2010 peer insights report for isv executives - sap · since meter readers are essentially cash...
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PEER INSIGHTS REPORT
www.sybase.com/ianywhere
2010 Peer Insights Report For ISV ExecutivesDatabase Design Decisions that Helped 5 ISV Execs Control Costs and Protect Margins
0205081011
In this Report...ISV ExEcuTIVES PEER INSIGHTS
DVTel: Millions of Transactions Written Daily with No Database Management Burden withBertWheeler,DirectorofEngineering,AccessControl
Neptune Technology Group Inc: Switching to an Embedded Database at Low Risk, Low Cost withJonGreisz,DirectorofSoftwareandSystemsEngineering
Mobile Computing Corporation (MCC): Embedded Database Wins the “Build vs. Buy” Debate withCamillePeters,GeneralManagerandCalinPleava,Director,ResearchandDevelopment
Trimble: Embedded Database Best Suited for Enterprise Mobility withMatthewBrogie,DirectorofProductManagement
HealthWyse: Embedded Database Brings Development and Cost Efficiencies withAndrewS.Braunstein,CTO
PLuS...
Making The Choice to Embed:WhattheAnalystsSay...Page01
Managing Margin Erosion:6HiddenCoststhatReduceYourMargin...Page04
The “FREE” Myth Debunked:ACostComparisonofDatabaseOptions...Page07
Top 5 Considerations for Mobilizing ...Page09
Questions To Ask When Choosing an Embedded Technology Partner ...Page12
Making The Choice to Embed: WhattheAnalystsSayHIGHLy-ScaLabLE, LOwER-cOST SOLuTIONS: THE RIGHT cHOIcE FOR cuRRENT budGET REaLITIES aNd FuTuRE PROOFING
Whatapplicationdevelopmentdecisionhassurgedtobecomeatoppriorityformanyoftoday'sISVexecutives?Thedatabasedecision.
Widevariancesinperformanceandcostamongtoday’sdatabasesolutionsareforcingISVexecutivestochoosewisely.MarkettrendsrevealmoreandmoreISVsarechoosinganembeddeddatabasesolution.
Globally,themarketforembeddeddatabasesolutionshasgrown,with12%annualglobalgrowthfrom2007-2008asmeasuredbyindustryanalystfirmIDC.Whatisdrivingthisgrowth?AccordingtoIDC,"Thecontinuingneedforpackaged,zeroadministrationsolutionstobedeployedinbusinessesandprofessionalofficeswheretherearenoITstaffwillcontinuetodriveembeddedDBMSgrowth.Furthermore,theadditionofbillionsofdevicestothenetworkedgewillaccelerate,drivingdemandfordatabasesthatrunonmobiledevices,synchronizationsoftware,anddatabasesthatmanageandcoordinatethedatarunningonmobiledevices.EmbeddedDBMShasabigstakeinthisarea."1
Thisreportprovidesinsightintotheimportanceofselectingatechnologypartnerthatisfutureproofaswellasconsiderationsformobilizinganembeddeddatabaseapplication.
Whatarethekeysuccessfactorsofembeddingadatabasesolution?IDCidentifieszeroadministration,scalabilityandbroadsupportofmanydatatypes.TheISVsprofiledinthisreportagree,havingrealizedtheadvantagesthatthesecharacteristicsbring.
ThisreportdetailsthevariousbenefitsthatfiveISVshaveexperiencedsincemakingthedecisiontoembed,withaspecialfocusonthecost-savingrealitiesthatinfluencedtheirdecision.*1 Idc, worldwide Embedded dbMS 2010-2013 Forecast and 2008 Vendor Shares, doc # 221438, January 2010
It seems likely that applications and tools with embedded databases that require no DBA support will find increasing favor. – IDC
“”
01 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
Peer Insight #1—dVTel: Millions of Transactions Written Daily with No Database Management BurdencHaLLENGE
Process millions of transactions per day using a single database Foronecustomer,theDVTelapplicationdrivesthelargestsingle-unifiedaccesscontrolsystemintheworld.Thisimplementationprocessesone-to-threemilliontransactionsperday,whichtranslatestohundredsoftransactionspersecond.
TheaccesscontroldivisionofDVTelswitchedtoaSQLAnywhereLinuxarchitecture.Aspartoftheswitch,DVTelwantedtoembedanenterprise-caliberdatabaseintheirapplicationwhichwouldallowenhancedsecurityoveropen-sourceoptions—minimizingdevelopmentcostsandlearningcurveastheyswitchedtothenewdatabasewasanimportantconsideration.
SOLuTION
“WeselectedSybaseSQLAnywherebecauseweneededahigh-performanceenterprise-leveldatabasebackedbyacompanywithaprovensupportinfrastructure,”saysWheeler.Anopensourcedatabasewasnotaviableoptionduetotherequirementsofsupportingmission-criticalaccesscontrolimplementationsandatsuchahighvolumeoftransactions.
