Business Intelligence and Analytics Articles
Attunity Ltd., a provider of real-time data integration and event capture software, has introduced the new Attunity PowerPivot Connector for Oracle, a dedicated and optimized solution for making Oracle data available in Microsoft PowerPivot. Attunity also announced the availability of additional certified connectors that enable PowerPivot users to access data from many heterogeneous sources.
Posted June 16, 2010
IBM today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Coremetrics, a leader in web analytics software. IBM says that the acquisition of Coremetrics, a privately held company based in San Mateo, Calif., will expand its business analytics capabilities by enabling organizations to use a cloud-based delivery model to gain real-time insight into consumer interactions internally and through social media networks to develop faster, more targeted marketing campaigns. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Posted June 15, 2010
Oracle yesterday announced Oracle Business Process Management Suite 11g. A component of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g, Oracle Business Process Management Suite 11g supports all types of processes with a new unified process foundation, targeted user-centric design and new social BPM capabilities, and includes a native implementation of BPMN 2.0. Historically, when choosing BPM solutions organizations have had to make a choice between a business user-friendly solution or one that provides rich support for the IT and integration capabilities, David Shaffer, vice president, product management, Oracle Fusion Middleware, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "What's really unique here is that we are offering a single product that is complete and unified," Shaffer emphasizes.
Posted June 15, 2010
Composite Software, Inc. has introduced the newest version of the Composite Information Server Data Virtualization Platform to address the increasing demand by global enterprises with complex and disparate information systems for more agile, cost-effective data integration solutions. With capabilities ranging from upfront data discovery and modeling to ongoing operations monitoring, Composite's platform provides a comprehensive data virtualization offering.
Posted June 08, 2010
Yesterday, at the Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference 2010 in New Orleans Attunity Ltd., a provider of real-time data integration and event capture software, introduced the new Attunity PowerPivot Connector for Oracle, a dedicated and optimized solution for making Oracle data available in Microsoft PowerPivot. Attunity also announced the availability of additional certified connectors that enable PowerPivot users to access data from many heterogeneous sources.
Posted June 08, 2010
The newest version of the Vertica Analytic Database is now commercially available worldwide. New features support new types of analytics, improve the way queries are executed in terms of better utilization of computing resources, and internationalize the release. "When you look at these things in combination, it really broadens the addressable market that is available to Vertica," David Menninger vice president of marketing, Vertica, tells 5 Minute Briefing. Vertica 4.0 is already delivering business benefits to some of the world's biggest financial services, communications, internet, healthcare and retail companies, according to the vendor. For example, customers who are tight on available computing resources are reporting Vertica 4.0 is helping them "do more with less" with a new workload manager that lets them manage complex mixed query workloads to best meet business priorities. Others who had no prior experience working with columnar databases are taking advantage of Vertica's new "load-and-query" data designer, which automatically generates optimized storage structures greatly simplifying development and tuning.
Posted June 08, 2010
Oracle today announced the availability of Oracle Enterprise Content Management Suite 11g, a comprehensive, integrated and high-performance content management solution, aimed at helping organizations increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve content security.
Posted June 08, 2010
Customer service is always important but never more critical than during difficult economic times, when wasting time is just not acceptable and customer satisfaction is an imperative. Atlantic Detroit Diesel-Allison sells and services a full line of Detroit Diesel, Mercedes-Benz, and MTU engines, and the automatic transmissions offered by the Allison Transmission Division of General Motors Corporation. Atlantic DDA had initiated a plan to improve its service department by improving order processing, thus driving more revenue, with additional goals of gaining operational efficiency and heightening customer satisfaction. In order to achieve these objectives, Atlantic DDA needed to make real-time information available to its teams of service representatives.
Posted June 07, 2010
The Rocket U2 team has announced a call for beta participants for its new product, U2 DataVu. Based on Rocket Shuttle, U2 DataVu will provide U2 developers with powerful and flexible ad hoc query, reporting and dashboard capabilities. With native access to UniData and UniVerse U2, developers can use U2 DataVu's graphical drag and drop capabilities to build visual reports and dashboards with zero programming.
