INFORMATION FOR SUCCESSOracle Data Warehousing August 2009
3Getting actionable data in the hands of the right decision makers
translates to positive business outcomes whether that means competing
more effectively, reducing operational costs, meeting compliance
requirements, or anticipating changing market conditions.
Oracle leads the database and data warehouse markets with innovative
products that deliver fast, scalable and cost-effective reporting and business
intelligence for todays data-driven enterprises. In addition to industry-leading
performance and scalability, Oracle Database 11g offers integrated analytics and
data mining on reliable, low-cost grids. For large-scale data warehouses theres
the Oracle Database Machine; a complete data-warehousing grid, built using
Oracle Database 11g, Oracle Real Application Clusters and intelligent Oracle
Exadata storage software. The Oracle Database Machine is an extremely fast,
reliable and secure data warehouse solution that can easily scale to meet the
complex reporting and analytic needs of the most demanding organizations.
This reference booklet contains a sampling of real business results that
organizations around the world, in a variety of industries, have achieved by
implementing data warehousing solutions with Oracle. In these testimonials
youll learn how customers have achieved fast access to business information
24x7; cut costs by consolidating their business intelligence infrastructure; and
cost-effectively managed growing volumes of business information with Oracle.
Whether you are an existing, new or prospective Oracle data warehousing
customer, we hope you find these success stories helpful in learning how Oracles
data warehousing solutions can help you achieve your business objectives.
Sincerely,
Ray Roccaforte
Vice President, Oracle Data Warehousing
Table of Contents
Customer Name
6 adidas AG (Germany)
7 Allegro Group (Poland)
8 Anhui Telecom Company Ltd (China)
9 Australian Bureau of Statistics (Australia)
15 Bureau of Labor Insurance (Taiwan)
17 Chicago Stock Exchange (United States)
18 China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd (China)
20 China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd (China)
23 DARCO Group (Italy)
26 Fujian Unicom (China)
29 GfK Group Retail and Technology (Germany)
30 Giant Eagle, Inc. (United States)
31 Grameenphone Ltd (Bangladesh)
32 IDS GmbHAnalysis and Reporting Services (IDS) (Germany)
33 KTF (Korea)
35 LGR Telecommunications (United States)
42 Procter & Gamble (Poland)
43 Quelle GmbH (Germany)
44 R.L. Polk & Co. (United States)
49 Shanghai Municipal Electric Power Company (China)
52 Shanghai Social Security and Citizen Service Information Center (China)
55 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (United States)
56 Taobao.com (China)
57 Telefnica O2 Germany GmbH & Co. OHG (Germany)
58 Turkcell Telecommunications Services A.S. (Turkey)
59 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (United Kingdom)
60 Index by Region / Country / Customer
#1Data Warehousing
Copyright 2009, Oracle. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Source: Vendor share is based on software license and maintenance revenue. IDC, Worldwide Data Warehouse Platform Software 2008 Vendor Shares, IDC #219096, July 2009
oracle.com/goto/datawarehousingor call 1.800.ORACLE.1
Oracle 39.6%
IBM 22.9%
Microsoft 16%
Teradata 11.4%
Worldwide Data Warehouse Management Software Vendor Share
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Please examine these publication materials carefully. Any questions regarding the materials, please contact Darci Terlizzi (650) 506-9775 or [email protected].
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AStandard
6Enable global use of the companys data warehouse system, which is built on SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) and Oracle relational database management system (RDBMS) technology and contains information related to sales, marketing, and finance
Accommodate users at all management levelsfrom operative reporting to business performance management at the brand level
Ensure high availability of the data warehouse system for more than 1,500 users around the globe
Achieve worldwide integration of diverse source systems based on disparate technologies
Scale solution to manage more than 10 terabytes of data in a single database
Challenges
The adidas group is one of the worlds leading suppliers in the sporting goods industry, maintaining an extensive portfolio across its three core brands: adidas, Reebok, and TaylorMade-adidas Golf. adidas has been part of the sports world for more than 80 years. Its products include sports shoes, clothing, and accessories, all of which incorporate the latest technology.
Ensured high availability and high performance of the data warehouse system as well as a standardized reporting view
Enabled global access to the data warehouse system for all lines of business in all geographical regions
Created an upstream Oracle Database to consolidate more than 30 non-SAP source systems in advance to ensure data quality and streamline data loading processes
Significantly reduced down time by implementing a disaster recovery architecturewith no unplanned downtime to date
Ensured high availability of the data warehouse system through replication enabled by Oracle Data Guard
Enabled replication using the back-up system at a distance of 40 kilometers
Used Oracle tools to improve performance by a factor of 100 for specialized queries
Utilized Oracle Database features to build a 13-terabyte data warehouse that keeps growing
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
adidas AG
Herzogenaurach, Germany
www.adidas-group.com
Industry: Consumer Goods
Annual Revenue: US$15.88 billion
Employees: 31,344
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Data Warehouse
Oracle Partitioning
Oracle Data Guard
adidas AG Ensures High Availability and Performance of Critical Global Data within 13-Terabyte Data Warehouse
With Oracle as the database foundation for our SAP BW data warehouse, we can guarantee maximum availability for our users today and in the future. Jrgen Herzog, Head of Competence Center Business Intelligence Global IT, adidas AG
AdIdAS AG
7Build a scalable enterprise data warehouse that meets business users performance and quality of service expectations
Deliver a single point of truth with integrated metadata, from data integration through to enterprise reporting tools
Provide flexible reporting and analysis tools, including sophisticated dashboard functionality for business users
Enable the company to easily manage tens of terabytes of data in a consolidated database that can scale to support a 65% annual increase in data volume
Challenges
Allegro Group is the leading e-commerce company in Eastern Europe and the second-largest online auction business in the world. The company is a property of the international media group Naspers. With more than two dozen e-commerce Web sites across 14 countries in Eastern Europe, Allegro Group enables its 13 million registered users to bid on items ranging from clothes to cars. The company hosts more than 12 million new auctions on its trading platform each day, and business is growing by over 40% every year.
Selected HP Oracle Database Machine for its performance capabilities and scalability, which provided Allegro Groups online auction business with the ability to offload query processing to intelligent HP Oracle Exadata Storage Servers
Leveraged the comprehensive and integrated Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition and Oracle data warehousing solution to achieve consistent metadata management across all components of the system
Enabled Allegro Group to deliver standardized and ad-hoc reports, as well as dashboards, to multiple business users
Gained a flexible solution with the scalability to meet future requirements for storage capacity, processing power, and network bandwidth
Worked with Oracle Consulting and Oracle Certified Advantage Partner ISE Grfenberg to efficiently implement the entire Oracle solution in just a few months
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
Allegro Group
Poznan, Poland
www.allegro.pl
Industry: Retail
Annual Revenue: US$2 billion
Employees: 850
Oracle Products & Services:
HP Oracle Database Machine Full
Rack Hardware
HP Oracle Exadata Storage Servers
Oracle Database
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle Partitioning
Oracle Business Intelligence
Enterprise Edition
Oracle Partner:
ISE Grfenberg
www.ise-informatik.de
Allegro Group Ensures Enterprise Scalability with Flexible, Integrated Data Warehouse Solution
In my view, the HP Oracle Database Machine is a great new data warehouse solution. Its reliable, built on industry standard hardware, lightning fast, and completely scalable. Christian Maar, Chief Information Officer, Allegro Group
AllEGRO GROuP
8Build a data warehouse to process and integrate information across the business
Store and refine information for operational analysis and decision support systems
Provide open architecture, rapid response and comprehensive user support
Support complex data sources and provide scalability to manage explosive data growth
Protect Anhui Telecoms investment by simplifying system management and reducing costs
Challenges
Anhui Telecom Company Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Telecom, the largest fixed service telecommunications provider in China. Anhui Telecom offers voice, data, internet, multimedia, and information services to more than 14.27 million customers in the province of Anhui. The company has 17 municipal and 63 county-level branches across the province.
