Business Intelligence and Analytics Articles
This is a time of great change for data centers. Technology is advancing and getting smarter, and workloads and performance demands keep growing. For this issue of Database Trends and Applications, we sought a range of industry views on the most profound—and perhaps unexpected—changes reshaping data centers and enterprise it.
Posted June 15, 2009
Sybase turned in the best year in its history in 2008, followed by its best-ever first quarter in 2009. Brian Vink chats with Database Trends and Applications about what he sees as the key issues in information management, the company's partnership with SAP and the plans to revamp TechWave this year.
Posted June 15, 2009
illuminate Solutions has announced the release of version 4.0 of its iLuminate correlation database technology. New iLuminate 4.0 features include a 64-bit architecture that allows for nearly unlimited scalability and faster query performance, enhanced multithreading that enables a larger number of users to have simultaneous database access, a web services architecture that allows for managed services and cloud deployments, LDAP/Active Directory-based user and privileges management that plugs into customers' existing production environments, and public APIs (Java, .Net, C++) that enable easy development of custom analytic applications.
Posted June 09, 2009
Greenplum, a provider of database software for the next generation of data warehousing and analytics, has unveiled its Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC) initiative. The EDC Initiative is a new vision for bringing the power of self-service to data warehousing and analytics, encompassing the primary areas of platform (the EDC platform, based on self-service provisioning, elastic scale and massively parallel processing), methodology (an agile approach to data analytics that embraces large-scale data collection, getting data into the hands of business users, and iterating quickly), and ecosystem (customers and partners that embrace these new capabilities with tools, infrastructure and creative methodologies).
Posted June 09, 2009
Tableau Software, a leading provider of analytics and business intelligence software, has announced the general availability of Tableau version 5.0, the next generation of the Tableau Desktop and Tableau Server product suite. Tableau 5.0 has more than 60 new features including new dashboard and interactive visualization capabilities, improved scalability, and higher performance. These features help businesses of all sizes see and understand their data better and more visually.
Posted June 09, 2009
Vertica recently announced an upgrade to its Vertica Analytic Database for the Cloud that brings all the new features of the recently announced Vertica 3.0 platform to cloud computing customers. The new version also adds improved Java development capabilities, support for Sun's forthcoming Sun Cloud, and a number of new ease-of-use and management features.
Posted June 09, 2009
IBM announced 12 of 30 new System z software offerings, designed to help improve developer productivity, increase business intelligence and data management capabilities, and improve transaction speeds.
Posted June 08, 2009
TIBCO Software has announced the launch of TIBCO Spotfire 3.0, the latest version of the company's in-memory analytics platform for business decision-making. The new release introduces simplified connectivity to popular business applications such as Oracle and SAP, load balancing, and enhanced in-memory performance to better enable IT organizations to scale Spotfire throughout the enterprise.
Posted June 03, 2009
Trillium Software, a business of Harte-Hanks, Inc. and a provider of data quality solutions, has released version 12 of the Trillium Software System. The new capabilities of this release are specifically targeted to address four major trends that Trillium sees, namely the data governance movement to enterprise-wide data quality project deployment, the need for real-time data quality as initiatives move from traditional business intelligence environments to operational environments, the expanding roles of data stewards and business analysts, and the need for complete end-to-end data quality platforms. Given these factors, the latest version of Trillium's enterprise data quality solution provides for high-volume data profiling and discovery, data cleansing, and data quality dashboards and reporting.
Posted June 02, 2009
As part of its recent update of its complete solution portfolio for Microsoft SQL Server, Quest Software is now offering version 3.0 of its Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise performance management tool. Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise is a powerful tool for detection, diagnosis and resolution of performance issues in real time, instantly alerting administrators about deadlocks, blocking, and SQL bottlenecks. Enhanced notifications and troubleshooting capabilities point to the root of performance issues, which DBAs can quickly resolve with new integrated SQL optimization functionality. This solution is built to tackle the challenges faced by SQL Server professionals in the key area of database performance management, and is paired with free access to SQLServerPedia, a community knowledgebase powered by Quest Software.