Whilecomparingcosts,WheelerdiscoveredtheongoinglicensingfeesrequiredbyseveralofthelargedatabasevendorswouldultimatelymandateapriceincreaseoftheDVTelapplication,but“withnoupsideindatabaseperformance,”hesays.“Fromacostandfeaturemix,theSybasedatabasesolutionwonhandsdown.Itwastheonlysolutionthatallowedustoprotectourmarginwithoutsacrificingperformance.WetestedtheSybasedatabasewith800transactionspersecond,farbeyondourneeds,andexperiencednoissues.”
WheelerpointsoutthedevelopmentcostsandlearningcurveduringtheswitchtoSQLAnywhereonLinuxwerekepttoaminimum.“ProceduresandtriggerstranslatedeasilyintoSQLAnywhere.Infact,thedatabasewastheeasiestpieceofthemigration,”hesays.
NaME: BERTWHEELER
TITLE: DIRECTOROFEnGInEERInG,
ACCESSCOnTROL
cOMPaNy: DVTEL
Background
DVTelisaproviderofIP,videoand
accesscontrolsoftwaresolutions.
InstallationsintheAccessControl
industryinclude:applicationsthat
powerbiometriccontrols,card
readers,videomonitoring,andvideo
analyticssystems.Customersinclude
Fortune50companies,U.S.and
foreignmilitaryagencies,medical
organizations,schoolsandcolleges.
02 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
Bert’s Advice for ISVs SERVIcE cuSTOMERS bETTER by addRESSING THEIR REaL NEEdS “Whencustomersspecifythatapplicationsmustutilizetheirexistingdatabaseplatform,whatitreallymeansisthattheydon’twanttoaddadditionalburdentotheirITinfrastructure.Thedatabaseisnottheissueatall;it’sthepresumptionthatanewdatabasewillfurthertaxtheirITresources.Withanembeddeddatabaseattheheartofourapplication,it’sbeeneasyforustowininstallationsbydemonstratingthattheapplicationhasno—absolutelyzero—impactoncustomerITresourcesbecausethereisnomaintenancetheyneedtoperform.”
REcOGNIzE THaT buRdENING cuSTOMERS cOMES wITH REPERcuSSIONS WheelerpointsoutthatitistheISVthatultimatelypaysforoffloadingdatabasemanagementtocustomers,inthewayofmarginerosion,reducedcompetitiveness,orincreasedsalescomplexity.
“Offloadingthedatabaseinstallationandmaintenanceisaburdentocustomers.Ifyourapplicationputsthisburdenonthem,youhavetofindotherwaystomakeyourproductmoreattractive,usuallybycompensatingforthisburdenwithalowerpricepoint.
Asatangibleexample,wecompetewithsomeapplicationsthatinclude1000+pageinstallationguides,mostofwhichareinstructionsforinstallingandmaintainingthedatabase.Incontrast,wehavenodatabaseinstallationandmaintenancedocumentation.Whichsolutionismoreappealingtothecustomer?”Bertseesabetterout-of-boxexperienceasawaytodifferentiate.
“Embeddingadatabaseintotheapplicationitselfsimplyreducesthecomplexityofthesale,becausethereisnodecision-makingrequiredfortheselection,installationandmaintenanceofadatabase.”
IMPROVE THE aPPLIcaTION ITSELF wITH a FEaTuRE-RIcH, RELIabLE daTabaSE “Lookforwaystoimproveyourapplicationbyembeddinglogicintothedatabase.Asanexample,weusetheenterprisefeaturesofSQLAnywhereasareal-timedrivingengineoftheapplication,actuallyminimizingourGUIdevelopmentasaresult.Forouraccesscontrolapplication,it’stheuser’spressingofanenterkeywhichfiresoffaseriesoftriggersthatcanopendoors,movecamerasorsendoutsecurityalertsinrealtime,withnoadditionalGUImanipulationrequired.”
03 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
2 MaJOR bENEFITS FOR ISV cuSTOMERS
REDuCE CuSToMER ACQuISITIoN CoSTS Byembeddingadatabaseyouhavetheabilitytolowerthetotalcostofownershipofyourapplication.Yourcustomerswillnotsuffertheaddedexpenseofpurchasingathirdpartydatabase,ortheextraefforttosetupanewdatabaseforyourapplication,makingyoursolutionmorecompetitiveinthemarket.Youcanalsoretaintheprofitmarginfromthedatabaselicensesthatwouldotherwisegotoadatabasevendor.Withanembeddeddatabaseyoucanpriceaccordinglyandseeyourtoplinerevenuegoup.
IMPRoVE youR CuSToMER'S ouT-oF-Box ExPERIENCE Becauseanembeddeddatabaseinstallsunderthecoversalongwithyourapplication,youcaneliminatethetime-consumingtaskofsettingupanexternaldatabase.Thiscanbeespeciallyimportantintheevaluationstagebecauseitallowsyourprospectivecustomertofocusexclusivelyonthevalueofyourapplicationwithouthavingtopurchase,installorconfigureonexternaldatabase.
