2014.07.29
NTT Comware Starts the New High Speed Data Processing Solution, AB INITIO, to Use Big Data for Business Enhancement
-- For support fast decision making of corporate users with a real time data processing --
NTT Comware Corporation (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Shinobu Umino, hereinafter, NTT Comware) starts a joint venture with Ab Initio Software Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter, Ab Initio) to launch the service of AB INITIO, the high-speed data loading infrastructure, as well as the "general-purpose high speed computing solution" including AB INITIO.
1. BackgroundIn the recent trend of the strategic use of big data in business, there are issues for corporate users how to uniformly process and use mass data scattered in their various enterprise systems. AB INITIO is a high-speed data processing infrastructure to enable data processing and analyses for complicated data processing, as well as to be functioned as an ETL*1 tool to extract, transform and load data. This is the solution to strongly backup corporate users to solve such issues in their enterprise systems.
2. Benefits of the Solution
NTT Comware provides the following solutions through AB INITIO, the high-speed data processing infrastructure.
(1) Advanced ways to effectively collect and integrate data scattered in an enterprise system
AB INITIO is to collect, transform and integrate many types of data created from various enterprise systems and to create a sophisticated data model in a short period of time. This software may also be combined with BI*2 tools to enable data analyses requiring complex data correlations and business simulations, that used to be difficult to implement due to constraints of processing time or other reasons.
(2) Speedy Feedback of a Real Time Analysis for Workplaces
The software enables a real time processing of data with its various high-speed data processing technologies including the pipeline processing on a memory, which required at least one day to process with a conventional batch processing model. Therefore, the workplaces can obtain fast feedbacks containing the results of the data analysis on a real time basis, which used to be difficult with conventional software.
(3) Higher Productivity in System Development using Graphical User Interface
The user interface of the software uses graphical icons. Its special data processing component that was designed in detail also helps to improve productivities in the development and operation of the system. In addition, various preinstalled components help users significantly reducing costs for the system development process before data integration, and the maintenance.
(4) Data Traceability by Meta Data Management Functions
With the functions to manage metadata, which is essential to secure precision and consistencies of data and transparencies of the data processing procedures, the software is effective for data management that are required to be enhanced recently.
With the joint venture, Ab Initio provides NTT Comware technical information concerning AB INITIO. NTT Comware promotes the one-stop service of AB INITIO solution including its sales, maintenance, technical supports for initial setup etc., which have been conducted in the past. Consequently, the service and solution should strongly support corporate users in a wide range of industries and businesses including finance, manufacturing, merchandising and public sectors to receive the real time and advanced analysis services using meta data, such as risk management tasks and agent fee analyses for financial industries, analyses of sales and social media/user for merchandising industries.
*2 BI (Business Intelligence): This refers to a tool of multi-dimensional analyses to support decision making of managers including board members and staffs. The functions include data search among mass data store such as DWH, summarize data in a specific format and through multi-dimensional analyses.
(Reference) Outline of AB INITIO
AB INITIO has the following features as the solution for a series of issues concerning data processing infrastructure including conventional DWH (DataWarehouse) system.
(1) Single architecture for high connectivity and flexible data processing
AB INITIO is operable as a single architecture for connection to files on the mainframe or open systems, database tables, message queues, web services etc., as well as to access data from these sources. Thanks to the preinstalled components for various cases of connection and data processing, the software may easily be interfaced to various systems, either new and old, and process the data without codes.
(2) High-speed processing of big data
AB INITIO is effective for parallel processing of data, which would be overwrapped on multiple processors (even though such data is on different servers). Only by developing a graphical user interface, the software enables high-speed processing of the in-memory database with the parallel pipeline processing. The same task rules may be applied in a batch and on a real time basis, or as a service-oriented architecture (SOA).
(3) System development of high productivity and high quality
The graphical user interface and detailed data processing components of AB INITIO helps users to achieve high productivities in the system development as well as to enjoy quality deliverables. The users have no need to cut and paste various technologies to complete their jobs. This system development and implementation environments are achieved in a manner below:
(a) Management of metadata for repository of data concerning task rules, specifications, design and installation of applications, and the life cycle management during a system development phase. The feature facilitates the system development to proceed smoothly since it is not necessary to use various tools.
(b) The system development process needs no coding thanks to using various data processing components, which would minimize bugs to occur.
(c) No special storage product is required since the software is not only to process big data but also to store, search and manage it (e.g. big data storage (from some terra bytes to petabytes), visualization of data, analysis, quality assurance and skimming of data).
(d) The operation management functions (e.g. monitoring and scheduling etc.) is available for attaining statistics in the order of time scales to visualize the status of the system operation.
* AB INITIO is the registered trademark of Ab Initio Software Corporation.
* Names of corporations and products are either the trademarks or registered trademarks of each corporation.