Posted June 02, 2009
Attunity, Ltd., a provider of real-time data integration and event capture software, has announced the general availability of Attunity Oracle-CDC for SSIS, delivering change data capture (CDC) technology integrated with Microsoft SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS).
Posted June 02, 2009
Sybase, Inc., has entered into a new agreement with MicroStrategy Incorporated, a provider of business intelligence software. Sybase will offer integrated packaging and pricing in an exclusive promotion on MicroStrategy products when sold with its Sybase IQ analytics server.
Posted May 27, 2009
Entrinsik Inc., a leading provider of web-based operational reporting and analysis solutions, has announced that members of its product development team will demonstrate their use of the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) in the development of the latest release of Informer Web Reporting at the upcoming Google I/O Developer Conference. The two-day event will be held today through tomorrow at the Moscone West in San Francisco, CA. Entrinsik will be participating in the Developers Sandbox at the conference today from 12 noon to 6 pm.
Posted May 27, 2009
TIBCO Software has announced the launch of TIBCO Spotfire 3.0, the latest version of the company's in-memory analytics platform for business decision-making. The new release introduces simplified connectivity to popular business applications such as SAP and Oracle, load balancing, and enhanced in-memory performance to better enable IT organizations to scale Spotfire throughout the enterprise.
Posted May 26, 2009
At the recent COLLABORATE 09 conference, Oracle introduced Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) Applications Release 7.9.6, prebuilt solutions for Oracle and non-Oracle applications that enable organizations to make informed, actionable decisions and drive toward optimized performance across the enterprise.
Posted May 20, 2009
At its recent TechEd conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft announced new innovations from the SQL Server team. The next release, SQL Server 2008 R2 (formerly SQL Server ‘Kilimanjaro'), is intended to empower end users to make better decisions through self-service business intelligence, and help IT drive greater efficiency and reduce costs through new capabilities such as multi-server management and Master Data Services. The first Community Technology Preview (CTP) of SQL Server 2008 R2 will be available in the second half of 2009 and Microsoft is on track to ship SQL Server 2008 R2 in the first half of calendar year 2010. In 2010, Microsoft will also introduce complex event processing for real-time insight into streaming information. This will offers customers and partners faster time to solution and equal or better performance than competitive alternatives to gain insight from streaming information.
Posted May 19, 2009
5 Minute Briefing: Data Integration had a chance to visit the COLLABORATE 09 conference for Oracle users in Orlando during the week of May 4. We conducted interviews with both Ian Abramson, the president of the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG), and later with Raymond Payne, president of the Oracle Applications Users Group (OAUG).
Posted May 19, 2009
At its recent SAPPHIRE 09 conference, SAP AG announced SAP Business Objects Explorer, a new software product that brings together search and navigation capabilities from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio with SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Accelerator (SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator) software, enabling customers to navigate mountains of business data at high speed and give them a clear view across their organizations. Another milestone in the company's acquisition and integration of Business Objects, SAP BusinessObjects Explorer will deliver the most significant and largest combination of SAP and Business Objects technology to date, according to the company.
Posted May 19, 2009
Talend, a leading provider of open data integration software, has announced the availability of Talend Integration Suite MPX, a new edition of its Integration Suite Platform specially designed to help organizations attain high levels of performance and remove obstacles typically associated with traditional data integration processes.
Posted May 19, 2009
Composite Software, Inc., a leading provider of data virtualization software, and Motio, Inc., a leading provider of advanced sofware development lifecycle tools for IBM-Cognos business intelligence deployments, have begun shipping the new Composite BI Accelerator Appliance. Jointly developed by Composite and Motio, the BI Accelerator Appliance automates currently cumbersome tasks in the BI lifecycle. The initial release, a self-contained appliance, has been optimized for IBM-Cognos environments. The end-to-end solution automates steps throughout the BI process including upfront data discovery and ongoing maintenance of IBM-Cognos reporting environments.
