Dw product comparison

Bouayad & Bouzoubaa 1
Data Warehouse Product
Comparison
Presented By:
Bouayad Mehdi & Bouzoubaa Marouane

Outline
 Introduction
 What is Business Intelligence
 Selection Critieria Definition.
 Products Comparison.
1. BI Platform Strategies.
BI platform / Partnerships / Packaging and Pricing
2. Comparing BI databases
3. Comparing OLAP
4. Comparing Data Mining
5. Comparing Interfaces
6. Comparing Build and Manage Capabilities
Conclusion

Goals
 Evaluates and compares the business
intelligence platform strategies and business
intelligence platform components of:
 Microsoft Corporation.
 Hyperion Solutions, Inc.
 IBM Corporation.
 Oracle Corporation.
 All four vendors have characteristic strengths
and limitations. Figure out them…

Outline
 Introduction
3. Comparing OLAP
Conclusion

What is Business Intelligence ?
 Business Intelligence is the process of transforming
data into information and through discovery
transforming that information into knowledge”
- Gartner Group
 Business Intelligence is a discipline of developing
information that is conclusive, fact-based and
actionable. Business Intelligence gives companies
ability to discover and utilize information they already
own, and turn it into the knowledge that directly
impacts corporate performance”
- IBM

Business Intelligence STEPS
 Gathering Data
 Organizing and Storing Data
 Analysis
 Spreading Results
 Decision Making and Action

Business Intelligence
 Had been used synonymously with decision
support, analysis, and data warehousing.
 Today business intelligence has a more
specific definition and a better understood
application.

Business Intelligence Platform
Requirements
 Data Warehouse Databases.
 OLAP.
 Data Mining.
 Interfaces.
 Build and Manage Capabilities.

Outline
 Introduction
3. Comparing OLAP
Conclusion

Selection Criteria
 BI Platform Strategies.
 BI platform
 Partnerships
 Packaging & Pricing
 BI databases
 OLAP
 Data Mining
 Interfaces
 Build and Manage Capabilities

Data Warehouse Databases
 Should support both relational and
multidimensional data warehousing databases.
 Storage models should support the distribution of
data across both.
 Data models should support transparent or near-
transparent access to data, wherever it’s stored.

OLAP
 Critical business intelligence platform component.
 Most widely used approach to analysis.
 Business intelligence platforms must provide:
 OLAP support within their databases.
 OLAP functionality, interfaces to OLAP
functionality.
 OLAP build and manage capabilities.

Data Mining.
 Critical to business intelligence platform
capability.
 Platforms should include data mining
functionality that offers a range of algorithms
that can operate on data warehouse data.

Interfaces.
 BI platforms should provide open interfaces to
data warehouse databases.
 OLAP, and data mining interfaces should comply
with standards.
 Open, standards-based interfaces make it easier
both to buy and to build applications that use the
facilities of a business intelligence platform.

Build capabilities
 Should include the implementation of:
 data warehouse models, the extraction, movement,
transformation, and cleansing of data from operational
sources, and the initial loading and incremental updating
of data warehouses according to their models.
 A wide range of data sources should be supported:
 files, and the data of popular packaged software.
 Transformation capabilities should be powerful and
flexible.
 Predefined transformations should be packaged. ( &
extensible through programming languages.)

Manage capabilities
 Should cover all platform resources—users,
data, and processes.
 Strong and flexible prepackaged capabilities
are essential.
 Good use should be made of visual tools.