Managing Margin Erosion: 6 Hidden Costs that Reduce Your Margin Itemizingthe6hiddencostsofdesigningapplicationsthatsupportmultipledatabasesillustrateshoweasilyanISV’scostscanswell.Often,ISVswhobelievetheyare“runninglean”actuallysuffertheseinterrelatedinefficienciesthatmaynotbenoticeableduringeverydayoperations.
HERE aRE THE 6 HIddEN cOSTS—aNd THE PRObLEMS THEy cauSE:
1. Engineering costs of supporting multiple databases Requiringengineerstodeveloptherequisiteworkingknowledgeofmultipledatabases(bothinitiallearningandongoinglearningtostayproficient)pullstheireffortawayfromtheprofitableactivityofapplicationdesign.Byembedding,youcontrolthedatabasethatmanagesyourapplicationdata.Youwillknowtheexactversionofthespecificdatabaseyourapplicationsupports,whichallowsyoutodevelopandtestwiththatonespecificversion.Relyingonexternaldatabasesoftenmeansdevelopingandtestingwithalargelistofdatabasesaswellasmultipleversionsofeachdatabase.
2. Costs of optimizing the application for each database Inadditiontogainingknowledgeofmultipledatabases,engineeringteamsmustensuretheapplicationintegratesandoperatesatoptimallevelsofefficiencywitheachdatabasesupported.
3. Extended release schedules Withmultipledatabasestolearn,design,optimizeandtroubleshoot,thedevelopmentscheduleiselongatedwhichresultsinextendedreleaseschedulesand,ultimately,longertime-to-revenues.
4. Increased sales cycle Anotherfactorwhichpushesrevenuerealizationoutfurtheristhedelaystodecisionmakingthatoccurwhenyourendcustomersareforcedtoevaluate,selectandimplementathirdpartydatabaseontheirown.Byremovingtheexternaldatabasefromtheequation,salesopportunitiesarenotheldupwhileyourprospectevaluatesdatabasesor,muchworse,waitstohearfromanotherdepartmentthatholdsfinalapprovalontheexternaldatabasepurchase.
04 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
5. Increased customer support for multiple versions of multiple databases Requiringthatyoursupportstaffbecomeexpertsonmultipleversionsofmultipledatabasesputsyouatthemercyofnewdatabasereleaseschedules,forcingyoutoinvesttimeinlearningaboutchangesandenhancementsbeforeyourcustomersencounterproblemsandissueswiththechanges.
6. Risk of damage to customer relationships Dedicatedsupportstafftendtoofferfaster,highqualityresolutiontocustomerissues.Increasingthenumberofdatabasesolutionstobemasteredcandilutetheexpertise,burdeningthesupportteamandultimatelyjeopardizingtheservicelevelsandqualityofsupportforcustomers.
Peer Insight #2—Neptune Technology Group Inc: Switching to an Embedded Database at Low Risk, Low CostcHaLLENGES
unstable database was costly—for Neptune and their customers Databaseinstabilitywascausingproblemsforneptune’sclients.Itwasnotuncommonforneptune’sengineerstospenddaysresolvingissueswithunloadingofdatafrommeterreadingdevicestotheircustomers'billingsystems,pullingthemawayfromtheircorework.
Sincemeterreadersareessentiallycashregistersforutilities,andcustomerscan’tbebilledaccuratelywithoutreadingthemeter,anydelaysincapturingdataimmediatelyimpactscashflowandcausesaccountingandcustomersupportcoststorise.
Database was not scalable Whenoneofneptune’scustomerswasscheduledtoscaleupfrom400usersto1000,neptunerealizedtheircurrentdatabasesolution(aproprietarydatabaseformatfromasmalldatabaseprovider)wouldnotbeuptothetask.
SOLuTION
neptuneswitchedtoanembeddeddatabase,selectingSQLAnywhereafterevaluatingotheroptions.“WeselectedSQLAnywhereforitsreliability,dataintegrity,performance,andsynchronizationcapability,”saysGreisz.“Thedatabaseisperfectforsmalltomid-sizeimplementationsandevenscalesuptolargedeployments.”
PerhapsthebesttestamenttothestabilityoftheSQLAnywheredatabaseisitsabilitytoprovidereliableoutcomesforFieldnet®users.JohnSala,SystemsConsultantatAlleghenyEnergy(aFieldnet®customerwith250fieldworkers)commentsonthisreliability,saying,“WiththeFieldnet®system,runningSQLAnywhere’sUltraLitedatabase,Idon’tthinkwe’vehadasinglecrash.”Forthisclient,theentiredatatransferprocesstakesabout20secondsperhandheld,withasmanyas250handheldsfullyunloadedin20minutes.
NaME: JOnGREISz
TITLE: DIRECTOROFSOFTWARE
AnDSYSTEMSEnGInEERInG
cOMPaNy: nEPTUnE
TECHnOLOGYGROUPInC.
Background
Fieldnet®isamobileapplication
fromneptuneTechnologyGroup
thatautomatesfieldservicework.