Deployed Oracle Database 10g as the basis of a data warehouse to analyze statistics and support policies across the business
Gained a large-capacity database platform that supported growth in data used by the operating analysis system from 4 terabytes in 2004 to a forecasted 40 terabytes in 2008
Enabled the effective integration of data interfaces and sources into an enterprise-wide environment
Allowed the organization to efficiently undertake extract, transform and load (ETL) processing tasks across 40 to 50 gigabytes of data and 100 analysis themes per day
Enabled the organization to support data warehousing applications that vary across technology, standards and interfaces with open architecture
Supported concurrent queries from multiple internal users and authorized external parties
Simplified partitioning and reduced management task with Oracle Partitioning 10g
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
Anhui Telecom Company ltd
Hefei City, China
www.anhuitelecom.com.cn
Industry: Communications
Employees: 12,000
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Partitioning
Oracle TimesTen In-Memory
Database
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle Streams
Oracle Data Guard
Oracle Partner:
Shenzhen Tianyuan dIC Information
Technology Co., ltd
www.tydic.com
Anhui Telecom Company ltd Deploys Data Warehouse to Manage up to 40 Terabytes of Data
Oracle Database 10g has helped us manage the explosive growth in data generated by the continuous delivery of new services to our 14.27 million telephony customers. Our data warehouse has achieved very high performance and processing speeds. Fang Wensheng, Director, Corporate Information Department, Anhui Telecom
ANHuI TElECOM COMPANy lTd
9Oracle Customer:
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Canberra, Australia
www.abs.gov.au
Industry: Public Sector
Employees: 2,000 to 4,999
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Advanced Queuing
Oracle Discoverer
Oracle Portal
Oracle Enterprise Manager
Oracle Application Server
Oracle Spatial
Oracle E-Business Suite
Established in 1905, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australias central statistical authority, providing high quality, objective, and timely statistics about the nations economy and its social and cultural characteristics. Its databases collectively contain approximately 4 terabytes of data, obtained over 15 years.
Every five years, ABS conducts a national survey to collect social, economic, and housing information to produce a snapshot of Australian society. The organization employed 30,000 collectors to go door-to-door to distribute a questionnaire to all Australian households in the lead-up to Census day, August 8, 2006. For the first time in ABS history, Australians also had the option of submitting the questionnaire online. Approximately 10 million households took part in Census 2006.
Paper-based and electronic Census data was collected, stored, and processed in an Oracle database with a detailed transaction history store. ABS used Oracle tools to create up to 6,000 workloads a day for processing by around 800 people in a dedicated data center, and ensure around 20 million data changes were written back into the data warehouse each day. The organization also made use of Oracle Discoverer, Oracle Portal, and Oracle Enterprise Manager to develop and distribute reports and manage the Oracle environment.
Each Census has become more reliant on technology to support and realize business goals, said Helen Robson, IT director for Census 2006, ABS. The Oracle 10g infrastructure handled large volumes of transactions with ease and helped us increase the efficiency of data processing tasks. Not only will data quality improve, but we expect a shorter turnaround time for Census results.
Australian Bureau of Statistics Turns to Enterprise Data Warehousing for Census 2006
Each Census has become more reliant on technology to support and realize business goals. The Oracle 10g infrastructure handled large volumes of transactions with ease and helped us increase the efficiency of data processing tasks. Not only will data quality improve, but we expect a shorter turnaround time for Census results. Helen Robson, IT Director, Census 2006, Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Census is one of the largest and most important projects undertaken by the ABS. In addition to dedicated business units, the organization employs 3,000 area supervisors to manage the 30,000 collectors who distribute and collect Census forms. In 2006, ABS introduced an eCensus form that allowed respondents to submit their responses online. More than 775,000 households chose this option.
Until the 2001 Census, paper forms arrived at the data processing center (DPC) for manual input. In 2001 and again in 2006, the forms were scanned using intelligent character recognition (ICR) software. In 2006, ABS moved from flat text file storage of Census data to storing data in a master Oracle database. Electronic submissions were also directed to the same database. The 250GB database, developed on Oracle 10g, contained around 20 million rows (approximately one for every person in Australia) at the time of writing in November 2006.
Streamlining Workload distribution
AuSTRAlIAN BuREAu OF STATISTICS
10
Manual input is still required because there are items that the ICR software does not recognize and processing tasks that cannot be automated. ABS employs 800 people as coders at a DPC in Melbourne. These coders view images of paper forms and type in the appropriate responses, among other tasks. The organization uses Oracle Advanced Queuing to distribute work to coders. The software provides an efficient way to pre-create work for staff.
ABS has written some PL SQL logic that works out where a piece of data is in the processing pipeline. The Oracle application then extracts the data from the database, creates a file, and places the file name or unique identifier on a queue for the next available coder to pick up. Around 6,000 workloads are created every day, with each workload containing between 500 and 5,000 records.
We use the queuing function to mitigate the risk of staff or coders sitting at their desktops waiting for work to reach them, said Mark Sawade, project manager, Census Processing Systems, ABS. All they have to do is hit a button and the work is instantly there. There are different types of workloads with different processes and we have also created rules around which teams can get a particular piece of work, and they all exist on the same queue.
For example, less experienced staff will only receive simple tasks such as coding religion or marital status. Experienced staff will be given more complex data entry tasks that require a degree of interpretation based on handwritten and electronic responses.
The same approach is used when data is ready to be loaded back into the database. Rather than writing directly back into the Oracle databasea process that can take a number of seconds to completethe updated file joins an uploading queue.
Multiply a two or three-second delay for around 50 workloads across 800 staff working over 240 days, and it adds up to a lot of lost time, said Sawade. It ensures high productivity and improved morale if we can have all our staff busy all the time, rather than having to wait for the system to complete a transaction for them.
Key Benefits:
Installed powerful, reliable, and
scalable database platform for critical,
large-scale project
Improved productivity by pre-creating
and queuing staff workloads
Enabled fast querying and data updates
with star schema-based data
warehouse
Enhanced data quality by allowing
information to be monitored as it is
being processed
Promoted in-depth analysis by enabling
more complex elements of data model
to be extracted
Facilitated information sharing by using
portlets to group reports
Boosted performance through regular
database tuning
Within the master Oracle database is a transaction history table. According to Sawade, it is basically a data warehouse of every change that has ever been made to any column for any row inside the Oracle table.
We can tell exactly whats happened to a particular data item throughout its life in the processing centre, how many times its been changed, who changed it, and what it was changed from. It means we have the ability to put the data back to a certain state. He estimated that 20 million data changes are made each day and recorded in the data warehouse. The fact table in the data warehouse currently has around 4 billion rows.
ABS modeled the data warehouse on a star schema design. The fact table (the star) resides at the center of the model, surrounded by various points, or reference tables. The principle behind the schema is to enable quick access to information, efficient querying, and fast data uploading.
Built for Fast Querying and updating
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Having 4 billion rows isnt much good if you cant run sensible queries that return in a sensible amount of time, said Sawade. However, if we optimize the schema for querying only, it means that inserting data will generally be much slower as well.
ABS resolved this issue through partition swapping. What weve done is break up these 4 billion rows into a number of partitions, one for every day, explained Sawade. The days transactions, or changes, are inserted into a separate staging table rather than the actual 4 billion row history model itself. We then run a partition swap at night, which involves swapping that days partition with the next days, so that a single block of transactions is put into the overall model.
This allows us to tune the staging table to be very fast for inserts and the rest of the history table to be very fast for querying, he said. That was something we worked on and refined over the past couple of years.
Data specialists can now query the data as it is being processed. The use of flat files in the past made it difficult for the organization to monitor the quality of data until the end of the coding process. One large file was created for each Australian state and put into a super cross database. It was only then that ABS was able to complete aggregated counts and other tasks.
With Oracle, we can now monitor data from the minute it enters the database, said Robson. If there are any applications that could be run more efficiently or data settings that could be corrected, our data specialists can make those changes immediately. As a result, the overall data quality will be much higher and Census results can be generated in a shorter timeframe, given that we can make fixes and turn things around much, much faster.
