Description
Business Intelligence (BI) is an important key in the initiatives of many organizations.
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
17
Characteristics of In-Memory Business Intelligence
Mihaela-Laura IVAN
Department of Economic Informatics and Cybernetics
Bucharest University of Economic Studies
[email protected]
Business Intelligence (BI) is an important key in the initiatives of many organizations. BI has
developed over the years and the most businesses need to take it to the next level of maturity
and improvement can be enabled by SAP HANA. In this paper I presented the evolution of
Business Intelligence industry, what others capabilities enterprises still seek and how
Business Warehouse on SAP Hana enable these needs. Also, the paper highlights that In-
memory Business Intelligence is powerful than data warehouse and Online Analytical
Processing projects.
Keywords: Business Intelligence, Data Warehouse, Optimization, SAP HANA, In-Memory
Introduction
Business Intelligence, or BI, is essential
to the success of companies because
the ability to process a vast amount of data
from a large range of sources anywhere and
anytime it’s decisive. The analyzed
technology is used to make data accessible
through: cost-cutting suppositions, expose
extraordinary business opportunities, transfer
ERP data into reports, react fast to retail
demand and optimize [1]. Another important
BI utilization is to find those inefficient
business processes. This led to
responsiveness in fast improvements for
future growth. For example, a group of
people used BI software to identify
opportunities on how to reduce mobile phone
usage overtime, saving $2 million rapidly.
That is why BI is more useful when it is used
to uncover wicked business problems than
when it is used to monitor what's happening
[2].
2 The Importance of Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence becomes a key strategy
for most of the big organizations for
achieving a competitive advantage.
Forasmuch, during the past ten years, the
approach to management business in the
whole word has changed profoundly,
organizations started to be able through
knowledge and data conversion, shaping the
correct information in short periods of time
[3]. Thus, development of BI segment within
organizations becomes an elementary
concept for most of the managers in order to
increase this function within business and
evaluate their performances using BI tools
and Data Warehouse Applications. BI
systems are instruments with the help of
which the results of a company can be
estimated [4]. It was demonstrated so far that
organizations which make use of BI tools for
operating at decision level are more
competitive and can evaluate the business in
a more realistic way. This means that
cybernetic places like big enterprises and
organizations are more easily to be managed
in the last years like they were before. If we
analyze more deeply this topic, we can
simple realize that this is a cause of the
global cybernetic evolution regarding
informatics industry.
Time became so far a resource which had to
be optimized, rationalized and controlled
within an organization [5]. Thus, having
tools which can help decision level to take
decisions and manage the human resources
could be another advantage for growing in a
competitive environment. In the course of
history, people perception regarding passed
time was undergone to changes. Now we can
observe that they realize that decreasing
period of work for most of employees and
the rhythm of activities also could go in a
next era of evolution and civil organization.
Giving the fact that this concept of
optimizing activities within organizations
1
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
18
becomes more and more popular, experts
attention headed to defining and explaining
most important characteristics with the final
scope to improve, demonstrate and also
develop further this market industry. Taking
a large overview on most essential features,
we can delimit the following three quality
characteristics:
? Easy of use: End-users can easily use BI
reports because they are quite natural
and helps in interpreting data, having in
most cases the possibility of causing a
drill-down. The final output of BI tool is
in most often cases very easy to interpret
and managed as final information for
decision and organizational levels.
? Flexibility: This means that BI
applications can be accessed and utilized
on multiple kinds of operating systems,
generated by Linux or Windows
trademark, being also able to be moved
and extended from one version to
another. These can also be designed by
every client in a simplistic form or even
created. Flexibility is also covered by the
configurable propriety of most of the BI
reports.
? Data security: Servers for storing
Business Objects have encrypted
database to secure information related
directories, reports, users, universes. Big
providers of BI tools uses specialized
encryption algorithms for fulfil this big
requirement, implemented by specialized
experts.
Taking into account that BI applications were
first designed in 2011 and that the
requirements of BI Reports became a new
topic for many companies, for example SAP
provided documentations and specialized
books for their employees for creating BI
reports and application tools. This is a big
insurance for most of the young developers
which want to straighten to this niche they
have materials and have the capabilities for
understanding and predicting that their
further activities will grow fast in this
industry. The vision well seen by the most of
big CEO’s and managers from big
organizations is to assure and recruit young
professional with deep knowledge and talent
for this BI aptness, also to encourage any
new big idea for extending the industry.
3 Business Intelligence Trends on the
Global Market
Gartner predicted that in 2014 Business
Intelligence will be CIO’s Technology
Priority. In the period 2013-2018 was said
that BI market will grow with 9 percent [6].