Fortheirutilityindustryclients,this
workincludesthecollectionofenergy
usagefrommeters,wherefield
employeescollectmeterreadsfrom
customerseachdayusinghandheld
devices.Fieldnet®automates
theentireprocess,includingthe
collection,consolidationand
transmissionofmeterdatatotheir
customers’informationsystems
forbillgeneration.
05 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
Jon’s Advice for ISVs LIMIT NuMbER OF daTabaSES yOu SuPPORT “Weliketohaveamasteryofthedatabaseswesupport.Youcan’tachievethattothefullestextentifyousupportmultipledatabases.Limitingsupporttooneor,atmost,twodatabaseshasengineering,maintenance,andtechnicalsupportbenefits.”
cHaLLENGE yOuR “cOST OF SwITcHING” aSSuMPTIONS “WhenswitchingtoSQLAnywhere,weoriginallyexpectedtrainingtobeaproblematicissue,becausewealreadyhadaworkingsysteminstalledonthousandsofclienthandhelds,”saysGreisz.“Asitturnedout,weexperiencedvirtuallynotrainingissues,aquicklearningcurve,andacompleteswitchoverachievedinamatterofweeks.”
Thisincludedoneweekofconsultinghelponthenewdatabasedesign,andoneweekoftraining.“WehadanapplicationupandrunningandourteamtrainedonSQLAnywhere,allwithinsixweeks,”Greiszreports.
cONSIdER ONGOING MaINTENaNcE cOSTS “Whendecidingonwhichdatabasetosupport,Irecommendyouasktwoquestions.First,howlongwillittaketolearnandimplement?Second,whatkindofongoingresourceswillitrequiretomanageandsupport?Youmightbeabletoaffordtheupfrontcostsofswitching.Butdoyoufullyunderstand—andcanyoucostjustify—theongoingmaintenancecosts?”
STay LEaN wITH LOw-cOST SuPPORT “Withclientsofvarioussizes,rangingfrom12usersto1300users,manyofourclientshavenoITdepartment.Supportcallsofallcomplexityroutetous.ThisiswhereSQLAnywhereself-managingfeatureshelpsustokeepoursupportcostsundercontrol.”
aLwayS LOOk FOR OPPORTuNITIES TO REducE cOSTS “Besideshavingapricepointthatwaslowerthanourolddatabase,ouroverallsupportcostshavegonedown.Atthesametimeourcustomersatisfactionhasgonewayup.BecauseofthesuccesswithFieldnet®,neptunehasgoneontouseSQLAnywhereinotherproductlinesincludingARBn_SIGHTMobile,Hybrid,andFixedBase.”
06 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
OEM/ISV LIcENSE FEE cOMPaRISON
cOMPETITIVE FEaTuRE cOMPaRISON
The “FREE” Myth debunked: A Cost Comparison of Database OptionsThe “Pay to Grow” Conundrum Afreedatabaseplatformdoesn’talwaysmeanit’sthelowestcostsolutionforyourbusiness.Freedatabaseplatformstypicallylevychargeswhenyoursolutionexpands.Thenumberofservers,numberofusers,theadditionofnewfeatures,andthecostandsupportultimatelyimpactyourrealcosts.
Freedatabasesolutionsareasurefirewaytobecometrappedina“paytogrow”scenario.Considertherealcoststhatcandevelopwhenyourselectiondoesnotfactoringrowth.SupposeMicrosoft’sExpressdatabaseisacceptablefor90%ofyourdeployments,9%requireaWorkgroupEdition,andlessthan1%requiresamoreadvancededition.Asthetablebelowshows,focusingonlyonthe90%ofdeploymentsthatcoulduseafreedatabasemayresultina36%higheroveralllicensecostwhenalldatabasedeploymentsarefactoredin!
The “Feature Gap” in Free Databases Sooftenthefeaturesleftoutoffreeorlow-costdatabasesaredesignedtoseverelylimitdatabaseperformance,scalability,reliabilityandsecurity.Thatisbecauseitisimportantforapplicationstohitdatabaseconstraintsinorderforthe“PaytoGrow”businessmodeltowork.ItisoftendifficultforISVstoseetheimportanceofthesefeaturesearlyoninthedevelopmentcyclebecausetestcasesoftendonotmimictheperformanceandscalabilityrequirementsofrealcustomerenvironmentstodayorinthenearfuture.
