remove complexity barriers while maintaining the essential functionality organizations need to get started quickly with data integration and processing tasks.

• Astera Dataprep - Our first AI-powered self-service data preparation tool that empowers business users to clean, transform, and prepare their data without requiring technical expertise. This intelligent solution automates complex data preparation tasks while providing an intuitive interface for users at any skill level.

Together, these offerings make it easier than ever for organizations to access, manage, and prepare their data without worrying about infrastructure or complex technical processes. With cloud-native deployments and intuitive data preparation capabilities, this release democratizes data management and processing for organizations of all sizes.

Astera Cloud

Astera Cloud extends our platform beyond traditional on-premise deployments, allowing teams to leverage the full power of Astera without managing infrastructure. Preconfigured and optimized cloud servers let users focus on designing and running data flows instead of handling server resources.

Key Features

• Lightweight Client Installation: Install the client designer locally and continue working with the familiar drag-and-drop interface to build data flows, workflows, and more.

• Server-Side Execution: All execution, scheduling, and processing runs on managed cloud infrastructure, minimizing local resource usage.

• Scalable Infrastructure: Cloud servers automatically adjust to workload demands, ensuring reliable performance without capacity planning.

• Cloud Storage & Asset Management: Users receive dedicated cloud storage with easy upload capabilities for flows, source files, and other artifacts from local networks to the cloud environment.

• Seamless Migration: Easily migrate existing on-premise flows to the cloud while maintaining compatibility.

With this release, Astera Cloud now supports both Dataprep and ReportMiner, giving users the flexibility to prepare, extract, and integrate data seamlessly in the cloud.

Web-Based Management Portal

The Astera Cloud experience is managed through a unified web-based portal that streamlines deployment, administration, and subscription management without the need for lengthy procurement cycles. This single interface provides:

• User Configuration: Create and manage accounts with role-based permissions and access controls

• Client Downloads: Access and download client applications

The portal provides a seamless experience in managing your complete Astera Cloud experience from one centralized location.

Astera Express Editions

To simplify onboarding and accelerate adoption, Express editions are now available for both Dataprep and ReportMiner. These lightweight versions are designed for faster setup, simplified usage, and entry-level scenarios.

• Dataprep Express: Quick access to AI-powered data preparation for smaller datasets and business use cases.

• ReportMiner Express: Streamlined data extraction for simpler scenarios, without the overhead of advanced template management.

By default, the Express editions use local storage, with an option to connect to the cloud

Astera Dataprep (New Release)

We are proud to introduce Astera Dataprep, the fastest and simplest way to prepare data for analysis through an AI-powered, chat-based interface. Available on Astera Cloud as well as in the lightweight Dataprep Express edition, it enables both business and technical users to clean, transform, and prepare data by interacting with the AI agent using natural language instructions.

Key Features

• AI-Powered Chat Interface: Prepare data effortlessly with natural language instructions

• Preview-Centric Tabular View: See real-time data changes with every action.

• Flexible Import and Export Options: Work with Excel, CSV/TXT, and major databases (SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL).

• Instant Data Profiling: Gain insights into data quality, structure, and patterns instantly with real-time graphical profiles and chat-based analysis.

• Comprehensive Data Operations: Handle missing values, remove duplicates, fix formatting, and apply transformations through simple natural language instructions.

• Recipe Mode: View your data manipulation actions as step-by-step English instructions for clarity and reuse.

• Workflow Automation (available in Cloud and on-prem client/server): Automate preparation processes with scheduled runs and real-time job monitoring.

• Data Privacy Protection: Your data remains secure within the Astera platform, no data is ever sent to external LLMs, with the AI used solely to interpret natural language instructions.

This concludes the Astera 12.0 Release Notes.