Cubegeek

The Google No Brainer

Arizona State goes from spending 500k/year to zero. Google's threat to Microsoft Exchange is so potent, that it's not even funny. Check out this story:

When Adrian Sannier became the university technology officer at Arizona State University in the fall of 2005, he was handed a simple yet monumental brief by ASU president Michael Crow: make IT the primary driver in Crow's ambitious "New American University" project. The goal is to raise ASU's academic standing while increasing the number of resident students from around 65,000 to 90,000 by the end of this decade.

The first step in the school's new IT strategy was an alliance with Google's Enterprise Solutions division. Last October, ASU became the first large institution to deploy Google Apps, a comprehensive suite of productivity applications that includes e-mail, search, calendars, instant messaging, and even word processing and spreadsheets.

Initially offering new e-mail accounts based on Google's Gmail service (but retaining the "asu.edu" domain) on an opt-in basis, Sannier and his team found that students were making the switch at the rate of around 300 per hour. Today, more than 40,000 ASU students and faculty have made the switch, and he expects to shut down the University's in-house mail servers near the end of this term.

Since the e-mail switch-over, Sannier has been rolling out additional applications including calendar (which users can now share online, a capability the old university system didn't have), IM, and search. Within the next two months he expects to offer personalized home pages as well as online word-processing documents and spreadsheets based on Google Apps.

The cost to ASU: zero.

Ray Ozzie better get busy integrating his Groove stuff into the next gen Microsoft collab-platform. Oh wait, it's done. Who knew? Who'll pay?

AS/400 Data Jail

I can remember System 32, OK? Then came System 36 and I think there was a System 38 in there too. But I can really remember when IBM announced the AS/400 as the godbox of all end-user computing. Can you believe that I got certified in LU 6.2?

Because I'm so long in the system tooth. I've had the pleasure of getting data from an AS/400 source and putting it into a client/server interface. You realize of course that people had to be convinced. There are fewer things more aggravating that having to put up with the nonsense of AS/400 gurus as they begin fulminating about the inferiority of every other API and what a waste of time it is to replicate data from the 400 onto another platform. I patiently explain to them that their bosses bosses boss wants historical information charted in color and they give me one of these grimaces usually found on the face of Michael Moore when the security guards escort him from the premises. Yeah but I'm right, they smirk to themselves.

It is at times like these when I think of my girlfriend's sister's boyfriend who married her and moved up to Stockton, California. He was the god or RPG and drove a Mitsubishi Starion. Whoa. OK I exaggerate, it was a Sapporo. But I still couldn't bring myself, ghetto child that I was, to give up life in Los Angeles, even though he had a house and made 36 Thousand Dollars. That was 1980, and I had to hold on to my dreams. I knew RPG, in fact I knew RPG II. It was torture, I couldn't submit to its petty demands, and I wasn't ready to get married.

If you happen to find yourself staring into the wall eyes of an AS/400 guru, do as I do. Count backwards from 10 slowly and tell them how much respect you have for the innovative microcode of the AS/400 instruction set. Then turn around and run like the wind. If you actually have a mandate to work with this dweeb then keep a stiff upper lip and do what you need to do to get your data. Prostrate yourself.

Seriously, you should do whatever possible to get all necessary AS/400 data into SQL Server. You should get a nightly job to push transactions from the 400 onto a separate NT server and then use the ODS on NT.

Generally a customer will have green screens running against the 400. I know there's something of a conceit that the 400s are big hardware, but there really are no 400 databases out there that are too large for MSSQL. The 400 is really all about capturing transactions and they can't afford to run ad-hoc queries.

The best way to manage it is to add a native query job on the 400 side and dump that into a flat file on the 400 in a new outbucket directory. You can then FTP or map to the outbucket and initiate a transfer from the NT machine.

This has three primary advantages.

1. The 400 administrator will have control of the query and when it runs and where the output goes. He can optimize all that on his side. Nothing leaves his control.

2. The only thing that is initiated from the outside is a file transfer. That shouldn't interrupt anything on the 400 side.

3. Once you have the data on NT you can Perl it, DTS it into MSSQL and manipulate it any way you please. You get out of the 400's hair and you're essentially free.

The important thing is to make sure you get everything you need in that one big fat nightly query. Chances are you won't be able to get master data but ask anyway. Your better chance is to run master data from the data itself.

Now go have a chai spice. You win.

More on the Merger

I've had a chance to ponder as well as listen to other folks talk. Here are some of the best ideas of mine and theirs.

1. In the short term, nothing will happen.
We always forget this, and then reality sinks in. Nothing significant is going to happen in the next 4 to 6 months in the product lines. People will be getting over the shock in the marketplace and in the organizations. Associated companies will be getting their bearings and the very few people who knew about this blockbuster of a deal will surprise us again. From what I hear, this secret was kept very well. Although it has been rumored for years (and I wish I could find some of my old comments and speculations on those rumors) it blew everybody away.