RO=ReadOnlyPO=PurchasableOnly
Personal/Express
WorkGroup
Standard Advanced/Enterprise
Total
Number of Servers
Number of Users
SQL Server Cost
SQL Anywhere Cost
Savings
1,000
1
$0
$71k
($71k)
100
10
$88k
$71k
$17k
10
100
$138k
$60k
$78k
1
1,000
$58k
$6k
$52k
1,111
4,000
$284k
$209k
$75k
Pers
onal
/Ex
pres
s
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Adva
nced
/En
terp
rise
Tota
l
Number of Deployments
Average Number of Users/Deployments
SQL Server Cost
SQL Anywhere Cost
Savings
1,000
1
$0
$71k
($71k)
100
10
$88k
$71k
$17k
10
100
$138k
$60k
$78k
1
1,000
$58k
$6k
$52k
1,111
4,000
$284k
$209k
$75k
SQL Anywhere TPC/C BenchmarkPerformance:Cost Performance:Total System Cost:Number of Users:Database Size:SQL Anywhere Version:Hardware:
20,705 tpmC$0.85/tpmC
$17,54116,500120 GB
11.0.0Dell PowerEdge 2950 III
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Ente
rpris
e
Std
One
Std
Ente
rpris
e
SQL Anywhere Microsoft Oracle
No Limit On Memory (RAM) Use
AWE Support
Compression
Resource Governor
Parallel Index Operations
Indexed Views
Enhanced Read Ahead And Scan
Can Act As Colsolidated In Sync
Can Sync In Oracle
Database Encryption
Auditing
View Matching
Full Query Optimizer
Profiling
High Availability
RO RO
PO
PO
PO
PO
PO
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Benchmark results:
Best price/performance of any system under $60,000•
Highest absolute performance of any system under $30,000•
1• st TPC/C benchmark with total cost under $20,000
s Ql a ny Where tpc /c benchmarkPerformance: 20,705 tpmC
Price/performance: $0.85/tpmC
Total system cost: $17,541
Number of users: 16,500
Database size: 120 GB
SQL Anywhere version: 11.0.0
Hardware: Dell PowerEdge 2950 III
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Adva
nced
SQL Anywhere Microsoft Oracle
No Limit On Memory (RAM) Use
AWE Support
Compression
Resource Governor
Parallel Index Operations
Indexed Views
Enhanced Read Ahead And Scan
Can Act As Consolidated In Sync
Can Sync to Oracle
Database Encryption
Auditing
View Matching
Full Query Optimizer
Profiling
High Availability
RO RO
PO
PO
PO
PO
PO
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Adva
nced
Std
One
Std
Ente
rpris
e
Expr
ess
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Ente
rpris
e
Personal/Express
WorkGroup
Standard Advanced/Enterprise
Total
Number of Servers
Number of Users
SQL Server Cost
SQL Anywhere Cost
Savings
1,000
1
$0
$71k
($71k)
100
10
$88k
$71k
$17k
10
100
$138k
$60k
$78k
1
1,000
$58k
$6k
$52k
1,111
4,000
$284k
$209k
$75k
Pers
onal
/Ex
pres
s
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Adva
nced
/En
terp
rise
Tota
l
Number of Deployments
Average Number of Users/Deployments
SQL Server Cost
SQL Anywhere Cost
Savings
1,000
1
$0
$71k
($71k)
100
10
$88k
$71k
$17k
10
100
$138k
$60k
$78k
1
1,000
$58k
$6k
$52k
1,111
4,000
$284k
$209k
$75k
SQL Anywhere TPC/C BenchmarkPerformance:Cost Performance:Total System Cost:Number of Users:Database Size:SQL Anywhere Version:Hardware:
20,705 tpmC$0.85/tpmC
$17,54116,500120 GB
11.0.0Dell PowerEdge 2950 III
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Ente
rpris
e
Std
One
Std
Ente
rpris
e
SQL Anywhere Microsoft Oracle
No Limit On Memory (RAM) Use
AWE Support
Compression
Resource Governor
Parallel Index Operations
Indexed Views
Enhanced Read Ahead And Scan
Can Act As Colsolidated In Sync
Can Sync In Oracle
Database Encryption
Auditing
View Matching
Full Query Optimizer
Profiling
High Availability
RO RO
PO
PO
PO
PO
PO
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Benchmark results:
Best price/performance of any system under $60,000•
Highest absolute performance of any system under $30,000•
1• st TPC/C benchmark with total cost under $20,000
s Ql a ny Where tpc /c benchmarkPerformance: 20,705 tpmC
Price/performance: $0.85/tpmC
Total system cost: $17,541
Number of users: 16,500
Database size: 120 GB
SQL Anywhere version: 11.0.0
Hardware: Dell PowerEdge 2950 III
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Adva
nced
SQL Anywhere Microsoft Oracle
No Limit On Memory (RAM) Use
AWE Support
Compression
Resource Governor
Parallel Index Operations
Indexed Views
Enhanced Read Ahead And Scan
Can Act As Consolidated In Sync
Can Sync to Oracle
Database Encryption
Auditing
View Matching
Full Query Optimizer
Profiling
High Availability
RO RO
PO
PO
PO
PO
PO
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Adva
nced
Std
One
Std
Ente
rpris
e
Expr
ess
Wor
kgro
up
Stan
dard
Ente
rpris
e
07 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
Peer Insight #3— Mobile computing corporation (Mcc): Embedded Database Wins the “Build vs. Buy” Debate cHaLLENGES
Increased complexity of product offering MCCwaspreparingforabigjumpinthecomplexityoftheirbusinesslogicinordertoexpandserviceinthefieldserviceindustry.Thisjumprepresenteda1000%increaseinthevolumeofdataflowanddataprocessedontheircustomers’handheldunits.
over-stretched engineering efforts Inpreparationforthisserviceexpansion,itbecameclearthattheMCClegacysystem,whichusedaflatfileformatdatabase,wasnotsuitable.ThemarketopportunitycoincidedwithagrowingstrategicshiftwithinthecompanytorefocusMCC’sengineeringeffortsontheircorecompetency:dataflowandbusinesslogic.Thisinvolvedasearchtooff-loadtheengineeringburdenofbuildingallaspectsofeverysolutionfromscratch.SelectvendorswererequiredtoprovidethetechnologysolutionstoMCCthatwerenon-core.
