Sagent Technology has announced Sagent Automation, a data mart management tool that enables the automation of complex processes throughout the data mart environment.
Sagent Automation is an event-driven scheduler that provides a visual environment for automating the loading of data into data marts and the distribution of information to end-users. By adding features such as parallel scheduling, automated troubleshooting, and broadcast messaging to Sagent`s integrated functionality for building and accessing data marts, Sagent Automation can reduce the administrative burden of deploying data mart-based business intelligence applications.
"Sagent has a track record of delivering products that make life easier for IT professionals," says Ken Gardner, president and CEO at Sagent. "Sagent Automation is another example of Sagent`s commitment to bringing power and ease of use to the process of bringing data marts to the Web."
"Sagent Automation delivers more functionality and tight operating system integration than other schedulers I`ve seen," says Ralph Kimball, president of Ralph Kimball Associates, Inc, a data warehousing consultancy. "Other products provide a strategy for load scheduling - usually simple, serial execution of load tasks - or server-side scheduling, but none combines the product and operating tasks with conditional logic to provide true `lights-out automation`."
Sagent Automation extends beyond simple, serial scheduling to deliver the parallel scheduling capabilities necessary to automate data mart deployments. With Sagent Automation multiple tasks can be scheduled to launch in parallel.
By not limiting scheduling to a simple series of tasks, Sagent Automation allows administrators to create automation flows that enable the "lights-out" execution of complex processes. For example, a data mart load requires that multiple tables be loaded into a database, where a load may depend on the success of a previous load. Sagent Automation employs conditional logic and parallel scheduling capabilities that enable even the most complex load scenario to be launched and executed automatically.
Sagent Automation enables the automatic, scheduled delivery of corporate information via standard communication channels, such as e-mail and pager. By linking data mart functionality to network messaging features, Sagent Automation allows corporations to broadcast reports to users. This extends the value of data mart deployments by making information available to any user who needs it. Sagent Automation also takes advantage of event-triggered messaging to provide IT administrators with up-to-the-minute notification of events taking place in the data mart environment.
Troubleshooting
Sagent Automation executes troubleshooting routines, reducing the time database administrators spend tracking down and fixing problems. By providing fine-grained control over not only the Sagent application, but also the operating system, the network, and the database, Sagent Automation allows IT administrators to create fully automated scenarios that can execute system-wide troubleshooting tasks.
For example, should a data mart load process fail in the middle of the night, Sagent Automation will run a predetermined sequence of processes in order to fix the problem and run the load successfully. Tasks such as checking disk space, pinging servers, deleting temporary files, and rebooting the system can all be executed automatically.
Honeywell-Measurex, headquartered in Cupertino, California, is the leading supplier of measurement and industrial automation systems that unify business and control information throughout a plant or mill. Honeywell Measurex is vitally interested in implementing a smooth running, lights-out process for deploying data marts to the Web. Sagent Automation is a big part of their plans.
"Sagent Automation makes me a more effective data warehouse manager because it notifies me of any load problems when they happen, not the following day when a user calls up and tells me there`s a problem," says Joe Sims, data warehousing manager at Honeywell Measurex. "In addition, Sagent Automation is a major time saver for us because it allows us to run loads in parallel, rather than sequentially. It has cut our data warehouse load time almost in half. We anticipate the data delivery function to end-users to be a major competitive advantage, as well."
Sagent Automation is available immediately.
* Sagent Technology is represented in South Africa by 360 Solutions.
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