ABS uses Oracle Discoverer as its primary tool for analyzing data as it enters the master database and examining the transaction history. For Census, the Oracle back-end was completely new to us and we didnt know what performance would be like if we let staff write SQL against the databases at the same time as we were trying to apply updates, said Robson. Performance really needed to be at its peak during the day when the 800 coders are doing their work. By setting up a range of scheduled and ad hoc reports for data experts to use and modify, we can tune the reports for maximum efficiency.
Any reports that take longer than 10 minutes to run must be referred to Sawades technology applications team. They can then tune the report and make sure it is delivering the information needed by staff. It also lets us find out more about their evolving requirements so we can continue to improve the management information system, said Sawade.
Oracle Discoverer has also given ABS the ability to abstract some of the more complex elements of its data model.
Data specialists who want to know very specific things can generate their own reports based on an abstraction thats much simpler to understand, said Sawade. Those who dont have knowledge of Oracle or the underlying data model can use Oracle Discoverer to get the information they need easily. It is much quicker than writing SQL or learning to use another tool.
In-depth data Analysis
AuSTRAlIAN BuREAu OF STATISTICS
12
Oracle Discoverer reports created by one data specialist can be shared with other staff members through the use of Oracle Portal, which allows reports to be published as portlets.
The idea behind Oracle Portal was to set up different portal pages for different roles, and allow each staff member to customize the look and feel of each report portlet according to their needs, explained Sawade. They can also drill down within individual reports to get the information they need.
Oracle Portal provides a really good mechanism for us to tie together all our Oracle Discoverer reports so that they are logically grouped for different roles, he said.
ABS uses Oracle Enterprise Manager to oversee its Oracle environment. While database administrators are the greatest beneficiaries, Sawade said his team of developers also found the software extremely useful.
Oracle Enterprise Manager gives real-time information on data queries and the overall load of the database, as well as the effect of any system changes on performance, he said. We also use the tuning wizard to improve database performance. As an example, last week we implemented an improvement recommended by the wizard, which sped up performance by 50%. In some cases, weve had a 100% improvement in performance.
Its been invaluable because for us as developers it is information that we didnt have before. Three of my teams have Oracle Enterprise Manager running all day long. When it hasnt been available weve certainly noticed it.
Improving database Performance
In addition to the master database, ABS maintained a 7GB Oracle9i Database to manage the 3,000 area supervisors and 30,000 collectors responsible for distributing and collecting Census forms. The field data repository (FDR) stored personal information, payment details, workload allocations, and all communications with the collectors.
We also kept a brief summary of all Census forms submitted online via the eCensus facility, said Erin Matson, project manager, Census Field/Data Capture Systems, ABS. Once an eCensus summary entered the FDR, a text message was sent to the relevant Census collector to let them know they dont need to return to that household to pick up the paper form.
Information that needed to be communicated to area supervisors and collectors was entered into the FDR. Area supervisors accessed the FDR via the Web. The Oracle9i platform held together and supported the 3,000 users at all times, said Matson.
Managing 30,000 Census Collectors
AuSTRAlIAN BuREAu OF STATISTICS
13
ABS has already commenced work for Census 2011 and is planning to extend the use of the FDR to the 30,000 door-to-door Census collectors, in addition to the 3,000 area supervisors.
Text messages dont always reach the recipient so it is likely that next time our collectors will also have access to a Web site that lets them check whether a Census form has been submitted online, said Robson. The Web site will be hooked into the Oracle platform where data is stored.
The organization will migrate its field management systems to Oracle Database 10g in line with the data warehouse. It is also investigating running Oracle on either a Microsoft Windows or Linux environment from the current Sun Solaris platform, and has begun benchmark testing in this area.
What we aim to do with each Census is to take a leap forward to the latest technology, as we did with Oracle 10g in 2006, said Robson. There is always room for improvement.
Future Plans
ABS is a long-time Oracle customer, most recently using Oracle Database and Oracle Warehouse Builder to develop an Input Data Warehouse to store business statistics. According to Robson, a critical project like the Census required a solution that was tried and tested.
Oracle has always met our large-scale business requirements in the past, she said. The Census project proved that the technology can handle everything we throw at it, whether its large amounts of data, transactions, or usersor all of them concurrently.
The Census is one project where the deadline cannot be moved, added Sawade. We have to pick our technology platforms, hardware, and software early on and make choices that we know are going to work to scale.
Based on our past experience, we were confident that Oracle had the functionality, reliability, and scalability to support our needs. Using Oracle would also allow us to leverage the knowledge and expertise in the software that we have built up over the years.
Why Oracle?
Robson joined the IT team a year after Census 2001, when development of the field management systems and the data warehouse for Census 2006 was already underway.
The Americans and British run their census every 10 years and they start from scratch each time, she said. For us, the benefit is not in changing the entire infrastructure every five years but in changing certain parts. We work with each business unit to determine where we can make the biggest gains. In this instance, it was the back-end processing systems.
Implementation Process
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At the peak of the four-year project, there was 34 staff in the technology applications team working on system development. According to Sawade, one of the benefits of moving to Oracle 10g was the ability to write logic around the processes that run on the database, including creating and allocating workloads.
We found that some of our more computationally intensive PL SQL code ran a lot faster on Oracle 10g compared to Oracle9i, he said. During the development phase, we were exporting databases to different locations, and certainly when we migrated to 10g the speed at which we could do this was greatly improved.
ABS undertook extensive testing of the field management systems and data warehouse to ensure both solutions could deliver the expected performance. An external contractor was engaged to simulate the 3,000 users for the FDR and the expected 125,000 concurrent users for the front-end eCensus system.
A large amount of internal tuning was also completed on the data warehouse. Many of the processes at the DPC are batch programs so a typical day involves extracting workloads, coding information, loading data back into the history file, and running backups. ABS mapped out a typical day and picked the most extreme scenario to build its benchmark environment.
We simulated a full database of 20 million people and 10 million households, said Robson. We also ran scripts that recalled the actual programs, used Oracle Enterprise Manager to tune the data warehouse, and installed other tools to measure system responses. At the beginning, we were only able to create 100 workloads per hour so there was a lot of tuning to get that number up to the desired 750 workloads an hour.
The extensive development, testing, and tuning ensured the field management systems and data warehouse were ready for operation on the official Census day on August 8, 2006.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the government agency responsible for collecting and publishing statistical information about Australia. As well as providing financial and economic statistics, the ABS presents information on contemporary social issues and areas of public policy concern.
AuSTRAlIAN BuREAu OF STATISTICS
15
Oracle Customer:
Bureau of labor Insurance
Taipei,Taiwan
www.bli.gov.tw/
Industry: Public Sector
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Application Server
Oracle Portal
Oracle Data WarehousingEstablished 57 years ago, Taiwans labor insurance service now covers a record-breaking 8.79 million people. The Bureau of Labor Insurance (BLI) plays an important role in the social insurance and social security system of Taiwan. In addition to continually improving its performance and introducing new services, the BLI aggressively integrates government and public resources to create a winning environment for Taiwans labor force, industry, and the government.
The BLI covers labor insurance, employment insurance, occupational accident protection, wage advance and disbursement, farmers insurance, and social aids. With more than 8 million people insured, the BLI adds an average of 1 million data entries for newly insured constituents and about 4.46 million data entries a month for the labor pension. Moreover, data in every entry must be recorded in detail and retained permanently. As a result, the BLI needs a robust database and infrastructure.
To cope with increasingly complex business content and fast-growing data volumes, the BLI is changing the architecture of its IT systems. The business is moving from a closed mainframe environment to an open Unix platform. The five-year transition began in September 2005. With application data volumes reaching 6 terabyte and the data warehouse up to 8 terabyte, the BLI has progressively upgraded its database from Oracle8i to Oracle9i to Oracle 10g. It has also introduced the latest grid computing technology to enhance the overall usability, reliability, stability, and manageability of its systems.
