IBM PureData System for Operational Analytics

The PureData System is based on the latest version of the p7 processor that was used in the 7700-based system but storage capacity has been increased with 900GB disks now being standard and solid state capacity has been similarly enhanced. Included within the PureData product are not just the hardware but also the latest version of AIX (7.1), InfoSphere Warehouse and its associated products (graphical and web-based tools for the development and execution of physical data models, data movement flows [SQW], OLAP analysis [Cubing Services] and data mining), DB2 (either v9.7 or v10), WebSphere Application Server, Optim Performance Manager (previously DB2 Performance Manager), Tivoli System Automation for Multi-platforms, and a new system console, as well as various other tools and utilities.

Apart from the focus on particular types of environment, as discussed, IBM does not have any particular vertical focus. Indeed, given the company’s size you would expect it to be all-encompassing. However, it does offer specialised data models for a number of specific sectors, notably for banking, financial markets, healthcare, insurance, retail and telecommunications. It also offers a more generic pack for customer insight, market and campaign insight and for supply chain insight.

The IBM PureData System for Operational Analytics is available in “T-shirt” sizes: extra small, small, medium, large, extra-large, and so on. At the bottom end the system consists of a “Foundation” module; and then you can add data modules, which each take up 1/3^rd of a rack in any number you like up to 6 racks (that is, 18 data modules) – where each data module provides 62.4TB of raw data capacity. As far as failover is concerned, one failover module is required for each three data modules, with the proviso that you must have a failover module in each rack.

Notable features of the PureData System for Operational Analytics include advanced compression, piggy-back scans and multi-dimensional clustering. With v10.1 of DB2 you also get zigzag joins, continuous ingest and time-travel queries. Once DB2 v10.5 (released April 2013) is available as a part of this system (which we expect in due course),  this will provide BLU Acceleration, which includes columnar storage, dynamic in-memory caching, parallel vector processing, data skipping and even more advanced compression. All of these features are designed to significantly improve performance.

Over the last decade or so there has been a significant shake-up in the data warehousing space. However, a clear pattern has now emerged. There are:

• Merchant database vendors that believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to both transaction processing and warehousing.
• IBM: a merchant database vendor that believes that you cannot get the best performance characteristics from a system that is supposed to cater to both transaction processing and analytics and which has therefore created specialised bundles for specific purposes, such as the PureData System for Operational Analytics.
• Traditional specialist data warehousing vendors that will compete with the PureData System for Operational Analytics.
• A host of newer (and some not so new) vendors that are really offering data marts rather than something that is suitable for use as an enterprise data warehouse.

In other words, the IBM PureData Systems for Operational Analytics faces exactly the same competitors as IBM data warehousing has faced historically. IBM has been successful over the last twenty years in acquiring a significant slice of the data warehousing market and we so no reason why that should change now.

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In addition to the normal sorts of training and support services you would expect from any vendor, IBM offers business services (application innovation, business analytics, business strategy, functional expertise, midmarket expertise), IT services (application management, business continuity and resiliency, data centres, integrated communications, IT strategy and architecture, security), outsourcing services (business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing and hosting), asset recovery, hardware and software financing, IT lifecycle financing and commercial financing.