VideoThis may be changing, however. A new device, called a data appliance, could radically alter the time it takes to analyze data. Built from the ground up as a dedicated storage, retrieval, and analytics system, a data appliance is an all-in-one machine. Since server, storage, and software are integrated at the lowest level, there's less movement of data. The result? A 10-to-50-times improvement in performance for products from data-appliance maker Netezza Corp., claims Jit Saxena, CEO of the Framingham, Massachusetts-based company.
Netezza sells five data-appliance models, ranging in price from under $1 million to $2.5 million. The basic unit, a rack, can store up to 4.5 terabytes of data. To increase capacity, customers simply buy additional racks. As for the vendor's performance claims, Wakefield, Massachusetts-based Epsilon, which hosts data for financial-services companies and others, recently installed a Netezza data appliance. Mike Coakley, Epsilon vice president of marketing technology, recalls the benchmarking the company performed on the device before making a purchase. "We tested load times, queries, summarizations," he says. "The results were astronomical—borderline ridiculous."
Coakley claims the data appliance has cut load times at Epsilon from 11 hours to 3. Complex SAS queries on an Oracle database, he notes, used to take 2 hours; now they take 15 minutes. Says Coakley: "This is a real shift." —J.G.
Six Degrees of Automation
Costs and benefits of IT probrams for Sarbox compliance.
| Technology Option | Costs and Efforts Required | Potential Benefits | % of Public Companies Considering This Option |
| ERP instance consolidation | Projects cost about $10M per $1B in annual revenue; often requires implementation of system; projects can take 12 to 24 months | Consistent processes across all units; much better visibility across the company; additional 25 percent decrease in IT maintenance costs | 65% |
| Turning on controls within current systems | One of the least-costly options; may require help from a systems integrator to reconfigure the existing system | Takes advantage of existing technology investments; increases auditing capabilities and ability of govern every action | 39% |
| Adding an EPM system to current infrastructure | Varies widely; can include BI, analytics, planning, budgeting, ETL, and/or data warehousing products | Improves goal alignment; manages accountability; identifies risks in near-real time; standardizes external reporting processes | 32% |
| Upgrading of current ERP/financial system | Costs average 18 percent of the initial ERP project; projects take about seven months | Provides a chance to add new functions and features and consolidate separate instances | 13% |
| Changing ERP/financials vendor | One of the most-costly options; costs can range up to tens of millions of dollars | Can get off of antiquated systems and take advantage of new features and functions; ability to consolidate separate instances | 3% |
| Do nothing | No upfront costs, but the risks are high if the company does not come to compliance | No disruption to current systems or processes | 7% |
Reader Comments» Post a comment