Illumiti Innovation Blog

Do you use the same platform for transactions and analytics? You should.

Date: March 03, 2015
By: Jamie Fryer

Business applications have come a long way.  In fact, what started out simply as a means of keeping records such as sales orders and journal entries several decades ago has now evolved into complex systems that can be both the brain and nervous system of your business.

IT has traditionally built separate analytic decision support systems onto completely different platforms than the record-keeping applications ran on. Having separate systems for diverse workloads on a variety of platforms may sound logical in theory. And for years, separate platforms have been the accepted approach to ensure good performance for transactions and analytics, given the different requirements for capturing data versus analyzing data.

But a whitepaper from IDC, entitled “Transactions and Analytics in a Single In-Memory Platform: Key to the Real-Time Enterprise,” argues for a different approach. Their survey of IT managers found that over 40 percent required more than two days to prepare financial data for reporting, and 25 percent of end users indicated that faster access to information would have a significant impact on their organization.

The requirement to transfer data between two systems can actually cause information delays and reduce the ability to “connect insight to action” because of a “disconnect from analytics to source data,” according to the whitepaper.  IDC says this can leave the enterprise at risk because decision makers may not have access to the latest data, or be able to connect analytic insights to source data.

The main solution to this issue, as posed by the whitepaper, is that businesses should couple their ERP with analysis in real time, by using a single, blended environment. Rather than using separate transactional and analytical applications built on separate platforms, a single data management environment for both systems of record and systems of decision (assuming good performance can be achieved for both) would yield many benefits, IDC says, including the ability to:

  • Access and the latest data as soon as it was captured, rather than waiting for data transfer
  • Make business decisions faster, based on the latest information
  • Be more nimble with changing business conditions, resulting in more innovative business practices

 The benefits seem obvious, but the whitepaper stressed that many organizations may have difficulty building their business case for an in-memory platform that underlies both analytics and transactions. Solution providers have a role to play in being proactive in helping customers build their business case for this.

 Is your business considering a blended in-memory platform? What are the key benefits you are hoping to achieve?

About the Author

Jamie Fryer

Stay in the know.

Let’s Talk!

Is “digital transformation” just a buzzword? Thoughts from a tech CEO on how we can give meaning back to the phrase

Business applications have come a long way. In fact, what started out simply as a means of keeping records such as sales orders and journal entries..
Read More

SAP SuccessFactors Talent Management: An Introduction to Recruiting and Onboarding Modules

Business applications have come a long way. In fact, what started out simply as a means of keeping records such as sales orders and journal entries..
Read More