IBM launches new warehouse appliances that offer a combined software and hardware package

IBM has introduced into the market several data warehousing strategies, including software, appliances, and services, to relieve the company of the competitive pressure coming from the enterprise market and at the same time cover small- and medium-sized companies.

The company launched a comprehensive Dynamic Warehousing strategy during the Gartner Business Intelligence Summit in Chicago. IBM’s DB2 Warehouse 9 is the center of all the products.1.it is based on the DB2 9 data managment system and also offers information server for date integration. In addition, the software integrates the Rational Data Architect for data modeling and mapping, and includes DB2 Alphablox for embedded analytics.

To server small and medium-sized companies as well as departments in large corporations, IBM has scaled down the DB2 Warehouse Strategy into three versions. In the past, the DB2 was only available for large enterprise. For the same market segments, the compnay has lunched two warehouse appliances that combine software and hardware package. IBM has improved its offering for enterprises.

Current Analysis data manager analyst James Kobielus praised the launch and described IBM as the premiere data warehousing appliance vendor, in terms of the range of targeted solutioins they provide. IBM has significantly improved the packaging, pricing, scalability, professional services, and channel partner programs for its data warehousing and master data management solutions.”

The company also introduced new technology with the launch of the OmniFind Analytics Edition, which solves the problem of extracting business intelligence from unstructured data. The new system, an optional add-on module for the DB2 Warehouse strategy, consolidates and analyzes data from unstructured and structured sources, regardless of the format. Together with other warehouse products of IBM, the new versions of the DB2 Warehouse strategy were introduced into the market.

The three new editions are Advanced, Intermediate, and Starter, and have storage capacities limited to 2 terabytes, 1 terabyte, and 400 Gbytes, respectively. You can buy the Advanced Edition at ,000 while the Intermediate edition costs ,000 and the Starte edition is priced at ,000. The two existing Enterprise and Enterprise Base editions have been enhanced, and pricing starts at $105,000 and $60,000, respectively. Formerly known as the Balanced Configuration Units, IBM has renamed its data warehouse appliance to Balanced Warehouse.

The E Class, which is exclusive for large enterprise, is complemented with the introduction of two new offerings. The D Class has a capacity from 1 terabyte to 5 terabytes, and can be configured with the DB2 Warehouse Enterprise, Enterprise Base or Advanced Editions. Pricing starts at 5,000. With 1 terabyte, the C class can accomodate at least 200 users and can be preconfigures with DB2 Warehousing strategy.