Posted May 19, 2009
IBM announced the availability of "stream computing" software that enables massive amounts of data to be analyzed in real time, delivering fast insights. The new software is called IBM System S, and is available as a part of the InfoSphere product line.
Posted May 18, 2009
Sybase, Inc., has announced the latest version of Sybase Replication Server, specifically designed to move and synchronize data across the enterprise.
Posted May 12, 2009
Oracle has announced the general availability of Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System Release 11.1.1.2, which unifies performance management and business intelligence to support a range of strategic, financial and operational management processes.
Posted May 07, 2009
Oracle has announced general availability of the Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.
Posted May 07, 2009
Noetix Corp., a software provider that automatically generates business intelligence (BI) content from enterprise applications, introduced Noetix Generator 2.0 for Oracle Business Intelligence, making it faster and easier to roll out reporting to Oracle Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition Plus (OBI EE) and Oracle Business Intelligence Standard Edition One end users.
Posted May 07, 2009
Pentaho Corporation, a provider of commercial open source business intelligence and data integration software, has announced Pentaho Data Integration 3.2, a new release of Pentaho's extract, transform, and load (ETL) tool with enhancements for cloud- and cluster-based ETL, as well as new product features such as additional transformation capabilities and connections to new data sources. Pentaho Data Integration is already in production on the Amazon cloud supporting cloud-based data warehouses, and now with
Posted May 05, 2009
Teradata Corporation and SAP have announced a new agreement to provide SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse (SAP BW) on the Teradata database. Customers of both companies have asked for accelerated, unified access to detailed enterprise data for improved business visibility, according to the vendors. To address this need, the partnership will deliver an integrated and scalable solution that lowers total cost of ownership and consolidates data on one database platform.
Posted May 05, 2009
SAP AG has announced the availability of enhancements to the SAP BusinessObjects Edge software portfolio, including new features in the release of SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI 3.1, its comprehensive business intelligence software for small businesses and midsize companies (SMBs). One of the main new Edge BI 3.1 features is the inclusion of SAP BusinessObjects Polestar software, a guided data navigation application that helps any business user to easily explore information and quickly answer important business questions via simple search. Edge BI 3.1also now supports databases and applications from other vendors, recognizing the fact that the majority of SMBs have mixed IT infrastructures.
Posted April 30, 2009
Jaspersoft, provider of business intelligence (BI) software, and Infobright, the open source data warehouse company, have announced the general availability of what they describe as the first open source project to feature end-to-end BI, extract-transform-load (ETL), and data warehousing capabilities. The companies have also announced that Bi3 Solutions, provider of a virtual on-demand BI solution, has chosen the BI project to build an end-to-end BI suite.
Posted April 28, 2009
Sybase last week reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2009 increased to $267.5 million from $260.1 million in the first quarter of 2008. License revenue grew to $89.3 million compared to $78.1 million in the first quarter of 2008. Services revenue was $135.0 million, and messaging revenue was $43.3 million in the 2009 first quarter.
Posted April 28, 2009
IBM has announced version 9.7 of DB2 and InfoSphere Warehouse software, focused on transactional performance improvements in the DB2 database, and on expansion of analytics to XML data in the InfoSphere Data Warehouse. Both new products also reduce an even greater amount of space needed to store data, helping clients to gain significant savings on related costs including energy. This offering is also the industry's first database software that will deliver business analytics capabilities for both relational and XML data at the same time, according to IBM.
Posted April 28, 2009
Sybase has announced Sybase CEP, a complex event processing (CEP) technology for performing analytics on high speed streaming data. By integrating Sybase CEP with RAP - The Trading Edition, Sybase is providing a complete platform for trade lifecycle analytics. Sybase CEP extends the Sybase RAP platform's capability to store and analyze large amounts of real-time and historical data, by providing real-time intelligence on high speed streaming market and trade data with minimum latency.