SOLuTION
MCCbeganlookingatembeddingadatabaseserverintotheirmobileapplication.Primaryselectioncriteriaincludedasmallfootprint,requiringlowCPUusageonthehandheldsoasnottohinderdeviceperformancedespitethecomplexityofthesolution.Equallyimportant,thefeaturesetonthehandhelddatabasehadtomatchthatoftheserverside.Lastly,intheirevaluationofoptions,MCCconcludedthatSQLAnywherewastheonlyproductthatmettheirreplicationrequirements,whichtheydeemedanimportantconsiderationforcapacitytoscaleinthefuture.
Camille’s Advice for ISVsFOcuS ENGINEERING EFFORTS ON acTIVITIES THaT add VaLuE “Thevalueweprovideforcustomersliesintheapplicationswebuild,”saysPeters.“Inadditiontoitbeingcostprohibitivetobuildourowndatabasemodule,doingsowouldhaveaddednoadditionalvaluetoourcustomers.Wedecidedtoembedadatabasesolutionthatwasalreadyproven,andfocusoureffortsonbuildingthebestpossibleapplication.”
FuTuRE PROOF! “Selectapartnerwhomyoubelievein,andwhohasthereliabilityandroadmapthatwillallowyoutopersistasaleader,”Petersadvises.“Youneedadatabaseenginethatkeepspaceastechnologiesadvance,particularlyinmobileapplicationswherenetworksarebecomingfasterandusersaremoresophisticated.Yourpartner’sabilitytokeeppaceultimatelyallowsyoutostaycompetitive.”
LET yOuR PaRTNER’S REPuTaTION FOR quaLITy HELP yOu “SELL” “WhenourITsavvycustomershearwerunaSybasedatabaseittendstoquicklyalleviateanyconcernstheyhaveaboutperformance,reliability,high-volumeupdatesandtransfers,”saysPeters.“Thedatabasehelpsuscommunicatethevalueandreliabilityofourapplication.”
NaME: CAMILLEPETERS
TITLE: GEnERALMAnAGER
cOMPaNy: MOBILECOMPUTInG
CORPORATIOn
NaME: CALInPLEAVA
TITLE: DIRECTOR,RESEARCH
AnDDEVELOPMEnT
cOMPaNy: MOBILECOMPUTInG
CORPORATIOn
Background
MobileComputingCorporation
(MCC)deliversmobileapplications
tostreamlinebusinessflowfor
companieswithfieldserviceworkers.
MCChistoricallybuiltbothhardware
andsoftwarecomponentsoftheir
fieldservicesolutions.newmarket
opportunitiesandtheincreased
complexityofthesolutionoffered
forcedthemtore-evaluate
thisapproach.
08 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
Top 5 considerations for Mobilizing1. FOcuS yOuR EFFORTS ON acTIVITIES THaT add VaLuE AsCamillePetersofMCCsays,thevalueanISVprovidescomesfromapplicationexpertiseandspecificdomainknowledge.Timespentondesigningyourownmobiledataplatformisnottimewellspent.Divertingengineeringresourcesawayfromyourcoreproductinordertobuildandsupportyourownmobiledataplatforminanunnecessary—nottomentioncostly—undertaking,giventhebreadthofprovenmobileplatformsavailabletoday.
2. daTa MaNaGEMENT IS INTEGRaL TO PERFORMaNcE aNd THE cuSTOMER ExPERIENcE Inenterprisemobility,thesuccessofamobileapplicationdeploymenthingesonthesatisfactionleveloftheendusers.Applicationperformanceiscentraltothiscustomerexperience.Sub-standardperformanceinthehandsoftheenduserwillresultinlowadoptionratesinanyenterprisedeployment—leavingyourclient’sITdepartmenttoshouldertheblame.Deliveringahigh-performance,datarichapplicationwithintheconstraintsofmobiledevicesisaspecialistjob.Lookforapartnerwithrecognizedindustry-leadingtechnology.
3. cOMPLExITIES OF daTa SyNcHRONIzaTION dEMaNd THaT yOu PLaN FOR SuccESS Amobiledatabaseisjustonepieceofthemobiledatamanagementpuzzle.Datasynchronizationisakeypartofanymobiledataplatform.Aswirelessnetworksdriveupcustomerexpectationsforcurrentdata,performancedemandskeepescalating.