Posted June 07, 2010
Entrinsik, a provider of web-based operational reporting and analysis solutions, recently announced that its first-ever Informer User Conference will be held in Wrightsville Beach, NC, October 11-12.
Posted June 07, 2010
Kore Technologies, a provider of enterprise integration and e-commerce web solutions for MultiValue and Microsoft SQL Server databases, is now a resale partner for Rocket Software's CorVu business intelligence (BI) and analytics products. CorVu is a product that gives BI users the ability to create interactive reports, web-based pivot tables with drill-down, executive dashboards, and extensive graphing capabilities, explains Mark Dobransky, managing partner at Kore Technologies. "It is a very modern way of presenting data, being able to slice and dice it, and put that really in the hands of the end users," he tells 5 Minute Briefing.
Posted June 07, 2010
Before we go any further, let me briefly answer the question posed in this column's title: "No Way!" OK ... with that out of the way, let's discuss the issue ... Every so often, some industry pundit gets his opinions published by declaring that "Database administrators are obsolete" or that "we no longer need DBAs." Every time I hear this, it makes me shake my head sadly as I regard just how gullible IT publications can be.
Posted June 07, 2010
In only a few years' time, the world of data management has been altered dramatically, and this is a change that is still running its course. No longer are databases run in back rooms by administrators worrying about rows and columns. Now, actionable information is sought by decision makers at all levels of the enterprise, and the custodians of this data need to work closely with the business.That's because, in the wake of the recent financial crisis and economic downturn, there's a push from both high-level corporate management and regulators to achieve greater understanding and greater transparency across the enterprise, Jeanne Harris, executive research fellow and a senior executive at the Accenture Institute for High Performance, and co-author, along with Tom Davenport, of Competing on Analytics and Analytics at Work, tells DBTA. "In many ways, I think the ultimate result of the financial crisis is that executives realized they cannot delegate analytics to subordinates; they can't view it as technology or math that doesn't really affect them."
Posted June 07, 2010
In the midst of turbulent times, many successful businesses learned an important lesson: The closer IT works with the business, the better an organization can weather the storms that blow in. Thus, many savvy companies understand that the managers and professionals who oversee information technology and applications need to be well incentivized to stay on. At the same time, these professionals understand the need to develop expertise in business management and communications. Many companies are looking to information technology to provide an additional competitive edge, and see their Oracle enterprise systems as the cornerstone of this strategy. As a result, a survey finds that Oracle enterprise application managers and professionals appear to have weathered the economic storm. The survey, conducted among 334 members of the Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG) by Unisphere Research, and sponsored by Motion International, finds an increase in the number of Oracle technology professionals who are near or surpassing the $100,000 mark in their base salaries.
Posted June 07, 2010
Panorama Software, a provider of proactive business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the release of NovaView 6.2, the newest version of its flagship suite of web-enabled BI applications. Oracle connectivity is a key addition to the available data sources, making Oracle relational database data instantly available for interactive, multi-dimensional analysis with the entire NovaView product stack.
Posted June 02, 2010
Embarcadero Technologies, a provider of database design, development and management tools for all major database platforms, has unveiled a new line of XE branded database products that incorporate three distinguishing features - deep, native support across all major databases with a consistent user interface, centralized license management and on-demand tool access via Embarcadero ToolCloud, and an easy upgrade path to Embarcadero All-Access XE.
Posted June 02, 2010
Embarcadero Technologies, a provider of database design, development and management tools for all major database platforms, has unveiled a new line of XE branded database products that incorporate three distinguishing features - deep, native support across all major databases with a consistent user interface, centralized license management and on-demand tool access via Embarcadero ToolCloud, and an easy upgrade path to Embarcadero All-Access XE.
Posted June 01, 2010
At its Information On Demand conference in Rome, IBM unveiled new software to place the power of predictive analytics into the hands of business users for faster, more insightful decision making. According to the company, with three clicks, business users can now build a predictive model within a configurable web browser interface, and run simulations and "what-if" scenarios that compare and test the best business outcomes before the model is ever deployed into an operational system. Business users now have full control over the analytic process, enabling them to make accurate decisions in real-time, based on changes in strategy, customer buying patterns and behaviors, or fluctuating market conditions.