This happens because the volume of
information in almost all industries was
increasing. The challenge for BI evolution of
this market is the high costs of BI
applications implementation.
The most important worldwide BI experts
have been expressed their visions regarding
Business Intelligence trends in 2014. These
latest ideas can help users to improve and
predict some of the further evolution of the
industry, in order to optimize daily work
activities for developing BI tools and
discover the latest market trends described
below [7]:
? Equilibrium between demand and
supply – BI Tools still remain the most
important niche due to the forecast that
vendors made for maturing BI software
market and improve strategies with
customers.
? Excellent development skills – Young
developers which want to learn to
improve BI tools must first have strong
development skills regarding enterprise
systems for transactional and
operational data and must first know
how to interpret this data. This should
be a big advantage in growing and
developing BI tool in this business.
? Understanding the utility of BI tools -
It is became critical to sustain
investment in user education, as this is
the key for possessing fundamental
knowledge about how they can support
Business Intelligence tools.
? Mobile and Cloud BI Services for
optimizing activities – Those who use
cloud BI services need to have a
different mindset for measuring BI area
in new way.
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
19
? Developing BI Businesses
independently from traditional IT
Industry – The major trend in BI
evolution will be the business
problems. In doing that, once the
business solutions is captured for in-
memory reporting without an army of
coders anything can happen.
? Evolution, expansion and development
of BI Industry – These indicators will
remain positive in the next period and
it can exist the possibility to embed BI
tools in other hardware, software and
equipment, which will cause the
expansion and growth of the business.
4 In-Memory Business Intelligence
The in-memory Business Intelligence
incorporates a high-performance by
providing important benefits as: accelerate
analytics with data modelling changing from
mandatory to optional activity, significantly
reduce planning cycles by processing
calculations in-memory. This market leading
platform avoid exploding data volumes that
limits visibility and reduce wait times for
reports so the business community can react
in the moment. A high performance Business
Intelligence enables businesses to analyze
data volumes fast. These are the main
reasons why real-time data platform makes
the businesses react fast. In-memory
Business Intelligence (BI) makes reference to
Business Intelligence software that utilizes
in-memory database (IMDB).
In-memory database is a database
management system that is designed for best
performance with condition to exist enough
computer memory to hold the needed data.
This is in contrast to Relational Database
Management Systems which is designed also
for best performance. [8] “You need at least
eight hours currently before data is available
in the BI tools associated with ERP,” said
SAP's Klein. While in-memory BI reduces
this delay from hours to few seconds”. [9] In-
memory databases promise a faster analysis
of large amounts of data. What is the
potential for this technology or whether it
really is a new paradigm for Business
Intelligence solutions, it is highlighted in this
article.
"In-memory" sounds optimistic since the
announcement of the SAP HANA product in
mid-2011 in the IT market. In comparison
with the cloud computing, the benefit to the
user is immediately understandable, because
it comes from faster analysis of large data
sets. In-memory databases are the future of
Business Intelligence, said the leading
experts like Wolfgang Martin from Wolfgang
Martin Team and Rüdiger Spies, vice
president of IDC Central Europe and not only
them were seeing the great potential of the
new technology with the features of
analytical and operational business
applications.
In fact, what is new in-memory BI? Because
of the general enthusiasm seems a critical
look at the real facts. What does happen with
in-memory? What are the differences
between in-memory database (IMDB) and
traditional relational database management
systems (RDMS)? Answer to these questions
is given after a look at the development of
the processor and memory technologies in
the last recent years. In the same measure in
which the processing speed of processors
grew, the access times of conventional hard
disk storage systems become a bottleneck for
the data flow. Also, multicore CPUs for
parallel processing of data in memory
supports this process. In sum, these technical
innovations form the basis for a new way of
working of business applications, particularly
databases. In contrast to conventional
relational databases the in-memory databases
don’t need have the data to be processed
from a hard drive or loading it into memory,
because the data is already there. This
shortens the response time of the database
dramatically and acts as a turbo for the
corresponding applications.
The usage of In-memory Business
Intelligence in SAP Fiori is presented below.
SAP Fiori UX is the new face of SAP to
business users in all lines of business across
devices and deployment options. It provides
optimal usability for simplified business
interactions and ease of use. SAP solutions,
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
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such as our SAP Business Suite powered
SAP HANA, are applying the SAP Fiori UX
to provide a personalized, responsive and
simple user experience. SAP Fiori UX
increases user satisfaction with SAP software
by providing a delightful user experience.