The Bureau of labor Insurance Creates a Robust Labor Protection and Service Network
Due to the massive amount of data and complex business content, we have high standards for the usability, efficiency, reliability, security, load, transaction integrity, extendibility, portability, and manageability of hardware and software systems. The Oracle 10g solution is the database and application platform that best fulfills all these demands. yen yong-jen, Chief of Information, Bureau of Labor Insurance, Commission of Labor Affairs, Executive Yuan
To cope with the new labor pension scheme, the BLI introduced a Labor Insurance Protection (LIP) card so users could query pension payments in their bank accounts. It is estimated that over 1 million LIP cards will be issued by 2008. Details of labor insurance duration and payment records will be added to the LIP card.
To cope with the growing volume of LIP cards and the continuous addition of new functions, while supporting real-time enquiries from four banks (Land Bank, E. Sun Bank, Taishin Bank, and Taipei-Fubon Bank), the BLI needed to update its back-office systems. The organization decided to implement the LIP card system on the open Unix platform.
The BLI plans to move all new business systems to the new platform. In addition to the LIP card system, the BLIs personnel, attendance, and document systems will be moved to the Oracle 10g platform during Stage 1 of the project.
Unlike ordinary business systems that have a limit on data retention time, all data stored by the BLI must be retained permanently. Therefore, the reliability of the database system must be exceptionally high to load massive amounts of historical data and support millions of new entries.
Easy Pension Enquiry
BuREAu OF lABOR INSuRANCE
16
The database and back-office systems also need to be closely integrated with the systems of the four banks to allow users to make labor insurance and labor pension enquiries from the ATMs of these banks using their LIP card. Database stability is therefore crucial.
In addition to banks, external clients of the BLI include government units such as the Ministry of the Interior, the Council of Agriculture, the Bureau of Employment, Vocational Training, the Financial Data Center, the Bureau of National Health Insurance, and county/city governments. Most of these organizations exchange data with the BLI. The database system must be flexible enough to cope with the increasing data transactions from external clients.
To address these requirements, the BLI adopted grid computing, based on its successful experience with Oracle database systems.
The open Oracle 10g solution supports cross-platform operations while the BLI progressively moves from closed to open systems.
Key Benefits:
Supported 6 terabyte of application
data and an 8 terabyte data warehouse,
as well as more than 800,000 additional
entries per month
Enabled real-time data interchange with
selected banks and external clients
Ensured seamless re-development and
migration to the new Oracle platform
The BLI maintains 20 master systems and subsystems to handle 400 tasks. These master systems support the underwriting business, financial management, labor and farmer insurance cash payments, occupational accident medical payments, employment insurance payments, occupational accident labor protection payments, advance and disbursement of overdue wages, pensions, farmers insurance, allowances for older farmers, daily life allowances for the elderly, accounting management, statistics and analysis, customer service, document management, control and evaluation, personnel management, relief loans, administration support, and fund utilization management.
According to the BLI, most of its AP systems are currently running on the closed mainframe system, with only a few running on open systems. Following the five-year Computer Server System Upgrading Plan and once new business system development is complete, Stage 2 will see the BLI transfer other systems to the Oracle platform. According to BLI estimates, the welfare allowances system will be re-developed and moved to Oracle 10g in 20 months. During Stage 3, the BLI plans to transfer the farmers insurance and the labor insurance data of over 10 million people to Oracle 10g.
The BLI also uses Oracle 10g to underpin its data warehouse, which produces statistics and reports and handles liquidation.
In the Computer Server System Upgrade project, both software and hardware systems must support a clustered architecture and Web services, using Java as the program development language, said Yen Yong-jen, chief of information, Bureau of Labor Insurance. These systems must also fulfill our requirements of high usability, efficiency, reliability, security, load, transaction integrity, extendibility, portability, and manageability. The Oracle 10g solution is the database and application platform that best fulfills all these demands.
Moving Towards an Open System
BuREAu OF lABOR INSuRANCE
The Bureau of Labor Insurance handles a range of labor insurance services in Taiwan, including labor insurance, employment insurance, occupational accident protection, wage advance and disbursement, farmers insurance, and social aids.
17
Increase capacity and manageability of legacy IT investments, while minimizing the risk of downtime
Provide a flexible, scalable infrastructure to meet future demands
Reduce CHXs IT management and maintenance burden
Challenges
The Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) provides an auction market for the purchase and sale of equity securities. CHX opened for trading in 1882 and today trades more than 3,500 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock and Options Exchange (AMEX), National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ), and CHX-exclusive issues. As the first floor-based stock exchange to fully automate order transactions, CHX ensures that orders sent to the trading floor are routed, executed, and confirmed in less than one second.
Implemented Oracle Database, Oracle Real Application Clusters, and Oracle Application Server to create a highly reliable, scalable, and secure IT infrastructure
Gained the ability to add capacity rapidly and cost effectively with Oracle Real Application Clusters based data warehouse
Increased productivity, operational benefits, and customer satisfaction with automated, self-tuning features in Oracle Database and Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control
Simplified the query process and eliminated manual performance management fire drills
Allowed CHX to continuously improve its IT environment in a seamless, transparent mannerimproving overall customer service
Decreased IT management costs and burden, allowing CHX to refocus resources on high-priority initiatives
Projected a 171% return on investment within five years with Oracles grid computing infrastructure
Enabled CHX to trade more than 7,700 issues
Increased terabyte (TB) growth rate by 0.7TB per week, resulting in an estimated increase from14 TB to 35 TB
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
Chicago Stock Exchange
Chicago, IL
www.chx.com
Industry: Financial Services
Annual Revenue: US$23.5 million
Employees: 110
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle Application Server
Chicago Stock Exchange Improves IT Efficiency and Customer Service with Data Warehouse Infrastructure
With Oracle, we can add capacity without throwing out of or replacing old computers. John Kerin, Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Technology Officer, Chicago Stock Exchange
CHICAGO STOCK ExCHANGE
18
Prior to deploying the Oracle data warehouse, business information was held within different applications, each with different data formats. This made information sharing between departments extremely difficult. Reports often contained conflicting data, which hindered informed decision-making.
The decision to implement a data warehouse was to make it easier for senior managers to access accurate, up-to-date information, said Jie. We have a wealth of business data, and we wanted to extract as much value as we can from it.
The building blocks of the data warehouse consisted of critical information such as operational and financial data. Data from other areas of the organization would be gradually added to the warehouse to support business analysis, forecasting, market development, and long-term strategic planning.
The first version of the data warehouse went live in March 2006. It incorporates information from four core systemsproduction, finance, settlement, and operationsinto a central location. Expenses are automatically collated into a purpose-built report.
Staff at all levels of the company can use the data warehouse to analyze information relevant to their roles. For example, senior managers use the data to support decision-making; midlevel managers analyze operational performance; and business managers review specific areas, such as the profitability of a specific flight or region.
Greater Business Insight
China Eastern Airlines (CEA) is one of three state-owned air carriers in China. The airline operates 380 international and domestic routes servicing every major region in China and destinations in Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America. The China Eastern Airlines group is a diverse conglomerate, with more than 20 subsidiaries engaged in imports and exports, finance, real estate, advertising, and mechanical manufacturing.
In 2006, CEA implemented an enterprise data warehouse developed using Oracle technology. The companys rapid growth and desire to improve business intelligence prompted the implementation. The data warehouse integrates information from different business areas, giving senior managers a unified view of the company and supporting decision-making.
Our Oracle data warehouse improved data integrity, enabled easy information sharing, and provided senior managers with access to detailed statistics for informed decision-making, said Jie Xiaoqing, general manager of the development and planning department at China Eastern Airlines. We now have better insight into operational costs and company performance.
Oracle Customer:
China Eastern Airlines Co., ltd
Shanghai, China
www.ce-air.com
Industry: Travel & Transportation
Annual Revenue: US$5.86 billion
Employees: 44,000
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Application Server
Oracle Warehouse Builder
Oracle Business Intelligence
Oracle Consulting Services
China Eastern Airlines Co., ltd Improves Performance through Regular Business Analysis
Our Oracle data warehouse improved data integrity, enabled easy information sharing, and provided senior managers with access to detailed statistics for informed decision-making. We now have better insight into operational costs and company performance. Jie xiaoqing, General Manager, Development and Planning Department, China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd.