Outline
 Introduction
3. Comparing OLAP
Conclusion

Product Comparison
1. Microsoft SQL Server 2000
2. IBM DB2
3. Oracle 9iAS
4. Hyperion Essbase 6.5

Platform Strategy
Comparison
Platform
Partnerships
Packaging & Pricing

BI platform
 Based on SQL Server 2000 and Office XP.
 Deliver a comprehensive (all in one) business
intelligence platform :
 Advanced data warehousing techniques
 Great analytic functionality
 Good performance and scalability across all
platform components.
Microsoft

 Through Microsoft’s business intelligence
platform:
 Push business intelligence to the edges of the
enterprise
 Make business intelligence dominant within
the corporation
 Make business intelligence more reachable for
more users and more types of users
Microsoft
BI platform

 The Microsoft formula has these key
elements:
 Fast implementation
 Ease of learning and ease of use
 Low cost and high value
 Fast return on investment (ROI)
Microsoft
BI platform

Partnerships
 Ms BI Platform is built in Microsoft technology
 Microsoft controls all aspects of it design,
development, product marketing, and support
 This is essential in order to provide consistency,
integration, and timely technology delivery
 Windows OS dependent
Microsoft

 Partnerships are critical to Microsoft and to its
business intelligence platform.
 The firm currently uses partnerships to create
a large base of specialized business
intelligence tools and applications that
supports its platform.
 These partnerships simplify and accelerate
adoption of the platform and make the
platform’s resources more easily accessible.
Microsoft
Partnerships

Packaging and Pricing
 Strong selling argument of Microsoft.
 For the processor-based license fee of
$19,999 per processor for SQL Server
Enterprise Edition
 You get the entire business intelligence
platform:
 OLAP / data mining / build & manage
capabilities
Microsoft

BI platform
 Oracle 9i AS
 Object/relational database management
system designed and positioned to support all
types of Internet-based applications.
 Complete and integrated infrastructure for
building BI applications.
 Oracle9i OLAP & Oracle9i Data Mining
Features of Oracle9i Enterprise Edition.
Oracle

 Build and Manage functionality is provided by
two toolsets:
 Oracle Enterprise Manager:
 main management framework and DBA toolset as
well as the toolset for OLAP build and manage.
 Oracle9i Warehouse Builder:
 Component of Oracle Internet Developer Suite
 Provides capabilities for:
 Managing relational data warehousing resources
 Designing relational data warehouse models
 ETL (Extraction Transformation and load).
 OS Independent
BI platform
Oracle

Partnerships
 Do not play a major role within Oracle’s
business intelligence platform.
 The “complete and integrated infrastructure”
means that every platform component is
provided by Oracle and is based on Oracle9i.
 Oracle’s R&D organization controls the
design, development, and support of the
entire platform.
Oracle

Partnerships
Oracle uses partnerships for business platform
tools and applications.
 Although the firm currently competes with these
partners with its own business intelligence tools
and applications.
 Oracle’s BI platform does not include partner
technology  Oracle has the important
advantage of control over the platform’s
components, technology, and integration.
Oracle

 Oracle offers little bundling.
 All the components of its business intelligence
platform are separately packaged and priced.
 Build and manage components have separately
priced and packaged sub-components.
O9i Enterprise Edition : $40,000 / processor.
+ O9i OLAP: $20,000 / processor.
+ O9i Data Mining: $20,000 / processor.
+ O Warehouse Builder: $5,000 per named user.
Oracle
Sum = $ 95,000

BI platform
 Based on DB2
 The DB2 Universal Database (UDB) provides
relational data warehousing capabilities.
 The database also integrates basic relational
data warehousing build and manage
capabilities.
 OLAP functionality and OLAP build and
manage functionality are provided by DB2
OLAP Server.
IBM

BI platform
 DB2 OLAP Server: feature of DB2 Enterprise
Server Edition that is OEMed from Hyperion
and re-branded.
 Data mining functionality: provided by DB2
Intelligent Miner and DB2 OLAP Miner.
 Warehouse Manager: enhance the integrated
relational build and manage functionality of
DB2.
 DB2 OLAP Administrative Services provides
OLAP build and manage capabilities.
IBM

Partnerships
 IBM relies on a set of partners to assemble it
BI platform.
 The most critical partnership : Hyperion
Solutions.
 Partners also provide ETL and data cleansing
The partnership with Hyperion:
 gave IBM OLAP capabilities instantly
 allows IBM to compete in an important market
where it had no previous presence and where it
had made no investment in R&D.
IBM