Posted June 01, 2010
To help organizations benefit from the data explosion, IBM has unveiled a new portfolio of services and solutions open source technology designed for analysis of large volumes of data. IBM InfoSphere BigInsights is powered by Apache Hadoop, and is designed to help organizations analyze and visualize petabyte-sized quantities of data.
Posted June 01, 2010
IBM and AT&T announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Sterling Commerce from AT&T for approximately $1.4 billion in cash. The acquisition of the Dublin, OH-based company will expand IBM's ability to help organizations create more intelligent and dynamic business networks by simplifying and automating the way they connect and communicate with customers, partners and suppliers both on-premise or through cloud computing delivery models.
Posted June 01, 2010
At its Information On Demand conference in Rome, IBM unveiled new software to place the power of predictive analytics into the hands of business users for faster, more insightful decision making. According to the company, with three clicks, business users can now build a predictive model within a configurable Web browser interface, and run simulations and "what-if" scenarios that compare and test the best business outcomes before the model is ever deployed into an operational system. Business users now have full control over the analytic process, enabling them to make accurate decisions in real-time, based on changes in strategy, customer buying patterns and behaviors, or fluctuating market conditions.
Posted June 01, 2010
Sybase has unveiled the Sybase Mobility Platform, a framework of best-in-class mobility servers, mobile applications and mobile services to empower enterprises to transform the way they connect with their customers and enable their employees. With mobility driving significant evolution in the enterprise and the IT industry at large, Sybase leverages its proven expertise, leading solutions and strong partner ecosystem to help enterprises better communicate, work and transact, globally on a fully integrated mobility platform
Posted May 26, 2010
SAP and Sybase, Inc. have announced that SAP's subsidiary, SAP America, Inc., has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Sybase, in a transaction that will bring them together to enable companies to become better-run "unwired enterprises." The planned transaction is expected to close in July 2010, and, according to the companies, Sybase, based in Dublin, Calif., will be run as a standalone company under the name "Sybase an SAP company."
Posted May 26, 2010
Kore Technologies, a provider of enterprise integration and e-commerce web solutions for MultiValue and Microsoft SQL Server databases, is now a resale partner for Rocket Software's CorVu business intelligence (BI) and analytics products.
Posted May 26, 2010
Entrinsik, a provider of web-based operational reporting and analysis solutions, recently announced that its first-ever Informer User Conference will be held in Wrightsville Beach, NC, October 11-12.
Posted May 26, 2010
The Rocket U2 team has announced a call for beta participants for its new product, U2 DataVu. Based on Rocket Shuttle, U2 DataVu will provide U2 developers with powerful and flexible ad hoc query, reporting and dashboard capabilities. With native access to UniData and UniVerse U2, developers can use U2 DataVu's graphical drag and drop capabilities to build visual reports and dashboards with zero programming.
Posted May 26, 2010
IBM announced on Monday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Sterling Commerce from AT&T for approximately $1.4 billion in cash. The acquisition of the Dublin, Ohio-based company will expand IBM's ability to help organizations create more intelligent and dynamic business networks by simplifying and automating the way they connect and communicate with customers, partners and suppliers both on-premise or through cloud computing delivery models. IBM and AT&T expect the transaction to close in the second half of 2010, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Posted May 25, 2010
DataFlux, a provider of data management solutions, and Teradata, a provider of data warehousing and enterprise analytics, today announced a partnership agreement intended to help add data quality technology to Teradata's data warehousing and master data management (MDM) environments.
Posted May 25, 2010
XtremeData, a provider of large data analytics and complex computing solutions, showcased the dbX 100 Series of desk-side analytical data warehouse appliances at TDWI in Chicago. Leveraging the Cray CX1 desk-side supercomputer, the new product line is intended to provide super computing price/performance for business intelligence (BI) analysts and statistical researchers in an affordable departmental-sized system package. Designed specifically for the unconstrained analysis and exploration of large data sets, the dbX family of appliances is unique among competing products in leveraging the best of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) Linux server offerings, while seamlessly integrating SQL acceleration, according to XtremeData.
