One of the major challenges that IT organizations have with all-things business intelligence is how long it takes to actually set up applications. SAP, however, wants to take this issue off the table by giving customers an analytics application option that comes with both database and data integration software.
SAP today released new versions of its SAP BusinessObjects business intelligence (BI) and SAP Crystal offerings that bundle the SAP Sybase IQ columnar database and SAP Data Integrator software with the company’s BI software. According to Jayne Landry, vice president of solution management, route to market for SAP, the company is trying to reduce the time to value that customers experience by providing a more complete BI offering that includes key technologies that the company gained via its acquisition of Sybase.
At the same time, the move also serves to make it easier for organizations to gain experience with columnar databases, a venerable database technology that has been regaining some of its lost luster in an era where appreciation for applications such text analytics is making organizations more cognizant of relational database limitations.
Landry says that by combining these technologies in a single offering, SAP is giving customers access to a more complete edition of its BI and reporting software for only a 20 percent premium over existing versions of the company’s BI application software.
While interest in all-things analytics remains high, IT budgets are still under significant pressure. By bundling Sybase IQ with its analytics software, SAP is looking to not only reduce the total cost of BI, but also make it more affordable to introduce what for many organizations amounts to a new format for storing data in the enterprise.
