STORIS Management Systems has introduced a new database model, built around Microsoft’s SQL Server, that it says will significantly enhance a manager’s ability to quickly analyze very large data sets.
The STORIS Data Warehouse (SDW) is designed to optimize database query and reporting tools by off-loading information to a separate Microsoft SQL Server. The result, the company said, is that processing time for report requests can be reduced from hours on retailers’ present transaction systems to seconds using SDW.
To underscore the point, STORIS output a two-year comparison of sales histories from one of its customers that comprised 4.7 million records. The query took 15 minutes to complete on an IBM S70 system, but ran in less than 10 seconds utilizing the SDW.
STORIS says the system’s other advantages include the use of low-cost, high-speed PC-based disk storage units in place of higher-cost Unix-based disks; its scalability; and its compliance with any third-party PC-based client applications, including Excel, Access, Microsoft Data Analyzer and Crystal Reports.