CHINA EASTERN AIRlINES CO., lTd
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The data warehouse has been especially useful in revealing market opportunities, pinpointing problem areas, and helping us reduce operational risks, said Jie.
Key Benefits:
Provided an integrated view of the
business by building an enterprise data
warehouse
Supported decision-making and
business analysis at all levels of the
company
Improved performance through early
detection of market opportunities
Catered for future growth with scalable
solution
The size of the data warehouse is increasing daily as more information is fed into the system. User numbers are also rising as more staff make use of the data warehouse. The parallel processing and divisional capabilities of Oracle Database ensure the warehouse can support increased data volumes and user numbers.
In the long term, CEA is planning to deploy Oracle Real Application Clusters. The software will enable the airline to improve the performance of the database and application servers by spreading the workload over multiple machines.
Reliable, Powerful Performance
CEA believed Oracle Database to be the ideal technology for the data warehouse because the softwares open interfaces offered easy integration with multiple systems. This was important as the company wanted to import data from existing applications into the data warehouse. It also accommodated large amounts of detail, down to individual flights in specific segments.
Furthermore, the Oracle solution offered a flexible structure for reporting, enabling CEA to design customized reports and allowing staff to undertake multidimensional analysis. Oracle is also highly scalable, ensuring it can cater for future growth.
Why Oracle?
CEA engaged Oracle Consulting Services to design, install, and test the data warehouse, taking advantage of the companys extensive knowledge of the technology and proven implementation strategies.
Oracle consultants were responsible for system debugging, demand analysis, system design, data integration, and report development. The data warehouse supports client/server and browser/server modes, enabling users to view and run online reports.
The project began in November 2004. Stage I was completed in September 2005 and CEA went live six months later after a series of tests.
Implementation Process
China Eastern Airlines Co., Ltd. (CEA) is one of three state-owned air carriers in China. The airline operates 380 international and domestic routes servicing every major region in China and destinations in Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America.
CHINA EASTERN AIRlINES CO., lTd
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Yangtze Power relies heavily on technology to support smooth operations. Each department had maintained systems to support their operations. Information was held in disparate systems, preventing other business units from leveraging the data for analysis. To gain a coherent view of its operations, Yangtze Power had to consolidate data from these systems, a time-consuming task that hindered timely decision-making during critical periods.
The company decided to migrate information from these systems into a single, integrated database, allowing staff to easily access data from across the organization when compiling reports. The database could deliver a complete and accurate snapshot of the companys activities, ensuring managers had a full understanding of the impact of their decisions.
In 2007, Yangtze Power created a new information management system based on Oracle Database 10g. The database interfaced with 10 systems, including finance, human resources, contract management, power generation management, and safety and control management. Yangtze Power also linked the database to the key performance index (eKPI) system. The database went live in November 2007.
The Need for an Integrated Information Resource
China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd is Chinas largest publicly listed utility. The China Three Gorges Project Corporation established the organization in 2002 to oversee hydropower plants created as part of Chinas massive Three Gorges Dam project. When completed in 2011, the dam will be able to generate 22,500 megawatts of electricity, making it the largest hydro-electric power station in the world by capacity. Yangtze Power currently manages the Gezhouba Power Station and six commissioned generating units.
To prepare for the expansion of its business, Yangtze Power embarked on projects to improve its infrastructure, systems, and management practices. In 2007, the company launched a new database based on Oracle Database 10g and introduced Oracle business intelligence tools. Both solutions have enabled senior managers to regularly analyze performance, highlight areas for improvement, and monitor the results of business strategies. In addition, communication between departments has improved as staff have access to a single database that stores enterprise-wide information. They can also generate a range of reports tailored to their specific needs or areas of interest.
Oracle Customer:
China yangtze Power Co., ltd
Beijing, China
www.cypc.com.cn
Industry: Utilities
Annual Revenue: US$1.2 billion
Employees: 2,100
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Business Intelligence Suite
Enterprise Edition
Oracle OLAP
Oracle Data Mining
Oracle Warehouse Builder
China yangtze Power Co., ltd Improves Business Intelligence with Integrated Database and Analysis Tools
We have experienced significant improvements in the standard of management after implementing an evaluation system that leverages an Oracle database and business intelligence tools. We can now analyze our performance in depth and address any problem areas. li, Wei-Bing, Manager, Information Management Department, China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd
CHINA yANGTzE POWER CO., lTd
In the past, each department used a basic information retrieval and reporting system that did not provide a full picture of the organizations operations. If staff members needed information outside their area to supplement their analysis, they had to phone or email colleagues in the relevant department to send the data.
Greater Business Insight
21
Today, users can access the Oracle database to retrieve the information they need at the push of a button. The previous days data is available for use by 9 a.m. on the following day. In addition, the Oracle database stores three years worth of information, enabling managers to draw on historical data when analyzing business performance using the eKPI system.
Managers use Oracle business intelligence tools to create customized reports and charts, including broken curve diagrams, histograms, pie charts, and radar maps. The wide range of reporting and display formats enables deeper analysis of the organizations business performance. This has enabled Yangtze Power to adopt an accurate, structured, and fact-based approach to decision making.
In the past, staff could only access a limited range of reports and information sources, said Li, Wei-Bing, manager of the Information Management department at China Yangtze Power. The Oracle database and related business intelligence tools have given users the freedom to create their own reports, ensuring they have the knowledge they need to improve their performance and make effective decisions.
Key Benefits:
Migrated 10 disparate information
sources into a single, integrated
database
Enabled the previous days data to be
available by 9 a.m. the following day
Provided users with the freedom to
create reports and charts tailored to
their specific needs
Supported fast, informed
decision-making
Provided management with an
enterprise-wide view of operations
Phase two of the project involves expanding the scope of users who have access to the database; enhancing the database to improve data quality and integrity; providing additional functionality; and driving increasing awareness of the solution to prompt greater uptake.
Future Plans
Yangtze Power began searching for a database and business intelligence solution in September 2006. The company evaluated products from Business Objects, Cognos, Informatica, Microstrategy, and Oracle. According to Li, Yangtze Power selected Oracle because the vendor offered an integrated solution.
The other products we evaluated offered either business intelligence or extract, transform, and load (ETL) capabilities, but not both, he said. Only Oracle could deliver a solution comprising a database, business intelligence, and ETL capabilities.
We were already using Oracle Database in our core business system so we were familiar with the product and its functionality, Li added. Oracle products are easy to integrate and software maintenance is not an issue. For example, the ETL functionality embedded in the Oracle database simplifies the ETL process and makes it easy to manage data.
During the evaluation process, Yangtze Power asked vendors to provide a proof-of-concept based on its requirements. According to Li, Oracles solution was way ahead of its competitors.
Oracle responded very quickly and produced a solution that met data visibility, security, reliability, and flexibility needs, he said.
Why Oracle?
CHINA yANGTzE POWER CO., lTd
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The implementation kicked off in March 2007. In the early stages of the project, Yangtze Power undertook needs analysis and data preparation. The company ensured the solution was thoroughly tested and refined before the November 2007 launch date.
Yangtze Power had earlier defined the requirements for the eKPI system, which covered six major areas including power generation management, business management, finance, human resources, inventory, and integrated reporting. The system would include 65 performance indices and 370 reports. The related systems and data sources had already been prepared, and all that was needed was to integrate these elements into a single platform. This sped up the implementation process.
The success of the project reflected the close collaboration between the teams: Oracle, the program developer YiChang JFS, and our internal IT staff, said Li. These three parties made large investments in terms of manpower and other resources, including specialized IT training and skills transfer.
Implementation Process
China Yangtze Power Co., Ltd is Chinas largest publicly listed utility. The China Three Gorges Project Corporation established the organization in 2002 to oversee hydropower plants created as part of Chinas Three Gorges Dam project.
