Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Ferguson, Managing Director of Intelligent Business Strategies, Ltd. It was great to hear Mike’s perspective on how data warehouse requirements are changing and driving the increased demand for appliances. This is the first in a series of three podcasts on the topic. In his first interview, Mike discusses the ways in which various workloads are driving the need for appliances and also explores the ways in which businesses are responding to the challenging economy today. Take a listen and if nothing else, you’ll gain some knowledge first hand from an expert whose opinions are driven by extensive research and intense interviews with real businesses who have real challenges.

More to come,

First Liberated

Wow!! I, Bob Doyle, aka First Liberated am at a loss for words. Who would have thunk? Oracle buys SUN Microsystems. If you didn’t see this post http://ditns.blogspot.com/2009/04/ibm-isnt-too-worried-about-oracle.html you need to take a look.

I had almost forgotten about Steve Jobs and his comment about two rocks tied together sinking twice as fast. IBM is pretty dismissive about this marriage, and rightfully so when you consider the history of SUN and Oracle. SUN was floundering in recent years as a hardware company and now software-only Oracle is going to know what to do with it - that seems unlikely. The bigger question now is who in their right mind is going to buy Exaggerdata on HP when it is very likely that it will be gone once this deal is consummated?

It is, however, nice to see that they have realized in order to build or offer an appliance you need to own the whole stack. Larry continues to validate the approach of the only true analytic appliance vendor, Netezza.

If you are someone who thinks that Oracle is the best solution for data warehousing or any analytic database implementation then you may also be a believer in the philosophy - if it’s hard, complex and expensive then it must be the best.

I don’t get it and never will. However, if anyone out there that thinks they can take this old database guy, who has used every one of these complex traditional databases, and convince me that this is a better appliance option then Netezza I really do want to talk to you. Call me on my cell at 508-308-5905. But, when the phone doesn’t ring I will know exactly who it is.

- First Liberated

It has come to our attention in recent days that there is curiosity about who is really behind the Data Liberation Movement. As you may have read in our blog postings and issues of Policy Truth, data warehouse appliance leader, Netezza Corporation is the sponsor of the DLM. As described in our Mission, the purpose of the DLM is to ensure data rights for all. And, the initiative is focused on setting guidelines that foster transparency and full disclosure in the evaluation of the components of business-critical analytic solutions. We believe strongly in transparency and want to be clear about who’s behind this effort, so that the public and our growing membership base can be confident and aware of the cause they’ve joined.

We believe that dataliberators.com is a forum for those interested in these topics to readily engage among an audience of peers. If being clearer about the roots of the initiative helps our members make the best use of the site, then we proudly bring our Netezza name to the face of the Data Liberation Movement.

Thanks to all for your continued support and stay tuned for more from the DLM with a podcast featuring Mike Ferguson on evaluating data warehouse appliances that will be available next week.

- First Liberated

To all DLM members who have been loyally following the Movement, I have have an announcement to make. I have decided to return to Oracle because of their exceptional technology, unique value proposition and innovative appliance team. They even offered me an office space right inside one of the empty ‘Exaggerdata’ cabinets! Ok fine, I just can’t do it. Some things are just too unbelievable, even for April Fools Day.

Now back to business. It looks like Oracle has released a smaller version of ‘Exaggerdata’. According to my sources, this is the machine that was sent to early beta testers. I guess after trying to sell the big box they quickly realized that ain’t happening, so here we go. Can anyone point to someone who’s using this technology? If yes, is it based on the merits of the technology or the credits given by the vendor?

If you, the readers of this blog, are considering testing data warehouse appliances, remember to always demand onsite, fully-transparent testing and full disclosure in all negotiations. The true appliance company believes this is the only way that you are able to make the best decision for your business.

Question everything! Demand your data rights! Freedom is a just an onsite POC away!

- First Liberated

Like Tim mentioned in Crossing the Line, I, too, have received a number of phone calls and emails in response to last week’s video, all very positive. As you’ve seen by now, becoming the leader of the Data Liberation Movement is something I take seriously and I encourage everyone who believes in data rights for all to join the movement and learn more at www.dataliberators.com. My many experiences with data warehousing and analytics platforms throughout my career have driven me to always demand the truth, and now I am demanding answers from the folks in Redwood Shores.

We made our first attempt at getting answers two weeks ago, and were asked to leave, so now what? Well, I am continuing to fight for your data rights and make the process for evaluating an analytics platform straightforward and transparent.

