IBM announces a data warehousing initiative

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Author: JT Smith

Kim Kent, Brodeur for IBM writes: “Supporting the momentum of customers migrating to DB2, IBM is extending its DB2Now! program to enable the migration of existing Teradata customers to an IBM DB2 Data Warehouse.”

By migrating to DB2, businesses can take advantage of DB2’s broad platform support, advanced business intelligence functionality and superior price points. Data warehouses function as central collection points for information on a company’s customers, products and all the transactions in between. They combine server and storage hardware, database software and incorporate analysis tools enabling a company to have a single, consistent source for all information required for the foundation of business intelligence purposes. These results offer what has come to be known as business intelligence, revealing hidden clues on what products and services to sell, to whom, how, and when.

According to the e-Business Analytics report by Merrill Lynch, the worldwide market opportunity analytics software is expected to grow to $25 billion by 2004, growing at a compound annual rate of 31 percent.

The DB2Now! program is designed for customers that are looking to ease development, management and cost challenges associated with competitive databases. The DB2 Now! Teradata conversion program provides customers with a free two-day migration study which gives a functionality comparison, an overview of the migration process and a savings estimate.

DB2Now! helps customers quickly move from competitive databases to DB2 with product enhancements, tools, promotions and skills. Since 1993, IBM’s specialized migration team has been helping companies migrate from competitive offerings to the industry’s leading database. Approximately 100 customers per-month have migrated to DB2 from competitive platforms over the past three months. Most recently, Rusch International, the Toronto Police Department and Zantaz have adopted DB2 from competitive platforms.

Technology advantages of DB2 compared to NCR Teradata include:

Broad Platform Support: DB2 runs on 22 platforms. NCR Teradata MPP runs only on proprietary NCR hardware and software.

Open Standards: DB2 supports a wide range of open standards including XML, UDDI, SOAP and Predictive Modeling Markup Language (PMML). PMML based data mining models allow companies to deploy real-time scoring of customers. Teradata customers cannot leverage vendor-developed or custom PMML-based models.

Leverage Existing Information: DB2 ships with DataJoiner to make other databases, such as Oracle, Sybase and approximately 30 other data sources look and behave like DB2. This allows customers to easily integrate heterogeneous data sources into a single application. NCR Teradata does not have this capability.

Technology Advantages: DB2 has more technical capabilities. These include spatial analysis, to visually map customer activities and replication which enables a user to have the most updated data, in the correct format when its needed. NCR Teradata does not provide these capabilities.

Proof of Concept: IBM has four Teraplex Integration Centers to demonstrate proof-of-concept to customers and IBM business partners, and serve as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for the Business Intelligence solution before it goes live at the customer location. As IBM proposes the most advanced BI solutions to all kinds of businesses and organizations across the world, the Teraplex Centers use real customer data to prove the solutions will work. NCR Teradata does not provide this benefit.

About IBM’s DB2 Universal Database

As the foundation for e-business, DB2 Universal Database is the industry’s first multimedia, Web-ready relational database management system, strong enough to meet the demands of large corporations and flexible enough to serve medium-sized and small e-businesses. DB2 Universal Database combines integrated power for business intelligence, content management, enterprise information portals and e-business with industry-leading performance and reliability to drive the most demanding industry solutions. DB2 Universal Database together with Internet technology makes information easily accessible, available and secure. There are more than 60 million DB2 users from over 300,000 companies worldwide relying on IBM data management solutions. For more information, please visit www.software.ibm.com/data or www.ibm.com/bi. For more details on the DB2Now! migration program, visit http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/migration/.

Contact:
Peter Tulupman
IBM Software Group
Phone:(212) 745-3093

Fax: (212) 745-2034
email: tulupman@us.ibm.com