SAP Smart Business cockpits, which apply
SAP Fiori UX, empower employees with
instant insight-to-action – allowing access to
real-time information and the ability to view
KPIs and complete transactions in the same
process. SAP Fiori allows employees to work
seamlessly across devices – desktop, tablet,
or smartphone. It provides improved user
satisfaction and enables quicker approvals
and better decisions. SAP FIORI is an
application developed using SAP HANA and
SAP UI5. [10]
The real-time data platform from SAP is the
next generation database. This database
provides advantages such as efficient inter-
process communication taking place inside
one overall system, same data types, etc.
provide performance advantages that no
other application server can match when SAP
HANA is the database. The SAP HANA in-
memory computing is used to simplify and to
benefit from the in-memory process
innovation in Business Intelligence domain
[11].
Fig. 1. The SAP HANA in-memory database platform
Nowadays, many people within an
organization need to analyze big data in real
time and to have its insights available as fast
as possible. In other cases, the customers are
looking for long-term options. That is why
they are considering leveraging more value
out of investments. They are looking at better
and faster planning and reporting
applications. Business Warehouse on SAP
HANA is the Modern Data Warehouse. SAP
BW powered by SAP HANA is a strategic
solution for most Enterprise Data Warehouse
scenarios like real-time analytics, big data
volumes or in-memory computing. The key
features provided by the SAP HANA in-
memory database platform presented in
Figure 1 makes possible to have faster time
for production, accelerated deployment [12].
In the Berlin Charité is in-memory
technology already being used for the
improvement of cancer therapies. The
practical benefits of in-memory databases
were illustrated with an application example
in the Berlin Charité. Therefore, the Charité
Medicine, Charité-IT, the SAP Innovation
Center Potsdam and the Hasso Plattner
Institute (HPI), the research initiative
"HANA Oncolyzer" established to develop
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
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the IT-based treatment for cancer patients.
The better knowledge about tumors and
drugs active ingredients will help even more
closely cancer treatments for patients. In this
way will be improved faster the chances of
recovery. Based on the technology SAP in-
memory computing can be used the HANA
Oncolyzers even for large amounts of data in
very short time. With the help of these
technologies the tumor cell genomes of all
cancer patients will be decrypted and
examined in detail in order to allow
individual therapies. This results are per
patient data volumes which must be searched
and analyzed for successful treatment
possible in real time according to the relevant
mutation information. With the efforts of
Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) and the SAP
Innovation Center Potsdam was developed
the prototype HANA Oncolyzer. Even
companies already use HANA. The Austrian
company Red Bull for example, uses the
solution to manage the business with cutting-
edge data from its offices in more than 160
countries. The German stock exchange meets
its need for in-memory computing on the
other hand with Oracle Times Ten [18]
5 The role of Business Warehouse on SAP
HANA in the future of Business
Intelligence
The work done in the real-time analytics, in-
memory database, with memory becoming
cheaper, multi- core architecture which allow
parallel processing, compression techniques
useful to keep more data in less memory,
column and row storage being able to access
data at amazing speed and real-time
replication capability of data is the role of
SAP HANA. These capabilities are
illustrated in Figure 2 [13].
Fig. 2. The key capabilities of SAP HANA
In light of the aspects I presented above, I
would like to turn my attention to SAP
company which has revealed new
technological innovations with Data
Warehousing. SAP NetWeaver Business
Warehouse (BW) is the name of Business
Intelligence (BI).
Business Warehouse on SAP HANA is the
Modern Data Warehouse. SAP BW powered
by SAP HANA is a strategic solution for
most Enterprise Data Warehouse scenarios
like real-time analytics, big data volumes or
in-memory computing [14].
Nowadays, many people within an
organization need to analyze big data in real
time and to have its insights available as fast
as possible. Although, the customers are
looking for long-term options. That is why
they are considering to leverage more value
out of investments. They are looking at better
and faster planning and reporting
applications.
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
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In Figure 3 are presented the main important
challenges, factors and benefits of BW on
HANA technology [15].
Fig. 3. Challenges, factors and benefits of BW on HANA
As in each renewal it’s important to estimate
the overall advantages and disadvantage. The
above qualification questions address the key
attributes to find if BW on HANA
technology is the right choice for their
businesses. These are necessary to make the
customers aware of BW on HANA need, to
identify where people can take advantage of
it and to emphasize on how their organization
can benefit [16].
6 The comparison of OLAP and in-
memory Business Intelligence
A comparison between these two Business
Intelligence concepts on the basis of: its
architecture, their construction or expansion,
their planning functions, how to choose in
terms of your requirements the right Business
Intelligence technology in less time.
