Plattner: On-demand ERP delay has silver lining
Although SAP has slowed
down the rollout of its on-demand ERP (enterprise resource planning) offering
Business
ByDesign, that decision has given the company more time to implement its
in-memory database technology into the software, said SAP's co-founder Hasso
Plattner during a keynote address Wednesday at SAP's SAPPHIRE
conference in Orlando.
"I believe so vehemently in the future of in-memory databases -- like
Steve Jobs believes in the iPod," he said. In-memory databases boost performance
because storing data in memory allows it to be accessed much faster than from
a disk.
Business ByDesign is using a hybrid model to handle data, with both a relational
database component and the in-memory database, which is now about 90 percent
implemented into the hosted offering, Plattner said. The technology is capable
of retrieving 1 billion pieces of data in less than a second, he claimed.
In addition, SAP's in-memory database has significant compression capabilities,
he added. "For a 20 gigabyte relational database, we probably need only
a 1 gigabyte [in-memory] database."
However, the practice of multi-tenant software-as-a-service -- which sees a
single instance of software serving a number of customers, purportedly driving
down costs -- does not mesh well with in-memory databases, according to Plattner.
If you put multiple companies in one in-memory database, the performance goes
down, he said.
"[Other companies] say, 'We do multi-tenant. They say it's cheap. Yeah,
it's cheap -- like cheap housing in the Bronx," he said. "What we
can do with that in-memory database is unbelievable. This is better than to
go with the cheapest possible disk device and spread the data over it."
As for Business ByDesign, the company had initially planned to reach US$1 billion
in revenue and 10,000 customers for Business ByDesign by 2010, but said last
week it will take 12 to 18 months longer to attain those goals. Plattner's comments
represent a new angle in SAP's messaging around the slowdown, as other executives
have said the decision was made to ensure the company can turn enough of a profit
on the offering.
IDG News Service
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