When I asked about on-site testing at the Exadata road show event, the response was “Oracle tests it”. This is not acceptable. You, the user, need to be involved in the testing. You, the user, need to know what you’re up against. You, the user, should demand fair and equal testing within a fixed timeframe while also mandating full disclosure. As a guiding document, we recommend the suggestions of Curt Monash in his presentation, Evaluation of a DBMS.

Now, you tell me, why won’t the folks in Redwood Shores perform on-site testing with full disclosure? Is it the fear of losing or knowing that they will? Remember, I am not trying to create FUD I am trying to eliminate it. Bring it on Redwood Shores! Stay tuned for more updates…

- Bob Doyle, First Liberated

Stay tuned for future posts in which we push on to get to the truth.

Calling all Data Liberators!

When you are making your demands for fairness and full disclosure in testing and structuring your test environments for successful evaluations, here are some important considerations to take into account:

1. Decide on a timeline and constrain that to two to three weeks from the time the appliance arrives

2. Pay very close attention to what it takes to install from delivery to being load-ready

3. Require that all testing be done on-site with no external access allowed

4. Define the frequency of loads and data volumes not just for today but for future analytics needs:
- Is more data important to decision making?
- Has the volume been constrained by performance and cost?

5. Choose the queries from hell and pull out the ones you are afraid to run

6. Decide on which tools you need to have tested with the appliance and put them through their paces

7. Test your backup and recovery process

8. Monitor and participate in all activity to ensure fairness

9. Demand that testing be performed exactly as you plan to structure your own production environment

10. Require that all costs be completely exposed and that there is no hidden sales agenda

11. Do not confuse sales with delivery - after all you live with the decision and the vendor feels no pain

12. Ensure that the vendor make your organization’s challenge their own and work with you as a partner

This checklist should help all those looking for data liberation in testing environments make the best decision possible for their businesses.

Stay tuned Data Liberators - updates from our recent pamphlet distribution and details of the movement’s next steps will be coming soon!

- First Liberated

Thanks to the many who have joined the Data Liberation Movement. The response has been overwhelming and emphasizes the support for data rights worldwide. I will be updating this blog regularly and look forward to additional comments and conversation in the coming days.

Before I go too much further, I want to give you a little background on myself so that you can better understand what drove me to found the DLM and why I am proud to be the first liberated.

I am a common man who grew up in the in a large middle class family with hard-working, selfless parents. I never did get to college and was one of the very last to be drafted in 1973, just before both the war and the draft ended. Upon my return, I worked in multiple fields doing various jobs including: rebuilding and installing starters, alternators and generators, running a pizza business, selling furniture and cars and even running an old Heidelberg printing press for a bindery in Boston.

After trying an array of jobs, I reached a turning point that would define my future. I took a course in COBOL at the age of 27 and was presented with an opportunity, via the Comprehensive Education Training Act, to study database programming. And boy, I took to it like Tiger Woods to golf and finished top in my class. I was immediately picked up by a large computer manufacturing company and from there my career took off!

I grew more and more interested in database technology and its inner workings and realized I had a knack for developing sophisticated performance and parallelization techniques. Now here I am today, thirty years later, and I’ve made a career out of solving large-scale database problems.

By virtue of my background in database technology, I have had the unique opportunity to work with many platforms. I have implemented large-scale data warehouses and I’ve worked for the big vendors. My passion for technology brought me to the folks out in Redwood Shores way back when, and then back here to the Bay State. Because of this journey, I know what to look for when it comes to database platforms and understand which technologies are best suited for the various analytical initiatives in the enterprise. I have made it my job to now share those insights with you, DLM members, and strive to provide data rights for all.

As data liberators, we all need to be smart and pick the right tool for the right job – always identifying the technology that will provide the best result with the lowest total cost of ownership. I am the leader of this movement because I truly believe that there are high-performance, simple, cost-effective and scalable options for everyone analyzing large volumes of data and looking to gain intelligence from those assets. But please, do not take my word for it - demand that it be proven to you!

For starters, I’ll be updating the blog soon with my thoughts on how a typical proof of concept should be structured and how organizations can leverage transparent testing to identify the best solution for their organization. As data liberators, each and every one of us needs to demand full disclosure and ensure that the results we realize in testing environments are the same results we’ll see in production. We need to manage the process and participate in its execution. These are your rights and you should demand that they are respected. And remember, liberation is only a POC away!

Stay tuned for more updates…

- First Liberated