Teradata, Information Builders roll out BI appliance

Teradata and Information Builders have developed a data warehousing package that bundles the latter's WebFOCUS BI (business intelligence) software with a Teradata analytic appliance, the companies announced Friday.

The product will allow customers to get a data warehousing platform up and running more quickly, the companies said.

Pricing starts at under US$550,000 for the package, which also includes Information Builders' iWay DataMigrator tool for data extraction, transformation and loading. This means customers can use the same metadata "in both the warehouse building and usage phases, accelerating warehouse implementation," the companies said in a statement.

Appliances can be tested on-site with a customer's own data, it adds.

Some new professional services for the appliances are also available. Pricing ranges from $50,000 "for simple query and report development" up to $550,000 for "data model development and deployment," according to a statement.

The announcement reflects a growing trend toward "analytic solution appliances" aimed at specific purposes, Forrester Research analyst James Kobielus wrote in a recent report.

Teradata had already been selling a number of Accelerate data warehousing packages. Some target areas like finance and marketing, while others aim at verticals such as health care and gaming. IBM and Oracle also sell a variety of tailored appliances.

Still, the market for these products is not yet mature, and the range of product choices is limited, according to Kobielus.

In addition, customers "must recognize that some assembly will be required before you can realize the promise of quick business value," he wrote. "Depending on the amount of custom code you and your systems integrators need to write and the range of complementary solutions you need to deploy, these prepackaged appliances may not appreciably accelerate project delivery over and above the traditional bespoke approach."

Chris Kanaracus covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Chris's e-mail address is Chris_Kanaracus@idg.com