Partnerships
 At long term: disadvantage to IBM’s business
intelligence platform and to its BI customers and
partners.
 Why? Because OLAP is more an add-on than an
integral component of IBM’s BI platform.
 IBM has no direct control over OLAP technology,
its development, and its integration within its BI
platform.
 Given the importance of OLAP, IBM should either
acquire Hyperion or develop its own OLAP. Until
then, its BI platform will always be at a
disadvantage.
IBM

 Every component of IBM’s BI platform is
separately packaged and priced
 Individual components offer good value, but the
whole platform can be quite costly.
 DB2 UDB (Enterprise Server Edition V8.1 ):
$25,000 per processor.
( provides the basic build and manage functionality of
Data Warehouse Center)
IBM

 DB2 OLAP Server: $28,000 per server
+ additional $1,500 fee per named user.
(includes the build and manage capabilities of DB2
Administrative Services and the data mining functionality of DB2 OLAP
Miner).
 Intelligent Miner: 3 components. $75,000 per processor
for the 3.
 For advanced relational build and manage
capabilities:
DB2 Warehouse Manager : $10,600 per processor.
SUM = $138,600 without external ETL and data cleansing tools
IBM

BI Platform
 The technology platform for Hyperion’s performance
management solutions is Essbase, its admired OLAP
Server.
 The firm states its objective “is to be the leading
global provider of business performance
management solutions.” These solutions are
designed to automate the business performance
management process of strategy setting, modeling,
planning, performance monitoring, reporting and
analysis.
 Essbase is evolving away from a general purpose
OLAP facility and toward a platform for supporting a
very specific type of BI application.
Hyperion

 additional platform components not offered by
Hyperion are required, most significantly
relational databases, data mining tools and
analytic applications.
 Hyperion does not provide a complete
business intelligence platform. Rather its
Essbase product can provide the OLAP
functionality within another leading
comprehensive BI platform.
 Essbase integrates OLAP build and manage
functionality.
BI Platform
Hyperion

Partnerships
 Hyperion must partner in order to expand
from its OLAP niche and address all BI
platform requirements.
 IBM is Hyperion’s most important business
intelligence platform partner.
 Hyperion also has many BI tools and
applications partners that are empowered by
the OLAP capabilities of Essbase.
Hyperion

 Hyperion Essbase has a pricing model for with two
elements:
 the per server fee is $28,000 / processor
 the per named user fee is $1,500.
 Essbase packaging includes:
 OLAP server, administrative tools, and build and manage
tools.
 Essbase installations most commonly use relational data
warehouses as the data sources for Essbase cubes.
 This approach requires the purchase a complete data
warehousing infrastructure in addition to the Essbase,
which is worth another $28,000
SUM = $56,000
Hyperion

Platform Strategy
Comparison
Comparing BI databases
Product Comparison

Microsoft
 SQL Server 2000
 All of the Microsoft’s BI platform technologies and products are
implemented as SQL Server 2000
 No-charge features and are included “in the box” with this
relational database—build and manage facilities, OLAP, and
data mining.
 Improved significantly from previous version
 Scalability has been its limitation historically
 Architectural improvements to its database engine,
 Data warehousing features
 A big boost from fast SMP hardware have enabled SQL
Server to compete with IBM and Oracle across most of the
scalability curve.
 The SQL Server in BI ranges from the low-end, the middle and
touches the high end in terms of capacity and scalability.

Oracle9i
 Object/relational database that has long packaged
excellent data warehousing features.
 Wide range of index types, rich join capabilities, and
multiple approaches to partitioning.
 Became a well-integrated business intelligence
platform.
Release 1: Oracle added OLAP capabilities within its
database as well as enhancing build and manage
capabilities to support multidimensional warehouses
and marts.
Release 2: OLAP capabilities were improved and
data mining capabilities were added.