AsMatthewBrogiefromTrimblepointsoutinPeerInsight#4(onpage10),manyISVsactuallyunderestimatethecomplexityofexchangingdatawithenterprisesystems.It’seasy,forexample,tolosefocusonyourfutureneedswhenyoursynchronizationtestcriteriaislimitedtosimple,demoenvironmenttrials.ManyISVsfindouttoolatethatwhatworkedinacontrolledenvironmentsimplydoesn’tscaleinalarge-scaleenterprisedeployment.
Createyourownpathforsuccessbylookingfordemonstratedsuccessinlarge-scaledeploymentsamongyourtechnologypartners.Youwantproofthattheirsolutionwillenableyourapplicationtoscale.
4. SET OuT TO cONTROL SuPPORT cOSTS FROM THE STaRT Solvingapplicationissuesinamobileenvironmentwithouttherightsupportisachallengingandcostlyundertaking.Choosingasingleembeddedmobiledataplatformminimizesyourinvestmentinsupportcosts,especiallywhenyourpartnerhasacomprehensivesupportinfrastructurebehindtheirtechnology,andaproficiencyinmobiledevicemanagement.
5. kEEP yOuR OPTIONS OPEN Withthemobiledevicespacechangingsorapidly,youdon'twanttocutyourselfofffrommarketopportunitiesbecauseyourapplicationisconstrainedtoanyoneparticulardevice.Forexample,youmaynothaveaBlackBerry®componenttoyourapplicationtoday.Butwhatabout18monthsfromnow?Toprotectyourownabilitytogrow,ensureyourpartnertechnologiesaccommodateawiderangeofmobiledevices.
09 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
Peer Insight #4—Trimble: Embedded Database Best Suited for Enterprise Mobility cHaLLENGE
Meet the Demanding Performance and Scalability Needs of Large Enterprises “ForTrimble,it’sneverbeenaquestionofwhetherornottoembedadatabase,”saysBrogie."Becauseourapplicationsarerichinbusinessprocessesandfunctionality,theyrequireanembeddeddatabaseaspartoftheapplicationratherthanflatfilesortransmittingdataaspartofmessagequeues."
ServingenterprisecustomerswiththousandsofusersmeansTrimblefacestheongoingchallengeofaddressingcustomerconcernsaboutdatabaseperformanceinenterprisedeploymentsthatarelikelytoscalesignificantly.
“Wehaveregularlychallengedourownarchitecturedecisions,toensurewehavetherequiredperformanceandscalabilitybuiltintooursolution,andalsotodemonstratethatourpartnertechnologiesdeliverthebestoutcomesforcustomers,”Brogieexplains.
SOLuTION
BrogieexplainsthattheembeddedSQLAnywheredatabaseinTrimble’sapplicationsconsistentlydemonstratesfasterqueryandsynchronizationtimesinpractice,butalsoindirectcomparativetestsagainstotherdatabasesolutionsspecifiedbyTrimblecustomers.“Thesetestscontinuetoshowus,andourcustomersthatwehavetherightdatabaseattheheartofourapplications,”Brogiereports.
“What’smore,we’vecomparedcodingcomplexityusingclient-specificdatabasesolutionsversusSQLAnywhere,andshowncustomershoweasyitistomakechangestobusinesslogicwiththeembeddedsolution.Ultimately,wecanbuildcorecomplexbusinesslogicintoourapplicationsfasterandeasierusingembeddedSQLAnywhereasopposedtohavingtocodethelogicourselves.”
Mat’s Advice for ISVs uNdERSTaNd TOP cONcERNS OF c-LEVEL ENTERPRISE cuSTOMERS “TheC-levelbuyeratanenterpriseisconcernedprimarilywithscalabilityandperformanceofyourapplicationwiththeirhigh-volumedatausage.Theywantdemonstratedevidencethattheapplicationwillscaleto,say3,000to5,000userswithnoissues.Price,whilealwaysimportant,becomesasubordinatecriteriatoscalability,soit’simperativeforISVs,withplansofwinningenterprisecustomers,toknowforcertaintheirdatabasewillmeettheneedsofthousandsofusersupdatingthousandsofrecords.”
dO NOT TakE yOuR daTabaSE dEcISION LIGHTLy “AllSQLdatabaseoptionsarenotalike.Recognizethattheso-called“free”databaseoptionsdonotcomeintoplayforISVswhowanttodeliverfeature-richenterprise-classapplicationsbecausethefeature/functionalitylimitationsareanissue,nottomentionlicensingcostswhenyougotomarket.Yourdatabasedecisionshouldbebasedonyourowntestingandreviewofusecasesthatareidentical,notjustsimilar,towhatyouwillbeexperiencinginyourbuildandimplementation.”
NaME: MATTHEWBROGIE
TITLE: DIRECTOROFPRODUCT
MAnAGEMEnT
cOMPaNy: TRIMBLE
Background
TrimbleMRMprovidesMobile
ResourceManagementsolutions
foravarietyofcustomersin
telecommunications,energy,cable
TV,transportation,distribution,field
serviceanddirectstoredelivery(DSD)
environments.SolutionsincludeFleet
Management,Schedule7Dispatch
andMobileProductivityapplications.
