SAP Disclosure Hana Memory Database platform Roadmap details

SAP has recently provided a detailed roadmap for future development of its Hana memory database. Hana has become the core pillar of SAP's product strategy.

A long Hana road map that was exposed last week revealed many of the new features that are about to be launched. However, this file does not provide specific release dates for these new features and indicates that the plan can be changed at any time.

Based on this roadmap, over time, Hana users can expect to improve integration with the Hadoop framework for large-scale data processing, including more rigorous modeling and integration with Hadoop architecture and data running time.

SAP will also improve integration of Hana with Sybase Power Designer, focusing on modeling interoperability and management with Hana.

The "key" function and intellectual property of Sybase IQ from the Columnar Analysis database will also be embedded somewhere in Hana.

The file says that in terms of deployment, Hana customers can expect "enhanced and flexible data center deployment choices". This document provides no further explanation. SAP will support the Hana instance of virtualization on the validated device.

Other plans for the roadmap include various enhancements to security and more support for Third-party tools.

These new features may be provided in batches as SAP continues to launch Hana service packs.

Although SAP used to be criticized for its slow pace of development, it is hard to criticize Hana's development. This product was delivered to the public in June 2011. To date, SAP has released 6 service packs for Hana.

In SAP's second quarter of the fiscal year, Hana generated 102 million euros (133.6 million dollars) of software revenue. By the end of this year, Hana will generate 650 million to 700 million euros in software revenues.

SAP has ported its business suite software to run on the Hana platform. SAP has recently launched a Hana-driven, managed hosting service. SAP expects the service to further boost sales growth.

SAP is not the only vendor that manufactures memory database technology. Rivals such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle are ready to launch their own offerings.

Bill McDermott, SAP's CEO, said last week in a conference call explaining the company's second-quarter earnings, McDermott has a 18-24-month advantage in memory technology.

Bill Powell, head of information management at the fleet management Service provider Automotive Resources Analysys, recently said in an interview that it chose Hana when it decided to revamp its old data warehouse environment.

Ari is not an ERP software customer for SAP. However, Ari has been using SAP's business Objects BI (business Intelligence) software on an Oracle infrastructure. The company evaluated some platforms, such as Oracle and IBM's Netezza, to upgrade. Powell said, Hana is very suitable for our requirements and application cases.

SAP has stated that Hana provides significant performance improvements in comparison to other types of systems, and in some ways is an astonishing improvement.

But speed itself is not enough, Powell says. There are also a number of issues to consider for users considering applying HANA platforms. The first and most important thing is to ensure that you invest in the formal (Enterprise information management) process. Understand that this is not just a matter of injecting Hana and solving the world. He added that the only thing you would do if you did not tailor a Hana project to your business needs was to deliver bad information very quickly. (Compiled/Populus euphratica)

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)