BI goes virtual

Business Objects has joined the growing list of software companies offering virtual appliances compatible with the VMware infrastructure, according to InformationWeek.

Business Objects, the largest pure-play BI vendor, announced this week its first virtual appliance, which it will sell both direct and through VMware's Virtual Appliance Marketplace.

A business with a virtualisation infrastructure in place can install a pre-configured, pre-optimised version of Business Objects Crystal Decisions, including a ready-to-go database, and the proper security protocols, on any available box in its data centre. More of the company's offerings will be available as virtual appliances next year, the company said.

Sybase, in conjunction with Sun Microsystems and BMMSoft, announced that Sybase IQ powers the world's largest data warehouse, says CNN Money.

This was noted in the independently audited report, "Sun Data Warehouse Reference Architecture for Structured and Unstructured Data", released in August.

The world's largest data warehouse depends on Sybase IQ's compression capability to store one petabyte of raw data including unstructured data (e-mails, documents and multimedia) using only 160 terabytes of storage.

Business Objects expects to see increased demand for business intelligence solutions from the financial sector, as companies look to meet regulatory requirements and maximise the return from their core banking data, says Arabian Business.

Andy Hirst, senior director of financial services industry marketing at Business Objects, said the market leaders are beginning to understand the potential for improving their business reporting and analysis.

"The Middle East is a little bit behind, but compliance is something that organisations have to do if they want to sell into global markets," Hirst said.