6.1 Comparison based on architecture
If we take into consideration Business
Intelligence architectures; this is basically for
both Business Intelligence procedure similar.
The structure and the handling of in-memory
architecture is somewhat simpler. Another
distinguishing factor is that modern OLAP
databases are more open than the in-memory
systems in general, since they can be
integrated from the outside via MDX query.
Also in OLAP, a complex two-stage loading
(ETL to OLAP DB) is required. This may be
an area that exceeds the needs and
knowledge of the users.
However, both Business Intelligence
architectures have limitations for very large
amounts of data, which are based on the
availability of the server.
6.2 Comparison based on expansion
Both Business Intelligence infrastructures are
basically simple and fast. Product training is
necessary for the introduction of the
respective Business Intelligence software /
platform. In OLAP skills and experience in
modeling are required. In addition, care
should be taken in addition to the database
exactly on the included Business Intelligence
tools. OLAP DB and Excel Viewer are part
of the software package.
The Business Intelligence technology "in-
memory" is usually easily extendable. That
means that new data can be easily integrated.
An initial deployment, however, should be
supervised by an experienced specialist.
6.3 Comparison based on the planning
functionality
Modern OLAP databases have the option for
planning. Some OLAP manufacturer are
specialized, but on different planning
functions like TM1 and Infor. The planning
requirements should be analyzed in more
detail in advance and verified in a proof of
concept. Although this Business Intelligence
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
23
technology can assist in planning tasks, it
does not replace a planning system. In
memory technology usually does not offer
planning functionality.
The following table summarizes the features
of the Business Intelligence process together:
Table 1. The comparison of OLAP and in-memory Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence Method OLAP In Memory
Architecture
Facilitating the structure and handling of
the architecture
--> -->
OLAP processing --> -->
From the outside via MDX query
integrable (openness)
--> <--
Easy to load without special knowledge 0 -->
Limits for very large amounts of data <-- <--
Building and expansion
Implement simple and fast 0 -->
Necessity to note the tools supplied <-- 0
Easily extendable 0 -->
Planning functionality
Write back --> <--
Planning functions --> <--
7 Conclusions
In this paper, were presented the
characteristics of Business Intelligence
beyond data warehouse and Online
Analytical Processing. Business Intelligence
is used to improve decision making, cut costs
and discover new business opportunities.
[17]
The most important word in Business
Intelligence area is data. Because enterprise
data is expected to grow 650% in the near
future customers benefit from the HANA
opportunity. BW on HANA, the new
generation of Business Intelligence released
by SAP, helps customers realize value faster
with less risk. Some clients declared that they
see an extraordinary opportunity to improve
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
24
their enterprise data warehouse solutions
with SAP NetWeaver BW powered by SAP
HANA. The strategic SAP approach provides
the quickest time to value at a predictable
price to achieve the desired benefits resulting
from a full adoption of HANA. SAP HANA
is an in-memory database platform that
allows the processing of massive quantities
of real time data – delivered as an appliance.
For a business, this means to make value of
the following advantages: react and analyze
in real-time, make operation simplified, have
a business visibility, drive business value
from analyzed data.
Acknowledgement
This paper was co-financed from the
European Social Fund, through the Sectorial
Operational Programme Human Resources
Development 2007-2013, project number
POSDRU/159/1.5/S/138907 "Excellence in
scientific interdisciplinary research, doctoral
and postdoctoral, in the economic, social and
medical fields -EXCELIS", coordinator The
Bucharest University of Economic Studies
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[3] A. Fereydoon, A. M. Mohammad,
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[5] D. A. Berta,”Study Regarding the
Perception of the Concept of Business
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On Business, Economics And
Management, Dubai, United Arab
Emirates, 2014, no.109, pp. 402-406.
[6] T. Priyank (2014, March 7), “Global
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[7] R. Drew (2014, January 2), “Top
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intelligence-trends-for-2014.html.
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memory-bi/
[9] D. Robb, In-Memory Analytics Buyer's
Guide: Oracle Big Data/Exalytics
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appliances-vs.-sap-hana.html
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[11] Supercharge your data warehouse while
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http://www.sap.com/pc/tech/in-memory-
computing-hana/software/analytics/data-
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[12] M. L. Ivan, “Improving decision making
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technology,” Proceedings of 2nd
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International Conference ‘Economic
Scientific Research - Theoretical,
Empirical and Practical Approaches’,
ESPERA 2014, (in progress), November
13-14, 2014, Bucharest, Romania.