Oracle9i
 Oracle9i now has the advantages of
comprehensiveness and integration for all aspects of a
BI platform.
 However, the database also has disadvantages as a BI
platform.
 OLAP and data mining capabilities are newly
implemented in the database and neither is well proven
or widely used.
 Even if the capabilities are offered as database features,
they’re separately packaged and priced, adding
considerably to the initial platform cost.

 IBM’s strategic business intelligence database
 Version for Windows, the leading Unix
platforms, IBM S/390 mainframe and AS/400
midrange platforms.
 Provides good usability in its administrative
tools.
 DB2 OLAP Server provides the business
intelligence database for OLAP.
 DB2 OLAP Server is Hyperion’s Essbase,
OEMed, integrated, and re-branded by IBM.
IBM DB2 (UDB)

 DB2 (UDB):
 Not tightly integrated within the IBM business intelligence
platform.
 Requires separate build and manage tools and Data
mining supported till last version.
 July 2001, IBM acquired the database technology of
Informix Software (Informix RDBMS & Redbrick data
warehouse).
 both viable BI databases.
 To date functionalities of both remained separate from
DB2 and excluded from IBM’s BI platform strategy)
 Future ??
 Customers are confused. They need direction from IBM.
IBM DB2 (UDB)

Hyperion
 Hyperion does not include a BI database.
 Hyperion should be embedded into a
complete BI solution product like IBM DB2

Comparing OLAP
Platform Strategy Comparison
Product Comparison

Microsoft
 SQL Server Analysis Services OLAP functionality
includes:
 The building and management of multidimensional
OLAP data models
 Data Transformation Service: loading and updating of
the data models in easily configurable MOLAP,
ROLAP, and HOLAP stores
 a large set of predefined data access and analytic
functionality
 Quantitative analysis functions that include statistical
processing capabilities
 In addition, user-defined functions are supported and
Analysis Services provides the documentation and
tools for developing them. That’s good power and
flexibility.
Comparing OLAP

Oracle
Many innocations:
 a multidimensional storage model through 9i’s Abstract
Data Type (ADT) object technology features
 OLAP query and analytic processing functions within the
database  provides access to those functions through
a set of programming interfaces.
 OLAP resources integrated within its metadata and
management frameworks.
 Oracle9i OLAP’s storage management and interfaces
appear to be brand new.
 OLAP resources can be managed with the same tools as
relational and object resources.
Comparing OLAP

 Advantage: OLAP, relational, and object resources are
made scalable, reliable, secure, and manageable by
the same set of mechanisms.
 Disadvantage: lack of maturity.
 Oracle’s BI platform can implement MOLAP, ROLAP,
and HOLAP storage models.
 Rich analytic processing capabilities
 Handles the general OLAP aggregation, allocation, and
multidimensional navigation functionality.
 +++ Also packages financial calculations and
functions, statistical functions and statistical
forecasting, and regression.
 Microsoft and Hyperion: also package good numeric
analytic functionality. Forecasting is unique to Oracle
Oracle
Comparing OLAP

IBM and Hyperion
 IBM business intelligence platform uses the OLAP
capabilities of the re-branded Hyperion Essbase.
 Essbase is widely used, well proven, and has broad
support from applications and tools partners.
 Essbase support many platforms:
 Essbase has become less attractive as a dedicated
OLAP system as Microsoft and Oracle has integrated
OLAP capabilities into their relational databases,
creating comprehensive BI platforms.
 It requires its own data store, separately managed
from the relational data warehousing data store, and
its own build and manage toolset.
Comparing OLAP

IBM and Hyperion
 Hybrid Analysis is the best new feature of DB2 OLAP
Server V8.1
 Hybrid Analysis allows administrators to define a
multidimensional cube that stores its high-level
(aggregated or summary) members within a
multidimensional store and its low level (detail)
members within a relational store.
 The OLAP Server accesses and prepares the relational
data and presents this data to the application as if it
were native multidimensional data.
 It adds HOLAP (Hybrid OLAP) support to the OLAP
storage model of IBM’s BI platform.
Comparing OLAP

