Viewpoints
Why Teradata
Moving On, Moving Up
Migrating to a Teradata system opens the doors to long-term success.
by Mark Shainman
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Organizations that invest in data warehouse solutions expect an ongoing return. However, many eventually reach a point when their systems simply cannot keep up with their growth and innovation or the demand these challenges bring for more integration, deeper analysis and broader access.
When looking for ways to conquer these issues, many companies running Oracle, Netezza, SQL Server or other database platforms conclude that migrating to a Teradata system is their best option. It lets them maximize analytics capabilities, boost profits, reduce redundancies, save money and safeguard the overall health and success of their organization now and for the future.
Why Change?
The business and technology benefits of migrating to a Teradata system include:
Business advantages:
- Getting a single view of the business versus a fragmented, distorted view from siloed systems
- Finding fast answers to complex questions to make immediate business decisions and inform strategic plans
- Supporting both strategic analysis and day-to-day operations
- Saving time and money
Technology advantages:
- Increasing scalability
- Boosting flexibility and performance
- Achieving greater stability and reliability
Shrinking IT budgets and increased spending oversight mean nobody takes the decision to migrate to a new information platform lightly. Companies research their options to determine the best choice for integrating, accessing and analyzing data—and staying competitive long term. When research reveals that switching to a Teradata system can meet their needs and provide benefits without disrupting daily operations, the choice to migrate becomes clear.
Head to Head
Even with their latest products, Teradata’s competitors fall short in key performance areas in which Teradata has always excelled. For example, although Oracle has made improvements in its database management tools in version 11g database, the product is still, at its core, an online transaction processing (OLTP) database platform that’s not architected specifically for data warehousing. (See graphic above.)
Oracle’s newest tools do little to eliminate the management complexity within a data warehouse environment, and the new Exadata platform adds another level of intricacy to be managed. The result is the number of analysts and database administrators (DBAs) required to maintain an Oracle environment—and subsequently, the total cost of ownership (TCO)—is much higher than with a Teradata system.
Additionally, Oracle customers often report that their data warehousing efforts are hampered because:
- Queries must be carefully planned and scheduled
- Ad hoc questions and short tactical questions cannot be answered at the same time
- The number and complexity of questions are limited
A Teradata environment will accommodate any question at any time so business users can get the timely strategic and operational answers they need without waiting hours or even days.
Users of other competitive systems cite shortcomings as well. Netezza, an IBM Company, claims the ability to scan the entire data warehouse, but fails to deliver the query speed and mixed-workload flexibility to put business intelligence (BI) in the hands of employees across the enterprise—not just IT specialists. And Netezza and SQL Server systems cannot handle companies’ exponentially increasing data volumes or their greater need for real-time granular data the way a data warehouse from Teradata can.
Plan for Long-Term Success
More and more companies are realizing the shortcomings of other systems and making the switch from their existing data warehouse to a Teradata platform to achieve better performance and long-term strategic optimization. Teradata offers a complete, robust, repeatable methodology that can help companies optimize their migration strategy and create a smooth transition for their entire organization.
Mark Shainman is the global manager for Teradata’s competitive programs, which include Oracle, Netezza and Microsoft SQL Server migration.