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SAP HANA Introduction,
Participant Handbook, 2013, pp. 2-18.
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cancer-research-and-results
Mihaela Laura IVAN graduated from the Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics
and Economic Informatics of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies
in 2011. She also finished the Master's degree in Economic Informatics in
2013, at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. Starting with 2013,
Mihaela is a PhD candidate at Bucharest University of Economic Studies in
the field of Economic Informatics. At the present, she is a SAP Development
Consultant at SAP Near Shore Center Romania.
doc_956020462.pdf
Business Intelligence (BI) is an important key in the initiatives of many organizations.
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
17
Characteristics of In-Memory Business Intelligence
Mihaela-Laura IVAN
Department of Economic Informatics and Cybernetics
Bucharest University of Economic Studies
[email protected]
Business Intelligence (BI) is an important key in the initiatives of many organizations. BI has
developed over the years and the most businesses need to take it to the next level of maturity
and improvement can be enabled by SAP HANA. In this paper I presented the evolution of
Business Intelligence industry, what others capabilities enterprises still seek and how
Business Warehouse on SAP Hana enable these needs. Also, the paper highlights that In-
memory Business Intelligence is powerful than data warehouse and Online Analytical
Processing projects.
Keywords: Business Intelligence, Data Warehouse, Optimization, SAP HANA, In-Memory
Introduction
Business Intelligence, or BI, is essential
to the success of companies because
the ability to process a vast amount of data
from a large range of sources anywhere and
anytime it’s decisive. The analyzed
technology is used to make data accessible
through: cost-cutting suppositions, expose
extraordinary business opportunities, transfer
ERP data into reports, react fast to retail
demand and optimize [1]. Another important
BI utilization is to find those inefficient
business processes. This led to
responsiveness in fast improvements for
future growth. For example, a group of
people used BI software to identify
opportunities on how to reduce mobile phone
usage overtime, saving $2 million rapidly.
That is why BI is more useful when it is used
to uncover wicked business problems than
when it is used to monitor what's happening
[2].
2 The Importance of Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence becomes a key strategy
for most of the big organizations for
achieving a competitive advantage.
Forasmuch, during the past ten years, the
approach to management business in the
whole word has changed profoundly,
organizations started to be able through
knowledge and data conversion, shaping the
correct information in short periods of time
[3]. Thus, development of BI segment within
organizations becomes an elementary
concept for most of the managers in order to
increase this function within business and
evaluate their performances using BI tools
and Data Warehouse Applications. BI
systems are instruments with the help of
which the results of a company can be
estimated [4]. It was demonstrated so far that
organizations which make use of BI tools for
operating at decision level are more
competitive and can evaluate the business in
a more realistic way. This means that
cybernetic places like big enterprises and
organizations are more easily to be managed
in the last years like they were before. If we
analyze more deeply this topic, we can
simple realize that this is a cause of the
global cybernetic evolution regarding
informatics industry.
Time became so far a resource which had to
be optimized, rationalized and controlled
within an organization [5]. Thus, having
tools which can help decision level to take
decisions and manage the human resources
could be another advantage for growing in a
competitive environment. In the course of
history, people perception regarding passed
time was undergone to changes. Now we can
observe that they realize that decreasing
period of work for most of employees and
the rhythm of activities also could go in a
next era of evolution and civil organization.
Giving the fact that this concept of
optimizing activities within organizations
1
Informatica Economic? vol. 18, no. 3/2014
DOI: 10.12948/issn14531305/18.3.2014.02
18
becomes more and more popular, experts
attention headed to defining and explaining
most important characteristics with the final
scope to improve, demonstrate and also
develop further this market industry. Taking
a large overview on most essential features,
we can delimit the following three quality
characteristics:
? Easy of use: End-users can easily use BI
reports because they are quite natural
and helps in interpreting data, having in
most cases the possibility of causing a
drill-down. The final output of BI tool is
in most often cases very easy to interpret
and managed as final information for
decision and organizational levels.
? Flexibility: This means that BI
applications can be accessed and utilized
on multiple kinds of operating systems,
generated by Linux or Windows
trademark, being also able to be moved
and extended from one version to
another. These can also be designed by
every client in a simplistic form or even
created. Flexibility is also covered by the
configurable propriety of most of the BI
reports.
? Data security: Servers for storing
Business Objects have encrypted
database to secure information related
directories, reports, users, universes. Big
providers of BI tools uses specialized
encryption algorithms for fulfil this big
requirement, implemented by specialized
experts.
