HP Tailors BladeSystem To Oracle Data Warehouse

Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday introduced a BladeSystem server configured for an Oracle data warehouse.

The BladeSystem for Oracle Optimized Warehouse is a pre-configured appliance-like offering for the 1- to 4-TB market. The HP system provides the essential elements of a data warehouse infrastructure, including computing power, storage, interconnect, and management.

"HP has teamed with Oracle to develop a data warehouse solution that is easy to purchase and deploy," Ray Roccaforte, VP of Oracle's data warehousing and business intelligence platform, said in a statement.

The latest offering is part of Oracle's "optimized warehouse initiative," which has the vendor partnering with hardware makers willing to pre-install the Oracle database on servers configured and optimized for data warehousing. The HP-Oracle system is available through distributor Avnet Technology Solutions and its network of value-added resellers and system integrators. The product is expected to begin shipping in July.

To speed BI performance, HP is offering accelerators beyond the BladeSystem for Oracle, including pre-built modules of code for specific data-centric functions; reference configurations, models, and guides based on best practices; and templates and models for specific vertical industries.

The latest HP-Oracle offering combines the products of the leading blade server vendor with one of the big four BI vendors. Oracle, SAP, IBM, and Microsoft account for about half of the $7 billion-a-year BI tools market, which is expected to grow 11% this year, according to IDC. Last year three of the major vendors acquired BI vendors: Oracle bought Hyperion, SAP purchased Business Objects, and IBM acquired Cognos.

This year, the vendors have been crafting platforms that will offer enterprise-wide approaches to BI software. In general, the vendors are improving integration of conventional BI tools, such as query, reporting, and dashboards, with the software the companies sell, including databases, middleware, enterprise applications, and collaboration software.