IBM has added new IBM SmartCloud capabilities, including DB2 with BLU Acceleration, that can result in as much as 25 times faster reporting and analytics, the vendor says. In addition, SmartCloud is now available for SAP's in-memory SAP HANA database.
The new BLU Acceleration technology from IBM Research and Development labs adds dynamic in-memory analytics to DB2 database software on IBM SmartCloud, making it simpler, faster and more economical to analyze massive amounts of data.
"Clients are looking to leverage big data and analytics at the speed of business," says Jim Comfort, general manager of IBM SmartCloud Services. The announcement is part of IBM's effort to deliver “mission-critical cloud services to provide essential analytics innovations to business users at the point of impact."
IBM SmartCloud is now available for SAP HANA. The new offering includes a physical SAP HANA Appliance on IBM SmartCloud for SAP Applications, hosted on SmartCloud Enterprise+. In addition, a virtual SAP HANA Appliance is now available on IBM SmartCloud Enterprise (SCE) for early stage development and test. IBM DB2 is optimized for SAP applications and available on all SAP supported hardware environments. According to the vendors, IBM DB2 improves SAP application response time by up to 40%, reduces SAP data storage needs by up to 70% and saves on energy costs, administration and hardware investment.
Moreover, the integration of IBM Cognos software with SAP applications helps enhance the value of SAP data by adding the perspective and context needed to derive insight from it.
Both the physical and virtual SAP HANA Appliances on SmartCloud are offered on a 'bring your own license' (BYOL) model; however, a license can be purchased through IBM when working with IBM Global Business Services.
More information is available from SAP and IBM
More information is also available from the IBM and SAP alliance blog.