Taking into account that BI applications were
first designed in 2011 and that the
requirements of BI Reports became a new
topic for many companies, for example SAP
provided documentations and specialized
books for their employees for creating BI
reports and application tools. This is a big
insurance for most of the young developers
which want to straighten to this niche they
have materials and have the capabilities for
understanding and predicting that their
further activities will grow fast in this
industry. The vision well seen by the most of
big CEO’s and managers from big
organizations is to assure and recruit young
professional with deep knowledge and talent
for this BI aptness, also to encourage any
new big idea for extending the industry.
3 Business Intelligence Trends on the
Global Market
Gartner predicted that in 2014 Business
Intelligence will be CIO’s Technology
Priority. In the period 2013-2018 was said
that BI market will grow with 9 percent [6].
This happens because the volume of
information in almost all industries was
increasing. The challenge for BI evolution of
this market is the high costs of BI
applications implementation.
The most important worldwide BI experts
have been expressed their visions regarding
Business Intelligence trends in 2014. These
latest ideas can help users to improve and
predict some of the further evolution of the
industry, in order to optimize daily work
activities for developing BI tools and
discover the latest market trends described
below [7]:
? Equilibrium between demand and
supply – BI Tools still remain the most
important niche due to the forecast that
vendors made for maturing BI software
market and improve strategies with
customers.
? Excellent development skills – Young
developers which want to learn to
improve BI tools must first have strong
development skills regarding enterprise
systems for transactional and
operational data and must first know
how to interpret this data. This should
be a big advantage in growing and
developing BI tool in this business.
? Understanding the utility of BI tools -
It is became critical to sustain
investment in user education, as this is
the key for possessing fundamental
knowledge about how they can support
Business Intelligence tools.
? Mobile and Cloud BI Services for
optimizing activities – Those who use
cloud BI services need to have a
different mindset for measuring BI area
in new way.
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19
? Developing BI Businesses
independently from traditional IT
Industry – The major trend in BI
evolution will be the business
problems. In doing that, once the
business solutions is captured for in-
memory reporting without an army of
coders anything can happen.
? Evolution, expansion and development
of BI Industry – These indicators will
remain positive in the next period and
it can exist the possibility to embed BI
tools in other hardware, software and
equipment, which will cause the
expansion and growth of the business.
4 In-Memory Business Intelligence
The in-memory Business Intelligence
incorporates a high-performance by
providing important benefits as: accelerate
analytics with data modelling changing from
mandatory to optional activity, significantly
reduce planning cycles by processing
calculations in-memory. This market leading
platform avoid exploding data volumes that
limits visibility and reduce wait times for
reports so the business community can react
in the moment. A high performance Business
Intelligence enables businesses to analyze
data volumes fast. These are the main
reasons why real-time data platform makes
the businesses react fast. In-memory
Business Intelligence (BI) makes reference to
Business Intelligence software that utilizes
in-memory database (IMDB).
In-memory database is a database
management system that is designed for best
performance with condition to exist enough
computer memory to hold the needed data.
This is in contrast to Relational Database
Management Systems which is designed also
for best performance. [8] “You need at least
eight hours currently before data is available
in the BI tools associated with ERP,” said
SAP's Klein. While in-memory BI reduces
this delay from hours to few seconds”. [9] In-
memory databases promise a faster analysis
of large amounts of data. What is the
potential for this technology or whether it
really is a new paradigm for Business
Intelligence solutions, it is highlighted in this
article.
"In-memory" sounds optimistic since the
announcement of the SAP HANA product in
mid-2011 in the IT market. In comparison
with the cloud computing, the benefit to the
user is immediately understandable, because
it comes from faster analysis of large data
sets. In-memory databases are the future of
Business Intelligence, said the leading
experts like Wolfgang Martin from Wolfgang
Martin Team and Rüdiger Spies, vice
president of IDC Central Europe and not only
them were seeing the great potential of the
new technology with the features of
analytical and operational business
applications.
In fact, what is new in-memory BI? Because
of the general enthusiasm seems a critical
look at the real facts. What does happen with
in-memory? What are the differences
between in-memory database (IMDB) and
traditional relational database management
systems (RDMS)? Answer to these questions
is given after a look at the development of
the processor and memory technologies in
the last recent years. In the same measure in
which the processing speed of processors
grew, the access times of conventional hard
disk storage systems become a bottleneck for
the data flow. Also, multicore CPUs for
parallel processing of data in memory
supports this process. In sum, these technical
innovations form the basis for a new way of
working of business applications, particularly
databases. In contrast to conventional
relational databases the in-memory databases
don’t need have the data to be processed
from a hard drive or loading it into memory,
because the data is already there. This
shortens the response time of the database
dramatically and acts as a turbo for the
corresponding applications.