Posted April 23, 2009
Sybase, Inc., announced that Sybase IQ 15, combined with Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire X4540 storage server and running the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), recorded the best price/performance result in the TPC-H benchmark at 3000 GB scale factor for all non-clustered systems. The benchmark simulates decision support systems that analyze large volumes of data, executes queries with a high degree of complexity, and gives answers to critical business questions. Sybase says that the achievement illustrates the effectiveness of Sybase IQ 15 in helping to optimize IT asset utilization and significantly reduce ownership costs.
Posted April 23, 2009
Actuate Corporation, a provider of rich internet applications for business intelligence, has announced the release of Actuate Performancesoft Views 8.1. Performancesoft Views is a fully featured performance management application that can accommodate a wide variety of performance management frameworks, and the 8.1 release provides increased flexibility and ease of integration with the BIRT and e.Spreadsheet offerings included in Actuate 10. It also builds upon Actuate's multi-purpose performance measurement solution that supports scorecarding and KPI initiatives for a variety of industries, and offers many new features.
Posted April 21, 2009
SAP AG has announced the availability of enhancements to the SAP BusinessObjects Edge software portfolio, including new features in the release of SAP BusinessObjects Edge BI 3.1, its comprehensive business intelligence software for small businesses and midsize companies (SMBs). One of the main new Edge BI 3.1 features is the inclusion of SAP BusinessObjects Polestar software, a guided data navigation application that helps any business user to easily explore information and quickly answer important business questions via simple search.
Posted April 21, 2009
Infobright, an open source data warehousing company, has released Infobright 3.1, the latest version of its data warehouse product that offers simplicity, ease of use and low total cost of ownership. According to the vendor, the columnar database is ideal for analytics, and is available in two editions: a free, open source version named Infobright Community Edition (ICE) and a licensable version named Infobright Enterprise Edition (IEE). The version 3.1 product release contains two primary new features, one of which is available with both the ICE and IEE, and the other only with the IEE.
Posted April 21, 2009
The business intelligence (BI) market is big: at least $10 billion in 2008 and much more if you include data warehousing projects. The tough economic environment may slow the growth of the BI market, but cost constraints, compliance and similar measures demanded by the current economy require accurate and timely business data, so BI is expected to remain a vigorous market segment regardless of the macro-economic situation.
Posted April 15, 2009
Every data integration initiative—whether it supports better decision making, a merger/acquisition, regulatory compliance, or other business need—requires a set of processes to be completed before the data can be made available to business users. Though this set of processes is fairly well understood by industry practitioners, there are still many areas left unaddressed and, therefore, the process is time-consuming, inefficient, unpredictable, and costly.
Posted April 15, 2009
Sybase, Inc., announced that Sybase IQ 15, combined with Sun Microsystems' Sun Fire X4540 storage server and running the Solaris 10 Operating System (OS), recorded the best price/performance result in the TPC-H benchmark at 3000 GB scale factor for all non-clustered systems. The benchmark simulates decision support systems that analyze large volumes of data, executes queries with a high degree of complexity, and gives answers to critical business questions. Sybase says that the achievement illustrates the effectiveness of Sybase IQ 15 in helping to optimize IT asset utilization and significantly reduce ownership costs.
Posted April 14, 2009
Simba Technologies Inc., a provider of standards-based relational and multi-dimensional data connectivity drivers, has announced the beta release of its native Microsoft Excel 2007 connector to Oracle's 11g OLAP Option database. The solution, built using Simba's MDX 2005 Query Language technology, provides users with a high level of access and functionality that is the same as native Excel connectivity to Microsoft Analysis Services or SAP NetWeaver BW.