Posted May 25, 2010
Sybase has announced the upcoming general availability of Sybase IQ 15.2, the latest version of the analytics server. With full text search, query federation and web-enabled analytics, IQ 15.2 delivers faster and consistently more accurate business answers and reporting by turning raw data into actionable information through analytics.
Posted May 25, 2010
Simba Technologies Inc., a provider of standards-based data access products, solutions and services for both relational and multi-dimensional data sources, has announced that Oracle's Technology Network has released an Oracle By Example (OBE) tutorial covering how to use Microsoft Excel 2007 with Oracle 11g OLAP data for easy and powerful ad hoc query, analysis and reporting. The direct Excel to Oracle connectivity is made possible by Simba's MDX Provider for Oracle OLAP data connectivity product.
Posted May 20, 2010
EMC Corporation and Informatica Corporation have announced that Informatica Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) and Master Data Management (MDM) solutions have been added to EMC Select. Under this agreement, EMC will resell Informatica ILM and MDM products and services, to further extend the value of EMC's intelligent tiered storage, archive and enterprise content management platforms.
Posted May 18, 2010
Microsoft last week announced that volume licensing downloads for SQL Server 2008 R2 are available in all languages, including the public availability of PowerPivot functionality. Customers can now download the trial version of Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 and the web downloads of PowerPivot for Excel and SharePoint.
Posted May 18, 2010
SAP and Sybase, Inc. announced Wednesday afternoon that SAP's subsidiary, SAP America, Inc., has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Sybase for approximately $5.8 billion, in a transaction that will bring the companies together to enable customers to become better-run "unwired enterprises." The transaction is expected to close in July 2010, and Sybase will be run as a standalone company. "This is a strategic moment for SAP, for Sybase, our customers, and the IT industry," said Bill McDermott, co-CEO of SAP and a member of the SAP executive board, in a conference call for analyst and the press. "This acquisition is about accelerating growth for both businesses. This transaction is fully aligned with our strategic objectives to significantly expand our addressable market, opening up new opportunities in mobility, in-memory computing, and analytics."
Posted May 13, 2010
IBM Offers Linux Webcasts On-Demand Did you miss a webcast covering important information about technologies you need to learn more about? IBM offers replays on-demand of webcasts presented by IBM experts and partners.For a replay of "Discover the Benefits of Running Your WebSphere Workloads on Linux and System z" go here.For a replay of "Cloud Computing Made Easy with IBM and Linux," go here. For a replay on "System z and Linux: The Winning Combination," go here. For a replay on "Leveraging Linux with the IBM Client for Smart Work," go here.For a replay on "IBM Smart Business Development and Test with Linux on the Cloud," go here.
Posted May 12, 2010
Ingres Corporation, an open source database management company, has entered into a strategic agreement with Bendigo Partners, LLC to promote the use of Ingres VectorWise within the financial services industry. Bendigo Partners focuses on investment and operating partner opportunities in global, technology-driven financial services. It supports product expansion, global expansion, acquisitions, or technology and operational efficiencies with both capital and expertise.
Posted May 11, 2010
Altova recently announced the availability of Version 2010 Release 3 (v2010r3) of the Altova MissionKit, an integrated suite of XML, database, and UML tools. This latest release provides a range of usability and performance enhancements as well as integration with Visual Studio 2010 and support for industry standards such as iXBRL and National Information Exchange Model (NIEM).
Posted May 11, 2010
You're probably familiar with the old saying that "it's not what you know, it's who you know." That may have been true back in the days when conversations about competitive advantage concerned memberships at prestigious golf clubs and lavish expense accounts; in the days when data was regarded as mere records of transactions, production and inventory levels. Today's conversations about competitive advantage may still include talk of personal relationships. More frequently, though, these conversations reflect the relatively recent appreciation of the intrinsic value of enterprise data - a value seen not just by senior executives, but also by employees in virtually every department. There is broad consensus in most organizations that enterprise data, and perhaps more importantly, the ability to analyze large volumes or smaller subsets of data at will, in real time, are crucial business differentiators.