The usage of In-memory Business
Intelligence in SAP Fiori is presented below.
SAP Fiori UX is the new face of SAP to
business users in all lines of business across
devices and deployment options. It provides
optimal usability for simplified business
interactions and ease of use. SAP solutions,
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such as our SAP Business Suite powered
SAP HANA, are applying the SAP Fiori UX
to provide a personalized, responsive and
simple user experience. SAP Fiori UX
increases user satisfaction with SAP software
by providing a delightful user experience.
SAP Smart Business cockpits, which apply
SAP Fiori UX, empower employees with
instant insight-to-action – allowing access to
real-time information and the ability to view
KPIs and complete transactions in the same
process. SAP Fiori allows employees to work
seamlessly across devices – desktop, tablet,
or smartphone. It provides improved user
satisfaction and enables quicker approvals
and better decisions. SAP FIORI is an
application developed using SAP HANA and
SAP UI5. [10]
The real-time data platform from SAP is the
next generation database. This database
provides advantages such as efficient inter-
process communication taking place inside
one overall system, same data types, etc.
provide performance advantages that no
other application server can match when SAP
HANA is the database. The SAP HANA in-
memory computing is used to simplify and to
benefit from the in-memory process
innovation in Business Intelligence domain
[11].
Fig. 1. The SAP HANA in-memory database platform
Nowadays, many people within an
organization need to analyze big data in real
time and to have its insights available as fast
as possible. In other cases, the customers are
looking for long-term options. That is why
they are considering leveraging more value
out of investments. They are looking at better
and faster planning and reporting
applications. Business Warehouse on SAP
HANA is the Modern Data Warehouse. SAP
BW powered by SAP HANA is a strategic
solution for most Enterprise Data Warehouse
scenarios like real-time analytics, big data
volumes or in-memory computing. The key
features provided by the SAP HANA in-
memory database platform presented in
Figure 1 makes possible to have faster time
for production, accelerated deployment [12].
In the Berlin Charité is in-memory
technology already being used for the
improvement of cancer therapies. The
practical benefits of in-memory databases
were illustrated with an application example
in the Berlin Charité. Therefore, the Charité
Medicine, Charité-IT, the SAP Innovation
Center Potsdam and the Hasso Plattner
Institute (HPI), the research initiative
"HANA Oncolyzer" established to develop
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the IT-based treatment for cancer patients.
The better knowledge about tumors and
drugs active ingredients will help even more
closely cancer treatments for patients. In this
way will be improved faster the chances of
recovery. Based on the technology SAP in-
memory computing can be used the HANA
Oncolyzers even for large amounts of data in
very short time. With the help of these
technologies the tumor cell genomes of all
cancer patients will be decrypted and
examined in detail in order to allow
individual therapies. This results are per
patient data volumes which must be searched
and analyzed for successful treatment
possible in real time according to the relevant
mutation information. With the efforts of
Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI) and the SAP
Innovation Center Potsdam was developed
the prototype HANA Oncolyzer. Even
companies already use HANA. The Austrian
company Red Bull for example, uses the
solution to manage the business with cutting-
edge data from its offices in more than 160
countries. The German stock exchange meets
its need for in-memory computing on the
other hand with Oracle Times Ten [18]
5 The role of Business Warehouse on SAP
HANA in the future of Business
Intelligence
The work done in the real-time analytics, in-
memory database, with memory becoming
cheaper, multi- core architecture which allow
parallel processing, compression techniques
useful to keep more data in less memory,
column and row storage being able to access
data at amazing speed and real-time
replication capability of data is the role of
SAP HANA. These capabilities are
illustrated in Figure 2 [13].
Fig. 2. The key capabilities of SAP HANA
In light of the aspects I presented above, I
would like to turn my attention to SAP
company which has revealed new
technological innovations with Data
Warehousing. SAP NetWeaver Business
Warehouse (BW) is the name of Business
Intelligence (BI).
Business Warehouse on SAP HANA is the
Modern Data Warehouse. SAP BW powered
by SAP HANA is a strategic solution for
most Enterprise Data Warehouse scenarios
like real-time analytics, big data volumes or
in-memory computing [14].
Nowadays, many people within an
organization need to analyze big data in real
time and to have its insights available as fast
as possible. Although, the customers are
looking for long-term options. That is why
they are considering to leverage more value
out of investments. They are looking at better
and faster planning and reporting
applications.
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In Figure 3 are presented the main important
challenges, factors and benefits of BW on
HANA technology [15].
