IBM Updates Data Warehouse Line

IBM expanded its business intelligence offerings Tuesday, unveiling a new version of its data warehouse system and enhancing its partnership with business intelligence software vendor Cognos.

DB2 Data Warehouse Edition v9.1 is the first release to provide a complete system that integrates the DB2 Universal Database with IBM's data mining and online analytical processing tools, DB2 Alphablox tools for developing custom applications with embedded analytics, WebSphere application server, Rational development tools, and other software. In the past, DB2 Data Warehouse Edition was sold as separate components that customers assembled themselves, says Karen Parrish, VP of business intelligence at IBM.

IBM has also discontinued providing Office Connect software with the system because, according to Parrish, customers didn't consider the software to be a "value-add feature" in the data warehouse package. For the immediate future, Alphablox and IBM's DB2 Cube Views feature will provide some substitute capabilities, she says. The next release of DB2, due later this year, is slated to provide built-in Excel connectivity.

Pricing for the new system starts at $29,500 per CPU for the base edition and $60,000 per CPU for the enterprise edition.

IBM and Cognos will jointly develop and sell service-oriented systems based on Cognos 8 business intelligence tools and IBM's WebSphere middleware and information management products. The companies will target their efforts at vertical markets such as the insurance industry and the public sector. The deal is the latest evolution of the marketing partnership between the vendors struck three years ago and expanded last year with the debut of Cognos 8 Special Edition, which packaged Cognos business intelligence tools with IBM software.