CHINA yANGTzE POWER CO., lTd
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Oracle Customer:
dARCO Group
Rome, Italy
www.sociale.it
Industry: High Technology
Employees: 1,450
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Enterprise Linux
Oracle Database
Oracle Warehouse Builder
Oracle Partner:
E4 Computer Engineering S.p.A.
www.e4company.com
Darco is a social cooperative that hires persons with disabilities. Estabilished in 1975, Capodarco has delivered advanced IT and communication servicesto the Italian market for more than 30 years. The cooperative specializes in providing services to public sector institutions, specifically local public health units and hospitals. Capodarco also provides support for hospital services, reservations and user-free payment.
In 1999, DARCO Group, which includes Capodarco, an integrated social cooperative that employs the differently able and specializes in supplying advanced information and communication technology services for public health units and hospitals (www.capodarco.coop), won an award from the region of Lazio and the City of Rome for operation of ReCUP, a system for booking examinations, diagnostic tests, and appointments with specialists in 20 public health units in all the provinces of Lazio.
The region of Lazio provided the softwarebased on Oracle Databasealready in use at the institutions participating in the ReCUP system. The software permitted a high degree of customization and centralized management of bookings in a single call center. However, the system had one major problem: the names of services booked in the system differed with respect to the names appearing in the service fees list, due to rapid changes in legislation typical of the healthcare sector. These factors, along with the large number of services providedabout 34 million in 2007made it necessary to come up with a more efficient way to manage its data.
To meet the challenges facing the ReCUP system, DARCO Group began a project for standardizing the names of services to guarantee citizens rapid, efficient service. DARCO Group partnered with Oracle and Oracle Partner E4 Computer Engineering S.p.A to develop architecture to provide enterprise-level performance at an affordable cost.
dARCO Group Implements a New Data Management Structure to Deliver Enhanced Citizen Service
With Oracle solutions, we implemented a data management system guaranteeing high performance at a truly accessible price. Gianni Fontana, Production Manager, DARCO Group
It was clear right away that ReCUP required maximum speed and efficiency, as the service name standardization, which was essential for providing citizens with more effective service, required merging 20 databases previously used by individual public health units into a single database.
This operation required not only alignment of different names used for the same services but a process of data cleaning and standardization of about 900 million records and 150 GB of data, which DARCO Group had to accomplish in no more than 24 hours to maintain the standards of efficiency the sector required and Oracle guaranteed.
Rapid, Secure, dependable data Management
dARCO GROuP
24
Key Benefits:
Delivered an enterprise-level solution at
an affordable price
Processed data at a speed of 900
million records every seven hours
Supported new citizen services
Shortened wait times by cancelling
200,000 unconfirmed appointments
Meeting this demand required enterprise-grade hardware, but this was too expensive for the DARCO Group. Therefore, the Group used its own resources to implement a system based on Oracle Enterprise Linux, Oracle Clusterware, Oracle Database, Oracle Cluster Filesystem, and a combination of other technologies required for a high-performance computing (HPC) environment.
This system offered the same speed and dependability as an enterprise system, processing data continuously at a speed of 900 million records every seven hours, with only two scheduled interruptions in eight months of operation.
The system permitted a large number of users to benefit from technologies, which are rarely used because of the high infrastructure costs they require.
With Oracle solutions, we implemented a data management system guaranteeing high performance at a truly accessible price, said Gianni Fontana, production manager, DARCO Group.
Enterprise level Performance at a Much lower Cost
dARCO GROuP
Rapid overnight data processing permitted implementation of a new service for citizensRecall, under which every patient receives a telephone reminder of his or her appointment seven days in advance, explicitly requesting confirmation.
This service resulted in cancellation of 200,000 appointments that were not confirmed in 2007, drastically shortening waiting lists.
Oracle considerably improved our performance in terms of data management in all forms, from internal business analysis to real improvement of the service, offering tangible benefits for citizens, said Corrado Andreola, Oracle database administrator, DARCO Group.
Improved Service for Citizens and Shorter Waitlists
The systems speed permits overnight processing of data contained in ReCUP, rapidly generating reports and statistics for the healthcare facility users to permit thorough analysis of business processes and scheduled appointments.
The architecture also supports the use of business intelligence tools for immediate analysis of the time and money saved thanks to data processing optimization.
Rapid Generation of Business Analyses and Statistics
We used Oracle solutions because they offered the most dependable solution for the architecture features we required. They also had the certification required for use in HPC environments and met the need for speed and high performance, said Patrick Nebbia, manager, DARCO Group.
Why Oracle?
25
The project was implemented thanks to a partnership between the DARCO Group, Oracle, and E4 Computer Engineering, specialists in the design and production of high performance data processing systems and one of Europes leading suppliers of HPC technology solutions.
Engineers Patrick Nebbia and Corrado Andreola developed and implemented the project over three years starting in 2005, initially implementing a solution based on Oracle Database on a single node and then evolving in the direction of Oracle Real Application Clusters with Cluster Interconnect RDS Infiniband and multichannel disk systems. This was the first solution of its kind created in Europe for the business market.
The E-RAC 8000 system is composed of four multicore, four-way nodes with a QLogic 20 Gb/s Infiniband DDR networking infrastructure. The cluster uses a highly dependable 4Gb/s SAN FC to access the database, memorized on a storage SAS. The E-RAC 8000 solution guarantees top performance in terms of data transfer and number of transactions per minute.
To continue improving on the solutions offered, E4 Computer Engineering will shortly release an updated version of the E-RAC 8000 drawing on the latest technological developments (8Gb/s FC, 40 Gb/s QDR Infiniband, latest generation central processing unit (CPU) to guarantee significantly better performance at an even lower cost.
Implementation Process
dARCO GROuP
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Fujian Unicom had a large number of databases containing information about its business and customers. As data volumes grew, the carrier began experiencing database performance issues that affected the ability of staff to access information. Productivity and efficiency dropped as a result.
Implementing Oracle Database significantly improved data management. Composed of dynamic, self-adaptive, and adjustable modules, Oracle Database balances all parallel operations according to resource availability and prioritizes requests against actual system loads. The software also optimizes the performance of server clusters to further enhance processing efficiency.
By adopting Oracle Database, we have improved the reliability, performance, availability, and security of our databases, said Yuan. At the same time, we also saved on hardware costs.
Improved Performance, Enhanced Reliability
Fujian Unicom is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Unicom, one of the four major telecommunications carriers in China. Fujian Unicom provides local and long-distance telephone and cellular communication services, data communications, and internet services. Its network covers the province of Fujian in south east China and caters to 480 million customers.
One of the biggest challenges facing Fujian Unicom was how to better organize, manage, and use its huge volumes of business data. The companys database administrators were spending large amounts of time repartitioning databases and creating tables. This was a costly exercise that also hindered staff from focusing their attention on higher value tasks.
In 2003, Fujian Unicom engaged Oracle Certified Advantage Partner Neusoft Group Limited to simplify the management of its database environment based on Oracle Database and utilizing Oracle Partitioning.
We have seen significant improvements in database management since implementing the Oracle infrastructure, said Yuan Hong, BI principal, Fujian Unicom. Database administration is now a simpler process because many previously manual functions are automated. Neusoft was instrumental in helping us discover the functionality of the Oracle platform.
Oracle Customer:
Fujian unicom
Fuzhou, China
www.fjunicom.com.cn
Industry: Communications
Annual Revenue: US$501 million to $1 billion
Employees: 2,000 to 4,999
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Partitioning
Oracle Warehouse Builder
Oracle Partner:
Neusoft Group limited
Shenyang, China
www.neusoft.com
Fujian unicom Simplifies Database Management with Help from Neusoft Group Limited
Neusoft is considered one of the leading solution providers for the telecommunications industry in China. The company has provided advice and Oracle solutions that have helped us improve network operation and maintenance, reduce costs, and enhance customer service. Their expertise and professionalism is exemplary. yuan Hong, BI Principal, Fujian Unicom
FuJIAN uNICOM
27
In addition to Oracle Database, Neusoft deployed Oracle Partitioning and Oracle Warehouse Builder to make it easier for Fujian Unicom to manage its database environment. For example, instead of repartitioning its databases every month, Fujian Unicom uses Oracle Partitioning to complete this task daily, ensuring optimum database performance.
