Extract, load, transform (ELT) is an alternative to extract, transform, load (ETL) used with data lake implementations.
In contrast to ETL, in ELT models the data is not transformed on entry to the data lake, but stored in its original raw format.
This enables faster loading times.
However, ELT requires sufficient processing power within the data processing engine to carry out the transformation on demand, to return the results in a timely manner.
[3][4] Some of the benefits of an ELT process include speed and the ability to handle both structured and unstructured data.