We all like reports.  Reports that include graphs and pie charts are even better!  One thing we don't always consider is how fresh the data in we are looking at is?  In a typical Business Intelligence scenario, the data we can access is normally already a day old.  For long-term planning this is probably acceptable, but nowadays is day old data really enough to be competitive?  What if manufacturing efficiency suddenly drops in your factory or your online sales suddenly boom and threaten your stoke levels?  Do you really want to wait until tomorrow to find that our?  SAP don’t think so.

SAP HANA was developed to plug these gaps in reporting (as well as other ventures in the future).  HANA stands for "High performance ANalytic Appliance".  It uses custom In-Memory computing techniques to offer extremely high query performance.  Unlike BWA, HANA supports SQL and MDX giving it far more flexibility.  However, like BWA, HANA is an appliance, meaning it can only be ordered from and installed by specialist partners like Centiq.

With SAPs release of the High Performance Analytic Appliance, SAP HANA, I wanted to know...

How fast is SAP HANA?

In September 2009 IBM announced the availability of SAP Business Warehouse Accelerator on the BladeCenter S. Now, just over 18 months later, IBM no longer approve this solution for new systems. However, all systems already in the field are still supported.

The BladeCenter S solution bought BWA functionality to users at a much lower price point than the BladeCenter H solution. Although it suffered from limited redundancy and scalability the BladeCenter S did prove a popular choice with Centiq customers. To plug the gap left by this mini BladeCenter IBM submitted the System X x3850 X5 server to SAP for qualification. The system has been tested and approved for use with BWA. So, if you are looking for a small BWA solution at a low price point, then maybe you should be considering the IBM System X x3850 X5.

IBM told the world that the new POWER7 range of servers were going to be fast.  We saw their benchmarks and read their white papers.  But I always reserve judgment until somebody else runs their own benchmark on a new piece of hardware.

I find myself shrug apathetically to most technology announcements and the BladeCenter S was no exception.  I remember wondering "Why would anyone want a small IBM BladeCenter with built in SAS storage?".  Most of my experience with the IBM BladeCenter is with larger SAP BWA projects where customers want a large number of blades coupled with enterprise performance storage, so the BladeCenter S just didn't seem useful.

Despite the apparent cost benefits of DB2 over Oracle (especially with Oracle's price rises last year) a  quick straw poll  asked;  What are the inhibitors to migrating from Oracle to DB2? The answers were pretty consistent.

1. Cost and time of application migration and

Fastener component distributor The Fastener Network Ltd has completely transformed the performance of its IT infrastructure, achieving nearly 20 times faster data interrogation and reporting, with expert help from Centiq, a premium-level IT services provider.  Centiq achieved this breakthrough performance by optimising The Fastener Network’s existing data storage and management systems, and then migrating SAP R/3 from a UNIX-Oracle platform to Windows-SQL Server with high-performance hardware.

The Fastener Network engaged Centiq for the complex system migration and optimisation to improve the infrastructure’s ability to handle simultaneous requests from different departments; data input, access and reporting – processes that were essential to support the group’s continued business growth.