Posted April 14, 2009
BEZ Systems, a provider of predictive performance management (PPM) solutions for databases, has announced the availability of a new Performance as a Service (PaaS) program. Performance as a Service combines the BEZVision predictive performance software with in-depth knowledge and advice from database and performance experts to deliver advanced database performance intelligence. This combination allows IT departments to be more proactive in providing service delivery to their organizations, reduce costs, and improve IT efficiency so they can shift their focus toward providing business solutions and away from firefighting performance crises.
Posted April 14, 2009
Embarcadero Technologies, a database tools and developer software company, has introduced new and enhanced performance optimization tools to help companies detect, fix and prevent costly software errors. The tools include DB Optimizer 1.5 for SQL profiling and tuning, Performance Center for automated 24/7 database monitoring, and J Optimizer 2009 for Java profiling and optimization.
Posted April 14, 2009
Panorama Software, a provider of proactive business intelligence solutions, recently previewed the first fully supported release candidate of NovaView Version 6.0, scheduled for release this June.
Posted April 07, 2009
Sybase has announced Sybase CEP, a complex event processing (CEP) technology for performing analytics on high speed streaming data. By integrating Sybase CEP with RAP - The Trading Edition, Sybase is providing a complete platform for trade lifecycle analytics. Sybase CEP extends the Sybase RAP platform's capability to store and analyze large amounts of real-time and historical data, by providing real-time intelligence on high speed streaming market and trade data with minimum latency.
Posted April 07, 2009
MicroStrategy Inc., a worldwide provider of business intelligence software, has announced the release of MicroStrategy 9, which it describes as its most significant software release in nearly a decade. MicroStrategy 9 was introduced in January 2009 at the company's annual user conference and is now generally available. The new release delivers new technology and features to extend the performance, scalability, and efficiency of enterprise BI, to enable the rapid deployment of departmental BI applications, and to provide a seamless consolidation path from departmental BI to enterprise BI.
Posted April 07, 2009
SPSS, Inc., a global provider of predictive analytics software and solutions, has introduced the latest versions of its data mining workbench and text analytics software products, and renamed them to fit under a unified portfolio naming umbrella. Predictive Analytics Software, PASW, is the new name for the complete portfolio of SPSS Predictive Analytics products. This new naming standard unifies the product families under consistent and descriptive nomenclatures to reflect the broad functionality and seamless integration among all SPSS products.
Posted April 07, 2009
GoldenGate Software Inc., a provider of high availability and real-time data integration solutions, and Greenplum, a provider of database software for data warehousing and analytics, today announced that GoldenGate supports integration of operational data to a Greenplum data warehouse in real-time for improved business intelligence and reporting.
Posted April 07, 2009
DataDirect Technologies, a provider of data connectivity and mainframe integration, has released a new suite of 32-bit and 64-bit ODBC drivers that offer new enhancements intended to streamline application development, boost performance and reduce application certification costs. The updated suite, DataDirect Connect for ODBC version 6.0, integrates with the DataDirect Bulk Load and DataDirect Application Failover products.
Posted March 31, 2009
Attunity, Ltd., a provider of real-time data integration and event capture software, and Talend, a provider of open source data integration software, have announced a partnership aimed at jointly selling and marketing their solutions. This new partnership allows both companies to expand their market reach with new solutions created by combining their respective data integration technologies. This partnership-combining the power of Attunity's mainframe connectivity and non-intrusive change-data-capture (CDC) software, and the versatility of Talend's open source data integration solutions-will offer customers increased options for data integration.
Posted March 31, 2009
Pentaho Corporation, the commercial open source alternative for business intelligence (BI), has announced Pentaho BI Suite Version 3, aimed at making it cost effective for businesses to deploy easy-to-use, robust BI capabilities to users throughout the organization. Pentaho BI Suite Version 3 allows business users to easily create interactive dashboards-including Adobe Flash-based visualizations-without training. Also, based on existing customer successes and growing customer demand, Pentaho is introducing a Cloud Computing Edition, packaged for deployment on the Amazon EC2 Cloud, providing companies with another way to drive down the cost of bringing BI into their organizations.
Posted March 31, 2009