SAP Just Gave a Major Blow to IBM, Oracle and Microsoft

By SiliconIndia  |   Monday, 14 January 2013,

Bangalore: SAP has announced that its in-memory database HANA is now compatible to accept and run the software maker’s all business applications. This announcement is certainly a major blow to SAP’s rivals like IBM, Oracle and Microsoft who, according to analysts,  will need several years to achieve what SAP has accomplished.

Elaborating on the accomplishment, SAP has introduced a new technology that allows a single database to perform both business analysis and transactions at the same time. This is the first time that such a technology is being introduced into the main stream. On the other hand, rivals like IBM, Oracle and Microsoft still are able to provide only by using two databases.

"It's the only in-memory DBMS (database management system) that can do data warehousing and transactions in the same database,” said Gartner analyst Donald Feinberg. “That's where it's unique."

The technology is exceptionally advantageous, especially for SAP customers. SAP has proved that customers who use HANA powered applications can speed up their sales process dramatically, as from now onwards there is no need of wasting time on waiting for the information.

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An in-memory database (IMDB; also main memory database system or MMDB) is a database management system that primarily relies on main memory for computer data storage. It is contrasted with database management systems which employ a disk storage mechanism. Main memory databases are faster than disk-optimized databases since the internal optimization algorithms are simpler and execute fewer CPU instructions. Accessing data in memory reduces the Disk seek when querying the data which provides faster and more predictable performance than disk.^[1][2]

In applications where response time is critical, such as telecommunications network equipment and mobile advertising networks, main memory databases are often used.^[3] IMDBs have gained a lot of traction, especially in the Data analytics space, starting mid 2000s mainly due to cheaper RAMs.^[4][5]