When talking to potential clients and curios digital innovators, we often get asked a surprising question: “Are you like Azure?”. That’s why we want to use this chance to interview one of our account executives, Philipp M. Dau, to get to the bottom of this question.
Let’s start with the obvious: Are you like Azure?
We’re not Azure. We’re north.io, the ocean big data specialist. We’ve been working with ocean big data and geodata of all kinds since 2011. We are a team of passionate technicians, explorers, and data specialists who love the challenge of turning complex geodata into clarity. We help marine stakeholders ranging from offshore wind to navies to unlock the full value of their raw underwater sensor data.
What exactly do you mean when you say ocean big data?
Ocean big data refers to all sorts of raw underwater sensor data, especially geophysical data like multi-beam, side scan or sub-bottom profiler data. These data are collected with myriad different sensor hardware and proprietary software, which makes it hard to find industry standards.
As sensor technology becomes more advanced, data managers and geoscience teams are facing a growing amount of data at ever higher resolutions. This turns traditional ocean data into big data and requires new ways of handling this data.
Why do you think people often confuse north.io’s Ocean Data Platform with Microsoft Azure?
Many companies have realized that ocean data management is crucial for their operations. As Microsoft is the go-to provider of desktop suites, many adopt Microsoft’s cloud “Azure” and use “SharePoint” to store their data. We at north.io have developed new ways to manage ocean big data in the cloud. People often compare us to their existing SharePoint or think we are yet another cloud service. We are not a cloud provider but use state-of-the-art cloud infrastructures like Azure to deploy our technologies. Essentially, we are introducing a new paradigm and enabling you to work with your ocean big data.
In simple words – what does north.io actually do?
Our offering goes far beyond just storing data. We’ve built tools that make it easy to exchange, visualize, process, and understand ocean big data. The key difference between us and current solutions is that we read in raw sensor data and make it accessible to non-experts. In a nutshell you can say that we provide geo-intelligence using cloud infrastructures.
Working with clients showed us time and time again that sovereignty is vital. That’s why we committed to develop cloud-native and cloud-agnostic technologies. This ensures that our solutions can be deployed on any infrastructure that runs on Kubernetes, whether it’s e.g. Microsoft Azure, AWS, or IONOS Cloud. Through this our customers stay independent and avoid vendor lock-in.
How is our focus in ocean data platform different from what cloud providers like Azure offer?
Azure is a cloud platform, just like AWS, Google Cloud or IONOS Cloud. Most of our clients used Azure with SharePoint running as their digital storage system. That’s where they uploaded files, renamed them, moved them around, or downloaded them. General cloud storage solutions enable storing data but only support previewing common file types (like documents or images).
Our Ocean Big Data platform enables previews and quick visualizations of complex datasets. The idea is simple: we don’t just keep your files safe and centrally accessible; we make them immediately understandable. Users can see what kind of data they have, where it was collected in the world, and easily share it with the people who need it.
Our technologies support more than 40 file formats like multibeam, side-scan sonar, and sub-bottom profiler data, for which you normally require several expensive software suites. Further, we harness cloud technologies to parallelize complex processing steps. That means we’re not just helping you store your data, but we are changing the way our clients manage and process their ocean big data.
If a customer has recently changed to a cloud storage like Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud, does it make sense to opt for north.io’s ocean data platform?
Yes, absolutely. The best way is to talk to one of our experts to look at your specific data and process needs. We always start with a tailored assessment and drafting a future ocean data vision together with our clients.
We’ve seen many cases where customers have just invested heavily in moving from hard disk based, manual processes to some kind of cloud storage. We provide specialized services around ocean big data like quality control, advising on data requirements for surveys and tenders, or helping to optimize processing workflows, which go beyond classic storage solutions.
Ocean data is extremely complex, not just because it comes from beneath the ocean’s surface, but because every organization has unique requirements and potential to improve how they work with it. That’s why we encourage conversations with our experts.
What’s the value north.io brings on top of “just” cloud infrastructures?
As I mentioned before, we’re much more than just a cloud storage provider. One of the big differences is that we bring a spatial perspective to your data. That means we don’t just let you preview complex raw sensor data but help you geolocate your data.
Imagine you’re tasked with analysing the coverage of a certain area, the first question is always, do we already have data for this area of interest? In the past, you would have had to ask colleagues, check file names manually, or dig through thousands of files on hard drives to find out. With our tool GeoSearch, that process is completely different. You can simply draw a rectangle on a map, and the platform returns all files that match your search within seconds.
This is the first step to really taking control of your ocean data: knowing what you have, where it is stored, and how to make it accessible to others. And this is just one example of how we go far beyond cloud storage. Yes, we use state-of-the-art cloud infrastructures like Azure to deploy our technologies. However, our technologies and services introduce a new paradigm of working with ocean big data and enable our clients to unlock the full value of their ocean big data.
Why is it important to have a specialised platform in addition to general-purpose cloud services?
We get this question a lot: Why can’t I just store all my ocean data in a generic cloud? The short answer is: you can, but you won’t get much value from it.
Yes, you can store those files in Azure or another cloud. But all you’ll really see is who uploaded it, the file name and type, and the file size. That’s it! With our technologies, you can start collaboration, upload your data, visualize them, place it on a map, and compare it with other files in the same area or across the entire platform.
The key is getting the first step right: managing your data, staying on top of workflows, and creating the foundation for automated processing later. Data management can feel tedious, maybe even a bit boring, but it’s the foundation that enables the real impact and automation. Once your data is organized and accessible, it can be shared, understood, and put to use by both internal and external stakeholders.
For new clients without a system in place, the easiest path is to start with our Ocean Data Platform and work with our experts to create a tailored solution. But even if you’re already using Azure, we are able to run our technologies on existing infrastructures.
And finally, how would you answer someone who asks again: “So… are you Azure?”
No, we are much more. We are the ocean big data specialist that offer cloud technologies and services that support you from understanding your ocean data to creating a future proof data vision.
And if, after reading this interview, you’re still unsure what north.io does or how our ocean data technologies can support your business, we’d love to talk. Our team is eager to understand your ocean data big challenges and work with you on solutions that support your workflows.
Feel free to reach out:
Philipp M. Dau
sales@north.io
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