Sony Canada

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Collecting large amounts of operational data is useful only if you can get the information you need, when you need it. Over time, the numerous databases that support a comprehensive SAP solution at Sony Canada had grown to 1.2 TB (including 1 table that was 170 million rows). This huge volume of data slowed performance to the point that employees frequently spent five minutes or more on each database query. Not only did the lengthy searches discourage people from taking advantage of all available information, but they also diminished productivity. For example, some managers spent time every week processing data in advance to ensure satisfactory performance. Developers also spent considerable time modifying queries and applications to help boost performance.

In 2006, Sony Canada began to investigate SAP NetWeaver Business Warehouse Accelerator (SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator) software. Available on multiple Linux-based 64-bit Intel hardware appliances including Sun, HP, and IBM, this software speeds database queries by storing highly compressed data cubes in memory. Similar to a Web search engine, users can quickly query and analyze massive amounts of data in seconds without being constrained by predefined application queries. After careful analysis, Sony Canada chose to deploy SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator on Sun hardware. Sun partners with SAP, and joins forces to provide customers with a complete and cost-effective solution that includes technologies, implementation services, and a single line of support. In addition to this compelling offering, Sun systems and the Solaris OS support all of Sony Canada’s SAP applications today. “We’ve had a good working relationship with Sun for our existing architecture, and the people from Sun and SAP seemed to be the best for BWA,” explains Wayne Ground, Chief Information Officer at Sony Canada.

In April 2008, consultants from Sun and SAP worked with IT employees from Sony Canada to deploy the new solution in three days. Sun engineers from the Sun Solution Center for SAP Competency installed and configured eight Sun Blade X6250 server modules with Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors in a Sun Blade 6000 Chassis and installed one Sun StorageTek 6140 array. SAP consultants installed SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator on the server modules and configured the software to connect to the company’s SAP applications. The SAP consultants also configured the software to load 20 of the largest data cubes into server memory and to store accelerator indexes that describe data cube tables on the array. SAP consultants trained IT personnel on the new solution and returned six weeks after deployment to fill in knowledge gaps.

As a result of the new solution, employees can perform queries dramatically faster than before, even though 30–40 people use the system simultaneously. “Some queries that used to take six to seven minutes now take less than 10 seconds,” says Ground. “With the faster performance, managers can access the data they need while in meetings, rather than spending preparation time before the meeting processing data.” In addition, developers have been able to increase their productivity. “With SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator, you don’t have to worry about what the user request is because all of the information is there,” explains Ground. “This means we don’t have to spend as much time modifying queries and tuning applications.” The system’s speed also increases productivity. “When it takes less time to get the information you need, people take the time to do more analysis,” notes Ground. “Ultimately, that should enhance the quality of decisions.”

Along with its deployment of SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator, Sony Canada has replaced some of its older V880 and V450 servers that support SAP software and Web applications with Sun Fire T2000 and Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 servers running the Solaris 10 OS. Other Sun Fire E2900, T2000, T5120 servers were also purchased for new requirements for SAP NetWeaver Platform, SAP NetWeaver Portal with Search and Classification (TREX) and SAP NetWeaver Process Integration.

The servers — and the systems that support SAP NetWeaver BW Accelerator — are protected by SunSpectrum Gold Support. Along with offering faster performance through chip multithreading, the new CoolThreads servers require less space and energy than their predecessors. “We’ve actually cut our datacenter in half over the last six months,” concludes Ground. “Sun hardware is quite reliable and is competitively priced. Sun support is also very good. Although we’ve continued to expand our application footprint, our costs are continually coming down. We attribute part of our cost savings to Sun hardware and maintenance.