Fig. 3. Challenges, factors and benefits of BW on HANA
As in each renewal it’s important to estimate
the overall advantages and disadvantage. The
above qualification questions address the key
attributes to find if BW on HANA
technology is the right choice for their
businesses. These are necessary to make the
customers aware of BW on HANA need, to
identify where people can take advantage of
it and to emphasize on how their organization
can benefit [16].
6 The comparison of OLAP and in-
memory Business Intelligence
A comparison between these two Business
Intelligence concepts on the basis of: its
architecture, their construction or expansion,
their planning functions, how to choose in
terms of your requirements the right Business
Intelligence technology in less time.
6.1 Comparison based on architecture
If we take into consideration Business
Intelligence architectures; this is basically for
both Business Intelligence procedure similar.
The structure and the handling of in-memory
architecture is somewhat simpler. Another
distinguishing factor is that modern OLAP
databases are more open than the in-memory
systems in general, since they can be
integrated from the outside via MDX query.
Also in OLAP, a complex two-stage loading
(ETL to OLAP DB) is required. This may be
an area that exceeds the needs and
knowledge of the users.
However, both Business Intelligence
architectures have limitations for very large
amounts of data, which are based on the
availability of the server.
6.2 Comparison based on expansion
Both Business Intelligence infrastructures are
basically simple and fast. Product training is
necessary for the introduction of the
respective Business Intelligence software /
platform. In OLAP skills and experience in
modeling are required. In addition, care
should be taken in addition to the database
exactly on the included Business Intelligence
tools. OLAP DB and Excel Viewer are part
of the software package.
The Business Intelligence technology "in-
memory" is usually easily extendable. That
means that new data can be easily integrated.
An initial deployment, however, should be
supervised by an experienced specialist.
6.3 Comparison based on the planning
functionality
Modern OLAP databases have the option for
planning. Some OLAP manufacturer are
specialized, but on different planning
functions like TM1 and Infor. The planning
requirements should be analyzed in more
detail in advance and verified in a proof of
concept. Although this Business Intelligence
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technology can assist in planning tasks, it
does not replace a planning system. In
memory technology usually does not offer
planning functionality.
The following table summarizes the features
of the Business Intelligence process together:
Table 1. The comparison of OLAP and in-memory Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence Method OLAP In Memory
Architecture
Facilitating the structure and handling of
the architecture
--> -->
OLAP processing --> -->
From the outside via MDX query
integrable (openness)
--> <--
Easy to load without special knowledge 0 -->
Limits for very large amounts of data <-- <--
Building and expansion
Implement simple and fast 0 -->
Necessity to note the tools supplied <-- 0
Easily extendable 0 -->
Planning functionality
Write back --> <--
Planning functions --> <--
7 Conclusions
In this paper, were presented the
characteristics of Business Intelligence
beyond data warehouse and Online
Analytical Processing. Business Intelligence
is used to improve decision making, cut costs
and discover new business opportunities.
[17]
The most important word in Business
Intelligence area is data. Because enterprise
data is expected to grow 650% in the near
future customers benefit from the HANA
opportunity. BW on HANA, the new
generation of Business Intelligence released
by SAP, helps customers realize value faster
with less risk. Some clients declared that they
see an extraordinary opportunity to improve
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their enterprise data warehouse solutions
with SAP NetWeaver BW powered by SAP
HANA. The strategic SAP approach provides
the quickest time to value at a predictable
price to achieve the desired benefits resulting
from a full adoption of HANA. SAP HANA
is an in-memory database platform that
allows the processing of massive quantities
of real time data – delivered as an appliance.
For a business, this means to make value of
the following advantages: react and analyze
in real-time, make operation simplified, have
a business visibility, drive business value
from analyzed data.
Acknowledgement
This paper was co-financed from the
European Social Fund, through the Sectorial
Operational Programme Human Resources
Development 2007-2013, project number
POSDRU/159/1.5/S/138907 "Excellence in
scientific interdisciplinary research, doctoral
and postdoctoral, in the economic, social and
medical fields -EXCELIS", coordinator The
Bucharest University of Economic Studies
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Mihaela Laura IVAN graduated from the Faculty of Cybernetics, Statistics
and Economic Informatics of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies
in 2011. She also finished the Master's degree in Economic Informatics in
2013, at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. Starting with 2013,
Mihaela is a PhD candidate at Bucharest University of Economic Studies in
the field of Economic Informatics. At the present, she is a SAP Development
Consultant at SAP Near Shore Center Romania.
doc_956020462.pdf