In-Depth

IBM and MicroStrategy Partner for Data Warehousing

New data warehousing bundle taps IBM’s DB2 database, MicroStrategy’s BI platform

• By Stephen Swoyer
• 07/28/2004

Earlier this month, IBM Corp. teamed up with MicroStrategy Inc. to offer its customers a data-warehousing bundle based on MicroStrategy’s BI platform and the Data Warehouse Edition (DWE) of the DB2 Universal Database.

The two partners bill the new offering as an all-in-one, out-of-the-box BI solution that provides both reporting (MicroStrategy Report Services) and analysis components. To that end, MicroStrategy is also bundling several pre-packaged analytic modules, designed to function as out-of-the-box starter kits for sales, customer, HR, distribution, financial and Web-traffic analysis.

Karen Parrish, VP of BI solutions with IBM’s Software Group, says that the new bundle addresses a pervasive problem in organizations that don’t already have data warehouses.

"Companies of all sizes are struggling to integrate disparate silos of data and gain real-time analysis on their business information, regardless of the type of information or its source," Parrish said in a statement. "This bundled solution from IBM and MicroStrategy can help organizations integrate customer information across marketing and operational channels, providing valuable customer intelligence and the ability to rapidly identify business opportunities."

Officials say that MicroStrategy’s eponymous BI platform has been tweaked for DB2 such that it delivers improved query performance for both medium and large data sets. Other enhancements include support for DB2-optimized SQL generation; integration with DB2 Cube Views; ability to access a range of analytical functions within DB2; and integration with DB2 Intelligent Miner to support data mining and scoring applications.

IBM will market the new data-warehousing bundle to existing DB2 customers. Further down the road, IBM’s Business Consulting Services will offer integration services.

MicroStrategy officials positioned the new bundle as proof of the BI vendor’s close relationship with Big Blue. "Integrating MicroStrategy with the IBM DB2 UDB Data Warehouse is yet another example of how MicroStrategy and IBM have joined forces to provide customers with a finely-integrated environment for rapidly developing and deploying reporting and analytic applications," said COO Sanju K. Bansal in a statement.