Posted May 10, 2010
Application monitoring started off with a simple need - to help an administrator or manager of an application, monitor and manage its performance. It was narrow in scope and limited in use - to monitor a single application and provide metrics useful for managing that application only. Monitoring tools were often provided by application vendors, but the growing and complex nature of IT environments necessitated the entry of third-party monitoring tools. These were more specialized, with the ability to centrally monitor several different applications. They helped administrators gain visibility across several different applications, understand where problems occurred, and helped to quickly resolve them.
Posted May 10, 2010
Have you heard about stream computing? Basically, it involves the ingestion of data - structured or unstructured - from arbitrary sources and the processing of it without necessarily persisting it. Any digitized data is fair game for stream computing. As the data streams it is analyzed and processed in a problem-specific manner. The "sweet spot" applications for stream computing are situations in which devices produce large amounts of instrumentation data on a regular basis. The data is difficult for humans to interpret easily and is likely to be too voluminous to be stored in a database somewhere. Examples of types of data that are well-suited for stream computing include healthcare, weather, telephony, stock trades, and so on.
Posted May 10, 2010
Oracle president Charles Phillips unveiled Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g during a presentation in the Guggenheim Museum's Peter B. Lewis Theater filled with customers, analysts and the press. "Now that we can instrument the entire stack, because it is our stack, we can do things we couldn't do before," Phillips told the audience. There is value in being able to get a handle on management costs and gain more predictable environments so downtime is not a threat, and integration is not a struggle, he stressed.
Posted May 05, 2010
Composite Software, Inc., a provider of data virtualization middleware, has expanded its federal operations in response to accelerating government agency demand. The company increased its federal team with key new hires in sales, sales engineering, and services, and solidified a new GSA partnership with Carahsoft Technology Corp., a government IT solutions provider, to build upon a second consecutive year of greater than 50% revenue growth.
Posted May 04, 2010
Informatica Corporation has announced new customer support offerings and proactive support capabilities as part of the Informatica Global Customer Support program. The additional services will be bundled into existing programs to further accelerate customer time-to-value, reducing cost-of-ownership and helping ensure ongoing project success.
Posted May 04, 2010
IBM is delivering a portfolio of software appliances across IBM brands, all powered by SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. Leveraging the SUSE Appliance Program from Novell, the initiative enables IBM to provide "plug-and-play" appliances that lower the cost and complexity of deploying applications for small and medium-sized businesses and help independent software vendors simplify the packaging of their solutions for multiple environments, enabling them to test, deploy and scale offerings.
Posted May 03, 2010
Sybase reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010. "We are off to a very good start this year," stated John Chen, chairman, CEO and president of Sybase, during a conference call last week. "We are very pleased to report our 10th consecutive record quarter. The highlights include historical first quarter highs in revenue, operating margin, earnings and cash flow. We also have double digit growth in total revenue as well as license growth and message revenue growth."
Posted April 29, 2010
Sybase technical experts are planning a series of Developer Days throughout the United States and Europe to showcase the latest releases of its industry-leading development software. All seminars are free and run from 8:30am - 2pm local time (timing may vary slightly by location) with breakfast and lunch included.
Posted April 29, 2010
Sybase TechWave 2010 will be held August 9-11 at the Hilton Washington, in Washington, DC. Sybase has announced it is planning to expand the event to include another day of technical training.
Posted April 29, 2010
In a presentation to analysts, customers, and the press at the Guggenheim Museum in New York last week, Oracle president Charles Phillips unveiled Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g which is intended to help customers maximize business agility and productivity by providing an integrated approach to IT management. "It's about finally trying to get control of this complex thing called IT — trying to manage the entire stack in a way that is different that is different than we have in the past. We are just now getting to the point in the evolution of the industry and in Oracle's strategy where that is now possible," Phillips said.
Posted April 27, 2010
Microsoft has announced that SQL Server 2008 R2 has been released to manufacturing and customers can expect availability in the next few weeks through Microsoft's distribution channels. According to Microsoft, SQL Server 2008 R2 represents a continued commitment to mission-critical workloads, providing a scalable platform, increased developer and IT efficiency and managed self-service business intelligence.
Posted April 27, 2010