Do You know?
 The difference between
 MOLAP cubes
 ROLAP cubes
 HOLAP cubes
 Aggregations

Comparing OLAP
Comparing Data Mining
Product Comparison

Microsoft
 Microsoft includes data mining capabilities to the
OLAP functionality packaged in SQL Server Analysis
Services.
 The best features integration within Microsoft’s BI
platform, wizard-driven model building, and the
capability to mine relational, OLAP, or external OLE
DB data.
 Analysis Services implements only two data mining
algorithms: decision trees and clustering.
 These algorithms does not cover broad range of
problems, additional algorithms would add flexibility.

Oracle
 Delivered through Oracle 9i Data Mining, a
separately packaged and priced feature of
Oracle9i.
 The best features are the integration within the
Oracle9i database, the use of the database for
input and metadata, and the broad range of
functions and algorithms.
 Data visualization functionality is missing.
There’s no support for a data mining process.

IBM
 IBM has been active in data mining much
longer than Microsoft or Oracle.
 IBM Intelligent Miner product has three
components:
 DB2 Intelligent Miner Visualization
 DB2 Intelligent Miner Modeling
 DB2 Intelligent Miner Scoring
 Each supports a key phase of the traditional
data mining process.

IBM
 All three are separately priced and packaged.
 The strengths of DB2 Intelligent Miner are the
breadth and depth of its data mining
algorithms and its modular and
comprehensive coverage of the data mining
process.
 Its limitations are complexity—the tradeoff for
its power and flexibility, and support only for
relational input.
 Not many business intelligence tools and
applications suppliers have either.

IBM
 uses a single statistical algorithm to discover
cells within an OLAP dimension that have
unexpected or outlying values and presents
them visually to analysts.
 Analysts can then use traditional OLAP
approaches to determine and to understand
the causes for value differences. This is a
very useful data mining application.
Comparing OLAP

IBM
 OLAP Server Miner, unlike Intelligent Miner, does not
require skill and experience in data mining. OLAP
experience is all that you need to use it. This is the
right approach to data mining applications.
 They offer broader and deeper data mining
functionality than either Microsoft or Oracle, but
they’d be stronger if they were integrated into a single
coherent offering.
 It’s a disadvantage that Intelligent Miner doesn’t mine
OLAP data. It’s also a disadvantage that DB2 OLAP
Miner has only a single data mining algorithm
Comparing OLAP

Comparing Interfaces
Comparing OLAP
Product Comparison

Interfaces
Microsoft Oracle IBM Hyperion
Relational
Interfaces
SQL
Transact/SQL
ODBC & JDBC
OLE DB
ADO
ADO.NET
SQL & PL/SQL
ODBC & JDBC
SQL & DB2
SQL
ODBC & JDBC
NA
OLAP
Interfaces
MDX
DSO
Pivot Table Service
XML for Analysis
OLAP DML
Java OLAP API
SQL and PL/SQL
Essbase API Essbase
API
Data
mining
Interfaces
DSO
Pivot Table Service
Wizards
Oracle9i Data
Mining API
(Java)
Intelligent Miner
• C++
• SQL
• Visual tools
DB2 OLAP
Miner
• Essbase API
NA

Comparing Interfaces
Comparing Build and
Manage Capabilities
Comparing OLAP
Product Comparison

Build and Manage Capabilities : Toolsets
Microsoft Analysis Manager provides comprehensive relational
and OLAP build and manage capabilities.
Oracle Oracle9i Warehouse Builder provides relational build
and manage capabilities.
Oracle Enterprise Manager provides OLAP build and
manage capabilities.
IBM DB2 UDB Data Warehouse Center (DWC) provides
basic relational basic build and manage capabilities.
DB2 Warehouse Manager adds additional relational
build and manage capabilities.
DB2 OLAP Administrative Services provides OLAP
build and manage capabilities.
Hyperion Essbase Administration Services provide OLAP build
and manage capabilities.
Integration Server provides support for loading and

