Teradata Launches Smaller, Customized Data Warehouse

When an enterprise decides to invest in a data warehouse to handle storage and data analytics, it generally takes a warehouse-sized pile of capital plus a commensurate amount of time and effort to install and deploy it.

Let's face it: Data warehouses are the aircraft carriers of the data storage world. You simply don't acquire, build, stock, launch and deploy them in any kind of quick turnaround window.

However, Teradata, the world's largest company specializing in data warehousing and enterprise analytics, is amending this situation. On Nov. 18, the company introduced Teradata Accelerate, a customized, bundled package of hardware, software and services that can enable companies to rapidly deploy a data warehouse.

The Accelerate packages are designed for specific vertical market segments, such as basic data warehousing, retail, finance and marketing.

Essentially, what Teradata is doing is breaking up its standard, carrier-grade data warehouse into a half-dozen or so smaller, preconfigured pieces so that midsize enterprises that want to own a data warehouse will be more likely to consider it. Customers can pick and choose which features they want, and return later and add others as needed.

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"This gives a much larger number of enterprises a new entry point into what Teradata offers," Randy Lea, vice president of Teradata products and services, told me.

Ninety-day deployments are the norm

Accelerate packages can be deployed usually in about 90 days, depending on the business purpose, Lea said. The packages themselves are not inexpensive; they start at about $350,000. Of course, a standard data warehouse deployment is usually in the seven-figure realm.

Accelerate can include customized packages preloaded with applications from partners such as Business Objects, IBM, Informatica and MicroStrategy. Examples include:

Teradata Accelerate for Data Warehousing—This includes data integration and business intelligence tools. Teradata's own professional services will define and build the data models, bring up the data warehouse, execute data transformations, identify the business questions and build reports.

Teradata Accelerate for Marketing—This package includes everything needed to deploy a powerful CRM system. It includes Teradata Relationship Manager and consulting and implementation services from Teradata.

Teradata Accelerate for Finance—This financial analytic package uses prebuilt intelligence to turn ERP data into actionable information. Teradata Accelerate for Finance integrates ERP data from source to end report. The package is designed to eliminate the usual challenges such as limited data transparency, time-consuming and costly maintenance, and disconnected financial and operational data. This helps companies reveal economic drivers and opportunities for cost and expense reduction, revenue growth, and improved cash flow management.

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