2. Current Hyperion customers might upgrade, just to be on the safe side.
If you're sitting on an older version of Hyperion software, chances are you'll upgrade just to buy yourself time. This means busy work for the consulting sector. It's easy if you're already in System 9 of Hyperion, and easy if you're pure Essbase. But if you have a mix of Hyperion products moving all of them up will take a little doing. Still this is the only downside hedging I would expect current Hyperion customers to do.

3. Brio guys aren't breathing hard.
Somebody needs to really sit me down and explain what it is that Business Objects has that Brio doesn't. Whatever BO might have, or Oracle Discoverer might have the Brio folks aren't sweating it. The Brio customers were loyal in their transition to Hyperion and they weren't disappointed. Oracle rebranding doesn't seem to concern them much at all. That's interesting.

4. Product Integration takes time.
Peoplesoft people are still calling Peoplesoft Peoplesoft. So for the time being, it's entirely reasonable to expect that Hyperion will be a 'wholly owned subsidiary' as far as customers are concerned. It's going to take a while for Oracle to learn what Hyperion customers like about Hyperion and what they don't like. So in order to do product integration smartly, they'll most likely run out the current planned release schedule on the Hyperion suite and then start looking to merge. Again, I'm thinking Data Integration Manager (Informatica OEM) and Analytic Integration Server will be the first likely casualties to all of Oracle's data pump tech. Then again, current customers must be served. Perhaps by Solutions 2007 in Orlando in a couple months, we'll hear a few more specifics.

5. IT objections mitigated.
Already, dithering customers have committed to Hyperion based on the fact of the merger. Oracle shops are now open to Hyperion BI. This is bad news for Business Objects seeds in particular. This is one issue that has been the bane of my existence, being one of those rare individuals who thinks both relationally and multidimensionally I have suffered endless tirades about what MOLAP can't do, by people who have no hands-on. When I explain to people that Essbase is a modular database technology that has Hybrid, MOLAP and Aggregate Storage, that it is partitionable both logically and physically, they still find it hard to believe because nobody thinks of Hyperion as a database company. Now instead of showing them case studies with 500 concurrent databases or 50,000 concurrent queries I can just say two words to cease all hostilities. "It's Oracle".

People forget that Hyperion Essbase was Teradata's choice for marting in their Active Data Warehouse strategy. So I will reiterate my trash talk against MSTR. You guys are in for a surprise. The database guy in me is just giggling silly, and I haven't been so pleased since IBM OEM'd Essbase for DB2OLAP.

6. Verticals
Back when I was talking with people who oughta know, the idea for the killer Essbase apps was a certification program. That is to say Essbase had (and still has) the capability of being a brandable kind of analytic engine, as in Analytics powered by Essbase. I was personally involved with the deal that almost got Essbase embedded into Siebel, and I've since heard where the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen technology are. In any case, Hyperion has dreamed of moving towards verticals and now with Oracle's coverage of vertical markets, there are opportunities galore for Essbase to be exactly that. Of course it will require some thoughtful people to make it happen, but the Oracle introduction can be there. The technology is ready. Today.

Speculation Central

More bloviation about the Sphere on ORCL+HYSL

• Techmeme
• eWeek
• Ottowa Business Journal

The Sullivan Letter

This is the text of the letter that went out to Hyperion customers this morning.

  I am extremely pleased to announce that today Oracle has entered into a
  definitive agreement whereby Oracle will acquire Hyperion.            
 
  The acquisition of Hyperion extends Oracle's business intelligence    
  product strategy. Customers are increasingly using performance         
  management and business intelligence together. Hyperion provides      
  best-in-class performance management software to over 12,000 customers
  worldwide, including 91 of the Fortune 100. Hyperion will add         
  complementary products to Oracle's leading business intelligence      
  offerings, including a leading open enterprise planning system,       
  financial consolidation products, and a powerful multi-source OLAP    
  server. Coupled with Oracle's BI tools and pre-packaged analytic      
  applications, the combination redefines business intelligence and      
  performance management by providing the first integrated, end-to-end   
  Enterprise Performance Management System that spans planning,         
  consolidation, operational analytic applications, BI tools, reporting,
  and data integration, all on a unified BI platform. The system will   
  help you define corporate strategy and objectives, drive corporate    
  planning against these objectives, consolidate system-wide information,
  and monitor business performance against your plans. It will offer you
  better insight, enable you to make better decisions, and achieve better
  results.                                                               
 
  The transaction yields immediate benefit to both Hyperion and Oracle   
  customers, as the companies' products are already integrated, with    
  thousands of successful joint deployments. The proposed combination   
  extends Hyperion's capabilities beyond the finance department with    
  operational analytic applications and complementary BI tools from      
  Oracle. Oracle customers will gain access to Hyperion's best-of-breed 
  performance management solutions and to our domain expertise in       
  financial management. Oracle also plans to continue delivering on its 
  plans for "Hot-Pluggable" Business Intelligence, enabling our customers
  to continue to leverage existing investments in Oracle and non-Oracle 
  data sources and enterprise applications.                              
 