Build and Manage Capabilities : Extraction data sources
Microsoft Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, ODBC, Files,
Access 2000, Excel 2000, Microsoft Visual FoxPro
dBase, Paradox, Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Active Directory
Oracle IBM DB2, Informix, Microsoft SQL Server ,Sybase
Oracle, ODBC, Files
IBM DB2,Informix,Microsoft SQL Server,Oracle,Sybase
Files
Hyperion IBM DB2, Informix ,Microsoft SQL/Server Oracle
Sybase, ODBC

Build and Manage Capabilities : Additional Extraction Data Sources
Microsoft Host Integration Server provides extraction from IBM
mainframe data sources.
Oracle Oracle Pure Extract provides extraction from IBM
mainframe data sources.
Oracle Warehouse Builder Integrator for SAP provides
extraction from SAP R/3.
IBM DB2 Warehouse Manager provides extraction from
SAP R/3, i2, and Web Server logs.
Tools from IBM partners ETI and Ascential integrate
within DWC to provide additional ETL capabilities.
Hyperion None

Build and Manage Capabilities : ETL execution
Microsoft Process-oriented execution of tasks within packages.
Packaged may be versioned and/or password
protected.
Oracle Process-oriented and execution of ETL steps controlled
by Enterprise Manager.
IBM Individually executed ETL steps.
Hyperion Procedural sequences of declarative rules.

Build and Manage Capabilities : ETL implementation
Microsoft DTS is implemented as a COM framework accessed
programmatically or with packaged visual tools.
Oracle PL/SQL stored procedures in Oracle9i database.
IBM DB2 stored procedures and user defined functions
(UDF). 150 predefined transformations.
Hyperion ETL performed through rules. Rules perform field-level
operations on source data. A set of predefined rules is
packaged.

Build and Manage Capabilities : Data cleansing
Microsoft None packaged.
Oracle Oracle Pure Name and Address provides name and
address data cleansing.
IBM IBM partners Trillium Software Systems provides name
and address data cleansing.
Hyperion Via user-defined rules.

Outline
 Introduction
3. Comparing OLAP
Conclusion

Conclusion
 Microsoft provides a comprehensive business
intelligence platform.
 Build and manage capabilities, OLAP
capabilities, and application interfaces are its
key strengths.
 Data mining is very new, although data
mining integration and data mining tools are
quite good.

Conclusion
 Oracle provides a comprehensive business
intelligence platform.
 This platform has a complete set of
components, OLAP and data mining
capabilities are unproven, but promising.
 Data mining tools are low level, and build and
manage capabilities are not consistently
implemented for relational and OLAP data

Conclusion
 IBM provides a comprehensive business intelligence
platform.
 Relational data warehousing and data mining are key
strengths.
 OLAP capabilities are very good
 The platform is not well integrated because they’re
OEMed from Hyperion.
 Build and Manage capabilities require too many
toolsets and there’s a disconnect between managing
relational data and managing OLAP data.

Conclusion
 Hyperion occupies a niche within business
intelligence platforms
 its OLAP technology is a critical component of
IBM’s business intelligence platform.

Conclusion
Price What You Get
Microsoft $19,999 SQL Server Enterprise Edition
OLAP / data mining / build & manage
capabilities
Oracle $95,000 All BI Platform
IBM $138,600 Without ETL & Data cleansing
Hyperion $56,000 Not A complete BI solution
OLAP + Data Warehouse

Grading
Microsoft Oracle IBM
Data Warehouse Databases 3 5 4
OLAP 3 4 5
Data Mining 2 4 4
Interfaces 4 3 4
Build and Manage Capabilities 5 4 3
Integration 5 4 2
Easy To learn 5 3 3
Support 4 5 3
Expected Lifetime 4 5 3
Quality/Price 4 4 3
Total 39 41 34

References
 Green Hill Analysis: A Comparison of Business Intelligence Strategies
and Platforms
 Gartner Group
 www.oracle.com
 www.microsoft.com

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