NEWS
News Flashes
A technique for gaining new insights by combining big data from distributed cloud services with data stored on local IT systems has been patented by IBM inventors. The new approach provides a method for developing enterprise applications that more seamlessly combine locally-stored data from business process across an enterprise with cloud-based big data.
Mobile technology is increasing complexity, usage and costs of mainframe applications. As a result, companies are finding it more difficult to isolate and fix problems, according to a global CIO survey on the impact of new technologies and trends on the mainframe application environment that was recently conducted by Compuware Corporation.
SOA Software, an API and SOA management tools provider, has undergone a series of audits by an independent Quality Security Assessor (QSA) to ensure that it met best practices and security controls needed to keep sensitive data secure during transit, processing and storage. As a result, SOA Software is now an 'Approved Service Provider' for major credit card brands.
Vitria Technology, Inc. has introduced five new data analytics applications that simplify and accelerate real-time business activity monitoring in the cloud. According to the company, the apps allow business users to uncover, analyze, and act on actual business activity patterns, thus helping them tackle supply chain challenges, fraudulent financial transactions, delayed order fulfillment and shipments, online customer service issues, and suspicious people of interest in real-time, before a customer or the broader organization is affected.
Serena Software, a provider of orchestrated application development and release management solutions, has announced Serena Release Manager v5. The new release automates application deployments, provides visibility, control and standardization of the release process, and supports coordination and collaboration for release teams.
IT organizations see benefit in providing cloud services and database as a service in consolidation environments and in being able to deliver the needed business solutions quickly and cost-effectively. A first step to starting the journey to providing databases as a service is to consolidate database environments, and the Oracle Database 12c actually provides a great way to do just that.
The latest release of CA ERwin Data Modeler, a solution for collaboratively visualizing and managing business data, addresses two major objectives - the need for organizations to manage more data across more platforms, and to easily share that data with an expanding number of users with a range of roles and skill sets.
DBTA will host a special roundtable webcast to highlight emerging new database technologies and approaches and how companies are using them to build geo-distributed databases for their global applications. These geo-distributed databases ensure high availability, low latency and data consistency while also helping to address the growing challenge related to cost and complexity. The webcast, sponsored Continuent, TransLattice, and Cloudant, will be broadcast live on Thursday, December 5, at 11 am PT / 2 pm ET.
Linux News
Jim Wasko, Director, IBM Linux Technology Center, presented a keynote on the future of Linux and open computing at SUSECon 2013, held earlier this month in Florida. The world is changing as a new generation of big data, cloud, social and mobile applications rapidly emerges, placing new and challenging requirements on the IT infrastructure of organizations, Wasko told attendees. Linux and other open technologies, he said, are key to solving these challenges - by offering faster innovation, deeper integration, and greater choice - and are expected to play a major role in the future of computing.
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Database Trends and Applications – Articles
Trends & Applications
A newly published Unisphere Research survey of 160 data managers and professionals who are part of the Independent Oracle Users Group (IOUG) and currently running Oracle Databases finds that business demand for database services as well as the associated data volumes has been on an upward trajectory. The survey reveals deep concern among IT managers and decision makers with meeting demand for database services in a world where both the number of requests as well as the associated data volumes is steadily climbing.
MultiValue Community
Temenos, a provider of solutions to the financial services industry, has announced that Arab Investment Bank - Egypt (AIBK) has selected T24, Temenos' core banking system to support its expansion plans. Since 2000, T24 has shipped exclusively with integrated jBASE One of the prerequisites for the Temenos T24 banking application is the jBASE open connectivity technology integrated with the banking functionality and coupled with an open database such as Oracle, IBM's DB2, Microsoft's SQL Server or jBASE, which provides clients with options in terms of future direction.
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Notes on NoSQL
Not all Hadoop packages offer a unique distribution of the Hadoop core, but all attempt to offer a differentiated value proposition through additional software utilities, hardware, or cloud packaging. Against that backdrop, Intel's distribution of Hadoop might appear to be an odd duck since Intel is not in the habit of offering software frameworks, and the brand, while ubiquitous, is not associated specifically with Hadoop, databases or big data software. However, given its excellent partnerships across the computer industry, Intel has support from a variety of vendors, including Oracle and SAP, and many of the innovations in its distribution show real promise.
Applications Insight
Two new approaches to application quality have emerged: "risk-based testing" - pioneered in particular by Rex Black - and "exploratory testing" - as evangelized by James Bach and others. Neither claim to eradicate issues of application quality, which most likely will continue as long as software coding involves human beings. However, along with automation of the more routine tests, these techniques form the basis for higher quality application software.
Database Elaborations
In the world of database products, trends seem to pop up quickly, like prairie dogs testing the air. However, regardless of the marketing jargon, or platform, vendor-product purchased, or open source utility downloaded, the one thing that remains unaltered is that in order to extract value from data, the data must be understood. The individuals within any organization who actually comprehend the data, the data structures, and all the exceptions to the usual rules are individuals who are considered critical resources.
DBA Corner
DB2 11 for z/OS brings with it a bevy of interesting and useful new features. They range the gamut from development to administration to performance to integration with big data. Even if your company won't be migrating right away, now that DB2 11 is out in the field and available, the time has come for all DB2 users to take some time to learn what this latest and greatest version of DB2 can do.
SQL Server Drill Down
Microsoft has been pouring R&D resources into building out its business intelligence (BI) feature set since at least the SQL Server 2000 release. The upcoming SQL Server 2014 (SQL2014) release will continue that trend. Here's what SQL2014 will do for you with regard to business intelligence.