Oracle Data Warehouse Builder also introduced new efficiencies. Fujian Unicoms previous database development tools required the company to create multiple tables each month to accommodate growing data volumes. The power and flexibility of Oracle Data Warehouse Builder enabled Fujian Unicom to create only one table a month, lowering management complexity. In addition, the software further reduced staff workloads by cutting database development time.
Managing our databases is a simpler and much easier task than it was previously, said Yang. Now that our IT staff are freed from basic administrative tasks, they can focus on extending the Oracle system and ensuring we can make better use of the data we have.
We have built a business intelligence system based on the Oracle technology, he added. In-depth data mining will help us improve customer service, prevent the loss of subscribers, and strengthen our competitiveness.
Simplified database AdministrationKey Benefits:
Ensured high performance, availability,
and security of database environment
through the installation of Oracle
Database, which balances workloads
according to resource availability
Simplified database management by
implementing Oracle Partitioning, which
cut table creation and database
development time
Strengthened competitiveness by
building a business intelligence system
based on Oracle technology for in-depth
data analysis
Freed database administrators to
concentrate on higher value tasks
According to Yang, Oracle came highly recommended by Neusoft. Oracle technology features strongly in Neusoft solutions and the Neusoft team has always spoken highly of the products, he said. We know that Oracle is a world leader in database technology so we knew there would be no performance issues. Our experience has supported this.
Neusoft has supplied Oracle products to its customers since 1999. There are several reasons for using Oracle, said Song Haifei, BI principal, Neusoft Group Limited.
Firstly, Oracle Database is based on open standards so it supports multiple platforms and languages. This cannot be matched by embedded database systems. Secondly, Oracle can directly support multiple data sources, from the bottom-layer programming language to the top-layer application development environment.
Oracle also offers unique data copying technology, added Song. The backup server provides transaction-based backup, which means data can be copied to mobile users or to and from isomeric data sources. Its a lot more flexible than data-based backups.
As the most outstanding database server product on the market today, Oracle excels in data management. The software is designed to optimize the performance and price ratio of users systems, and that is a very compelling proposition for our customers.
Why Oracle?
FuJIAN uNICOM
28
Oracle Certified Advantage Partner Neusoft has provided technology services to Fujian Unicoms parent company China Unicom for three years. The companys integrated accounting system, client service system, and GSM, CDMA, and SMS tolling systems are used in more than 20 provinces where China Unicom has operations.
Neusoft is considered one of the leading solution providers for the telecommunications industry in China, said Yang. The company has provided advice and solutions that have helped us improve network operation and maintenance, reduce costs, and enhance customer service. Their expertise and professionalism is exemplary.
Why Neusoft Group limited?
Before beginning the implementation project, Neusoft completed a review of Fujian Unicoms existing IT infrastructure to determine what components were needed. The company then developed an implementation plan in conjunction with Fujian Unicom.
Neusoft engineers and technicians installed the Oracle infrastructure over a period of one week. This involved creating table spaces, database partitioning, indexing, and storage planning.
Implementation Process
Fujian Unicom provides local and long-distance telephone and cellular communication services, data communications, and internet services to 480 million customers in the province of Fujian in south east China.
FuJIAN uNICOM
29
Reduce IT costs
Scale systems to enable expansion into more countries and support more frequent reporting
Manage batch production of more than 100,000 offline market research reports and enable online client access to the most up-to-date information
Cope with several thousand SQL queries per report
Challenges
GfK Group is one of the largest market research companies in the world. Its Retail and Technology division provides information services on marketing, logistics, and sales to industry and retail companies worldwide. Industry vendors operating in the consumer technology markets receive comprehensive reports to continuously track and manage product and pricing policies, advertising, distribution, sales, and logistics. GfK monitors approximately 350,000 stores in more than 70 countries.
Created the StarTrack system which uses Oracle Database to produce local and global reports for more than 300 product groups
Enabled expansion to more than 70 countries
Installed a scalable core architecture with two HP Superdomes running Oracle Database with more than 2TB of storage each
Dedicated one database to data loading, transformation, and master data management and the other to data ready for production in an internal data warehouse, minimizing interference between data load and reporting
Created a farm of 64 HP c-class blades running separate Oracle instances that manages report mass production and keeps batch load off the main systems for high performance
Provided scalable, reliable external access to client information with another 4TB Oracle Database deployed on Oracle Real Application Clusters with HP ProLiants
Met performance requirements with optimized data structures based on composite partitioning and bitmap indexes used in all databases
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
GfK Group Retail and Technology
Nuremberg, Germany
www.gfkrt.com
Industry: Professional Services
Annual Revenue: US$1.5 billion
Employees: 10,000
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database Enterprise Edition
Oracle Partitioning
Oracle Real Application Clusters
GfK Group Retail and Technology Scales Data Systems to Expand Services to More Than 70 Countries
Oracle has enabled us to expand our business over the last decade to a global level and will continue to play a vital role in GfK Retail and Technologys business success. Prof. dr. Thomas Ruf, Managing Director, GfK Retail and Technology
GFK GROuP RETAIl ANd TECHNOlOGy
30
Enhance database performance and allow users to retrieve business information to support key strategic initiatives where and when they need it
Increase data availability when managing large data volumes
Maximize legacy infrastructure investments by implementing flexible and interoperable database system and software applications
Challenges
Founded in 1931, Giant Eagle, Inc. has grown to be the number one supermarket retailer in the Pittsburgh region, and is one of the nations largest food retailers. The company consists of 161 corporate and 62 independently owned and operated supermarkets (with a 75,000 square-foot prototype) and more than 140 fuel and convenience stores throughout Maryland, western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and north central West Virginia. Giant Eagle is also a wholesaler to licensed stores and sells groceries to other retail chains. According to Forbes, Giant Eagle, Inc. is the 33rd largest privately held corporation in the country.
Implemented Oracle Database and Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus, allowing the organization to access secure, reliable, and accurate data (20TB) that drives critical business decisions daily
Standardized on Oracle Database as the back-end to virtually every application, reducing maintenance requirements
Increased data availability and delivered the response times corporate users demanded for data access
Improved data accuracy and enhanced market analysis capabilities, allowing Giant Eagle to make customer-facing decisions more quickly
Improved the companys customer loyalty program (Giant Eagle Advantage Card) which includes more than 3.2 million households
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
Giant Eagle, Inc.
Pittsburgh, PA
www.gianteagle.com
Industry: Retail
Annual Revenue: US$7.1 billion
Employees: 36,000
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Enterprise Manager
Oracle Business Intelligence
Enterprise Edition Plus
Oracle Collaboration Suite
Oracle Business Analysis Suite
Giant Eagle, Inc. Implements Back-End System to Improve Performance and Data Reliability
GIANT EAGlE, INC.
31
Consolidate disparate data formats into a single data warehouse
Leverage the data to better understand and service customers
Provide a robust platform that delivers high availability and minimizes data loss in the event of a disaster
Deliver regular and customized management reports, including what if scenarios and customer churn analysis
Secure acceptance from staff and train them to use all the features of the new system
Challenges
Grameenphone Ltd. is the leading telecommunications service provider in Bangladesh and manages millions of customer and network-related data records every day. The business employs 5,000 people to service more than 15 million cell phone subscribers. It introduced a range of telecommunications services in Bangladesh, including EDGE, SMS, fax and data transmission, and a 24-hour call center.
