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SQL Server 2008 R2 preview has distinct BI flavour

Madan Sheina

SQL Server 2008 R2 preview has distinct BI flavour

SQL Server 2005 was dubbed the 'BI release' by many. SQL Server 2008 R2 now threatens to eclipse that billing. The November Community Technology Preview (CPT) of the product is expected later this month with a full release planned for the first half of 2010. The new capabilities around self-service BI, in-memory analysis, parallelism and event stream processing (ESP) have been in the works for more than a year.

R2 signals an end to several BI codename projects, notably Gemini...

This release is the culmination of several SQL Server focused projects - Kilimanjaro, Gemini and Madison - to improve self-service BI, scalability and performance and data management. That focus continues a trend first seen in SQL Server 2005.

Self-service BI (aka Gemini), enabled via in-memory analysis tools, is the headlining R2 component. Branded as PivotPoint, this allows users to quickly build and run their own OLAP-style analyses on the desktop, using in-memory analytics in Excel, and publish them to other enterprise users through SharePoint. Just how quickly depends on the available processing power and memory allocated to the hardware. The in-memory engine is a column-based BI engine that uses high compression and scans to analyse millions of rows of data. The Excel add-in also allows users to mashup data from third-party sources into Excel tables. SharePoint, meanwhile, wraps controlled sharing and storage administration (access rights, data refreshes and usage monitoring) capabilities around the analyses, in a style similar to Workbooks.

So Microsoft finally gets its in-memory BI capability and no longer plays catch up to rivals like IBM Cognos (Applix) and QlikTech. However, there's an important caveat. The PowerPivot capabilities will only work with the latest Excel 2010 and SharePoint 2010 versions.

_and Madison

SQL Server 2008 R2 will also deliver a Parallel Data Warehouse edition based on appliance technology acquired from Datallegro and developed under the Madison codename. This is a software-only appliance play by Microsoft to turn SQL Server into an MPP clustered platform for high-performance analytics. It's no coincidence that Oracle, IBM and Teradata have all been pitching their own appliances.

But it's important to note that this is not part of the November CPT. Instead it is being offered as a separate product that is planned for release in the first half of 2010. However, all the indications are that Parallel Data Warehouse edition could well fall on a different development trajectory to the BI focused Kilimanjaro/Gemini projects. Given that Datallegro integration is taking time, this hints at a later release date for Parallel Data Warehouse Edition.

Microsoft has named IBM in its list of hardware partners for both its Fast Track Data Warehouse reference configurations and its Parallel Data Warehouse Edition. Microsoft will be using IBM's xSeries and Intel processors. IBM joins a list of other hardware providers including Dell, HP and Bull. Microsoft predictably cries 'customer choice'. A more probable motivation is countering the threat of Oracle, which is buying Sun Microsystems. A case of “my enemy's enemy is my friend”.

Microsoft is paying more attention to MDM and event processing

Other BI-related upgrades in the release include new master data management (MDM) capabilities, which finally see the technology Microsoft acquired from Stratature in 2007 put to use, as well as an event stream processing and correlation engine called Streamlight.

The master data services are analytically focused and are not domain specific - i.e. Microsoft will rely on IT departments and partners and service providers to flesh out product- or customer-specific MDM capabilities. This looks like a run-of-the-mill MDM hub generation tool. But one differentiating feature is the user-friendly stewardship portal used for creating custom data hierarchies.

Streamlight, meanwhile, is similarly being positioned by Microsoft as analytic light - that is to enable realtime updates of data warehouses. However, we believe it's more broadly applicable to other high throughput applications as well. It's unclear how well the technology stacks up to other ESP plays in the market, but Microsoft claims it is designed to support industrial, high-scale serialised processing that can be flexibly programmed.

Overall R2 provides a solid indication that Microsoft's SQL Server investment strategy is firmly focused around building up a broad and solid set of BI capabilities, albeit still chained to its database platform.

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