  Oracle's strategy is to Protect, Extend, Evolve…                      
 
  Protect. As we work to deliver the value of the combined companies with
  accelerated product innovation, we are equally focused on protecting   
  your investments through Oracle's Lifetime Support Policy. Oracle will
  maintain support for heterogeneous databases, technology, and ERP and 
  CRM applications as it continues ongoing development of Hyperion      
  solutions. Oracle will offer seamless continuity for all customers.   
 
  Extend. Oracle and Hyperion complementary products are already         
  interoperable. The combination will provide new capabilities in a      
  standards-based, integrated BI/ Performance Management/Analytics      
  platform and enterprise software stack with a common vision.          
 
  Evolve. Customers can evolve, at their own pace, to the next generation
  of Oracle's standards-based applications — Oracle Fusion Applications —
  built on Fusion Middleware and Oracle BI, including Hyperion          
  technology.                                                            
 
  Please be assured that all of your existing Hyperion contacts for      
  support, professional services, and sales remain the same. We hope you
  will join us for Solutions 2007 in Orlando, FL on April 22-25. We are 
  very excited about this conference and we will be providing an         
  opportunity for our customers to learn more about this announcement.   
 
  In the weeks and months ahead, we will provide you with ongoing       
  information about the integration plan. Between now and the close of   
  the acquisition, expected in April, we will operate as separate       
  companies. Be assured that customer satisfaction continues to be our   
  highest priority as we plan the transition. Please contact one or both
  of us with any questions you may have.      

Oracle + Hyperion = Gorilla

Oracle is buying Hyperion. SAP is buying Pilot. Cognos and Business Objects stand alone.

This is huge. I'm still overwhelmed by the implications.

I don't doubt anything this article says:

Hyperion and its popular Essbase product, has "almost no overlap" with existing Oracle products, Phillips said. But, there is overlap between the PeopleSoft's performance management products Oracle acquired in 2003 and Hyperion's products. The PeopleSoft products will become part of a new enterprise performance management division, Phillips said. Oracle has had a "small" performance management product that "wasn't that pervasive in the market," it considers Hyperion a complementary, best-of-breed vendor, he said.

Instead, Oracle has focused on building out the underlying infrastructure required for BI, he said, and the Hyperion acquisition will give it critical analytical applications to layer on top of its data management and BI technologies. Specifically, the acquisition gives Oracle an enterprise planning system, a financial consolidation product, a powerful OLAP engine and a "dedicated" field sales organization. It also believes the move will help it in its battle's with rival SAP. Many SAP customers use Hyperion, Phillips said, and Oracle is achieving "critical mass" within SAP accounts.

"Now Oracle's Hyperion software will be the lens through which SAP's most important customers view and analyze their underlying SAP ERP data," he said in an earlier statement.

From my perspective as a consultant it's all good. I'm confident that Hyperion's BPM apps are going to go through pretty much as is. It puts the Informatica OEM in a wobbly position, and it will probably delay integration of the more recent product acquisitions like Crystal Ball and Upstream. The integration of Hyperion MDM works technically but it will have to compete with Oracle's Customer Data Hub. I don't know how successful that product is. MDM hasn't sold well on the Hyperion side although everybody who gets it loves it.

There's basically no question that this is excellent news for us core Essbase folks and for those applications based on Essbase. The war between Essbase and Oracle's Express is ages old, and while performance wise, old hackers like myself and those on the Express side could get into lengthy debates, there was no question the Essbase was the more interoperable product. Now that it is plug-compatible with the new Yukon DTS, Oracle will have another way to kick MSFT around.

I say this is really bad news for Microstrategy. When the Oracle technical folks recognize what they'll be able to do with Oracle + Essbase, Microstrategy's whole high end BI story will crumble. In many ways this is a technical match made in heaven.

What's iffy is of course matters of marketing and product synergy. That is to say if I were a product marketing manager at Hyperion, I would get that resume out. Sullivan, in his letter to customers this morning declared in about as obvious as is possible to say that Hyperion sales reps have some security. So that whole organizational end of Hyperion is in jeopardy.

There have been a lot of us who have been worried about Hyperion development, ie without Gersten where would the engineering organization be. I think that Oracle would make a huge mistake to do anything but hang onto a lot of that engineering staff and keep them happy. Obviously System 9 integration will become a priority as product feature planning levels off. The good news is that there are not many major flaws in System 9.

Hyperion's tech support has taken a dive in recent years. The Oracle Developer Network will be a huge boost for that end of the business. If I were smart, I'd probably spin off a training business and start raking in dough for anybody out there who wants to become certified.

There's a lot more to think about, but on the whole there's basically one thing to know. There is now a new gorilla in the BI and BPM space.