Engaged Oracle Certified Advantage Partner IBCS-PRIMAX Software to develop a data warehouse based on Oracle Database 10g with a built-in business intelligence solution, the first such solution developed in Bangladesh
Gained a high performing and scalable solution that improved the management of large data volumes
Incorporated a data mining engine that enables the development of what if scenarios to determine customer churn and the revenue impact of new services, and which allows staff to undertake historical and trend analysis
Configured database for cold failover to ensure availability should system resources encounter problems
Ensured users can access individual customer records during online transactional processing without affecting the online analytical processing of the data warehouse itself
Delivered reports customized to the individual requirements of staff and senior managers
Simplified management by adopting Oracle Enterprise Manager to oversee data warehouse environment
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
Grameenphone ltd.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
www.grameenphone.com
Industry: Communications
Annual Revenue: US$600 million
Employees: 5,000
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle Partitioning
Oracle OLAP
Oracle Data Mining
Oracle Diagnostics Pack
Oracle Tuning Pack
Oracle Enterprise Manager
Oracle Application Server
Oracle Warehouse Builder
Oracle Discoverer
Oracle Developer Suite
Oracle Partner:
IBCS-PRIMAx Software (Bangladesh)
ltd
www.ibcs-primax.com
Grameenphone ltd. Deploys Data Warehouse to Store and Manage Millions of Records
Oracles database and business intelligence solution has enabled us to manage our business and service our customers better while helping us set a strategic direction for Grameenphone. Syed zahirul Islam, Head of DW/BI
GRAMEENPHONE lTd.
32
Produce performance and risk analyses and extensive finance-specific evaluations for the Allianz Group
Enable continual expansion of hardware architecture to accommodate increasing demand
Integrate a variety of new source systems into financial database
Challenges
IDS GmbHAnalysis and Reporting Services (IDS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Allianz SE. The company, with headquarters in Munich and Frankfurt, specializes in the provision of investment management services, both for the capital investments of the Allianz Group and for external customers. The Allianz Group conducts extensive investment management activities for the assets of its insurance companies, as well as asset management. To support these activities, IDS operates and maintains a financial database containing data on all capital investments managed by the Allianz Group worldwide at the individual investment level.
Worked with ISE Grfenberg to enhance a central investment data warehouse system to consolidate and adjust/augment all relevant data and make it available for analyses and evaluations
Provided a fail-safe, fast, flexible, and scalable IT infrastructure with Oracle Real Application Clusters
Consolidated all relevant data from 200 source systems with Oracle Data Warehouse
Provided access to data for approximately 1,500 end users
Realized a 400% improvement in processor performance using Oracle Real Application Clusters
Ensured system scalability to offer future required services in the usual high quality
Enabled rapid system maintenance without downtime
Solutions
Oracle Customer:
IdS GmbHAnalysis and Reporting
Services (IdS)
Munich, Germany
www.allianz.com
Industry: Financial Services
Employees: 100
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Data Warehouse
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle Partner:
ISE Grfenberg
www.ise-informatik.de
IdS GmbHAnalysis and Reporting Services (IdS) Enhances Central Investment Data Warehouse System with Scalable IT Solution
IdS GMBHANAlySIS ANd REPORTING SERvICES (IdS)
With the new Oracle Data Warehouse cluster architecture, we were able to scale our system to suit current and future requirementsthereby saving both money and time. Holger Haun, Managing Director, IDS GmbH, Analysis and Reporting Services
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Oracle Customer:
KTF
Seoul, Korea
www.ktf.com
Industry: Communications
Annual Revenue: US$5.6 billion
Employees: 2,583
Oracle Products & Services:
Oracle Database
Oracle Real Application Clusters
Oracle OLAP
Established in 1997, KTF is a leading player in Koreas mobile communications industry. The company set a record by securing more than 9 million subscribers within its first three years of operation. It now boasts 12 million subscribers in Korea.
KTF has implemented a powerful wireless network and advanced mobile application technologies, allowing it to offer a range of innovative services. This includes portable mobile phone numbers, handsets with special functions and designs, services tailored to customers different needs and lifestyles, and competitive pricing models.
In the mobile telecommunications industry, proper data analysis is critical to customer relationship management (CRM) and business operations. KTF maintains a custom data warehousing solution called Infobank for in-depth data analysis. The system is popular with KTF staff because it allows them to perform detailed data mining with ease.
The system is used to analyze customer profiles, revenue, and call pattern tracking, among other functions. The information extracted from the data warehouse assists in decision-making in critical business areas such as strategy planning and service development. The information also helps KTF develop one-to-one marketing campaigns that differentiate the company from its competitors.
KTFs Highly Available Data Warehouse Improves Marketing Campaigns
To optimize the performance of our data warehouse, we used Oracle Real Application Clusters to boost system availability and stability. More efficient workload distribution has cut system downtime to less than five minutes. Tae-Jae lee, Head of IT Infrastructure Team, Information System Division, KTF
Because data analysis is a critical function within KTF, the company began searching for a solution that would make the best use of available technology to maximize the performance, reliability, and availability of its data warehousing system.
KTF believed that clustering its data warehouse environment would be key to improving system performance and flexibility.
After deploying Oracle Real Application Clusters, the availability of KTF Infobank was significantly enhanced. The average system downtime was reduced from 30 minutes to less than five minutes. Downtime for enterprise application integration (EAI) was reduced to less than five minutes, while extraction, transformation, and transport (ETT) dropped to less than one minute. In some cases, online analytic processing (OLAP) was reduced to within 30 seconds.
In addition, the load balancing features of Oracle Real Application Clusters allow resources to be managed more efficiently and system usage to be optimized. In OLAP, distributing the workload over multiple servers improved performance by 9%, while an average 12% improvement in performance was achieved in ETT batching.
System downtime Reduced to Five Minutes
KTF
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Key Benefits:
Improved data warehouse
performance with Oracle clustering
technology, which distributes workload
across multiple servers
Reduced system downtime to less
than five minutes
Enhanced business efficiency through
better system reliability
KTF is now considering deploying a business intelligence (BI) portal. The portal would allow the existing database and OLAP tools to be customized according to the users needs. The enhanced system would also provide managers and staff with real-time access to data, including customer feedback. Quicker response to customers will result in higher satisfaction rates.
Future Plans
Established in 1997, KTF has grown to be a leading mobile telecommunications service provider with 12 million subscribers in Korea. KTF was ranked first among mobile telecommunication service providers in Business Weeks top 100 global IT companies in 2002.
KTF
Oracle Real Application Clusters was chosen for its ability to prevent errors by spreading the database workload across multiple servers. If one server in the cluster were to fail, the workload is automatically shifted to another server. Other points of selection included the technologys security, performance, and scalability.
Why Oracle?
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ExECuTIvE SuMMARy
HIGHlIGHTS
COMPANy PROFIlE
LGR Telecommunications (LGR) is a specialized solutions provider to the global telecommunications industry, offering a unique business solution that taps directly into the source of each customer interaction with the network by accessing the call data record (CDR) it creates. LGRs approach intelligently captures CDR data in realtime, appends additional business information to the record, stores the data within a comprehensive Oracle data warehouse solution, and provides real-time analysis to the telecom service provider.
Through LGRs core offering, CDRlive, telecommunication service providers can use information carried in each phone call to gain marketing, fi nance, legal, customer service, and sales insights that were never before possible. The company today serves many of the largest and most successful global telecommunications providers, including AT&T, Telstra, Vodafone, MTN and TrueMove.
With its inception in 1998, LGR had identified the opportunity to deliver new insights to telecommunications service providers. LGRs industry-veteran founders realized that phone calls generated treasure troves of untapped customer data in CDRs. However, uncovering this data required heavy-duty IT systems and storage for the hundreds of millions or even billions of CDRs generated each day. The enormous amount of data, requiring near-real-time processing, was beyond database capabilities at that time. In addition telecommunications providers faced the challenge of cost-effectively storing and analyzing the massive amount of data available to them.lGR Telecommunications
Atlanta, GA
LGR is a specialist ICT solutions
provider to the global
telecommunications industry. Its core
business is the supply and
development of CDRlive, a premier
data warehousing, analysis, and
reporting solution.
Industry: Communications
Employees: 100+
lGR Telecommunications Improves the Power and Versatility of Its Solutions with a Data Warehouse
Facilitated a 40% compound annual
growth rate of subscribers over the
past 10 years without presenting
technical challenges
Delivered more than 550% ROI with
extraordinary insights into revenue
and call usage for additional revenue
capture and other revenue assurance
benefits
Provided more than 300% ROI in less
than 12 months by eliminating churn
and accelerating customer acquisition
in corporate accounts
Processed a peak of 13 billion records
per day in 2008, with an inc