Thedatabaseisacorecomponent
totheautomationbenefitsfrom
Trimble’smobileapplications,with
datadrivingavarietyofbackend
workflowsforTrimble’sFortune500
enterprisecustomers.
Trimble’sDSDapplication,
TrimbleDSD,forexample,enables
fieldrepresentativestouse
handhelddevicestoperformdata
synchronizationfromretaillocations
eachday.Onecustomerwillhave
anywherefrom1,000to4,000field
repsperformingtableupdatesfrom
retailstorelocations,usinghandheld
devicesthatcollectmerchandisedata
onthousandsofrecords.
10 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
aNTIcIPaTE THE cOMPLExITy OF ENTERPRISE MObILIzaTION PROJEcTS “Iregularlyencounterexamplesofmobilizationprojectsthatfailbecausesomeonehasunderestimatedthecomplexityoftheundertaking.ISVswhowanttocapitalizeonthedemandformobileapplicationsshouldmitigatetheriskwithbestofbreedcoretechnologiessourcedfromvendors.Therightfeature-richtechnologieswillgiveyouthecapabilitytoovercomecomplexitiesinstride,ratherthanhavingtocutcornersordevelopasolutionfromscratchduetotheshortcomingsofthepartnertechnologiesyouchose.”
Peer Insight #5—Healthwyse: Embedded Database Brings Development and Cost Efficiencies cHaLLENGE
Single-source, multi-platform development efficiency HealthwysewantedthemostefficientmeansfordevelopingtheirproductwithasingleSQLsourcedatabasethatwouldrunonPDAdevices,laptopsandtabletPCcomputers.“WedidnotwanttodevelopandruntwodifferentproductsforthedistinctWindowsandWindowsMobileplatforms,”saysBraunstein.“Doingsowouldgreatlycomplicatethedevelopmentandongoingsupportefforts,andcauseengineeringcosts.”
SOLuTION
HealthwysestandardizedonSQLAnywhere,asingleSQLdatabasethatmettheirmulti-platformcriteria.Theefficienciesofusingthesingle-sourceembeddedsolutionallowedHealthwysetodedicatesomeavailableengineeringresourcestobuildproprietarytoolstoautomatemuchofthesystem’sadministrationandmonitoringtasks.“Justfocusingononedatabasegaveustheengineeringcapacitytobuildthesetools,whichhasstreamlinedhowwerunourdatacenter,”Braunsteinexplains.
HealsopointsouttheabilityofSQLAnywhereto“selftune”byadaptingtousagepatterns,eliminatestheneedforcustomerstoemployaDBAonstaff.“Forourcustomers,it’snotfeasibletoemployaDBA,astheDBAsalarywouldexceedthatofthedirectorofmosthomehealthcareagencies.”BraunsteinsaystheembeddeddatabasehasbeenacriticalsuccessfactorinkeepingthetotalcostofownershipoftheHealthWyseapplicationdown,andwithinthebudgetlimitationstheirtargetcustomers.
Andrew’s Advice for ISVs uNdERSTaNd THE adVaNTaGES OF EMbEddING a daTabaSE “Inouropinion,theadvantagesofanembeddeddatabasearefartoocompellingtoignore.We’reabletoguaranteeandincludeset-upwitheveryinstallation,avoidinganyproblemsthatarisewhencustomersarelefttopurchasetheirowndatabase.Ifacustomerweretopurchasethewrongversionorinstallthedatabaseincorrectly,theISVultimatelyhastostepinanddeliverunplannedsupport.”
“Anembeddeddatabasealsoensuresthatourcustomersupgradetonewversionsaccordingtoourschedule,savingusfromhavingtoabsorbtheaddedcoststhatcomewithsupportingdifferentversionsofdifferentdatabasesfordifferentcustomers.”
FOcuS SaLES cONVERSaTIONS ON yOuR aPPLIcaTION “WhenwegetresistancefromITdepartmentsonusingadatabasethat’sdifferentfromtheirown,weremindthemthatthey’realwaysgoingtobebestservedbydecidingfirstonthebestapplicationfunctionalitytosuittheirneeds,andthenidentifyanydatabaseconcerns,becausemanyconcernscanbeovercomewithminimaleffort.
11 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
NaME: AnDREWS.BRAUnSTEIn
TITLE: CTO
cOMPaNy: HEALTHWYSE
Background
HealthWyseprovidesintegrated
clinicalandfinancialinformation
systemstotheHomeCare,Hospice,
andPrivateDutymarkets.The
company’sapplicationrunson
remoteuserdevices,allowing
caregiveremployeestocollectpatient
dataandsynchronizewithback-end
databases.Theapplicationreduces
thepaperworkburdenoncaregiver
employees,allowingmoretimefor
patientcare.HealthWyseCustomers
includesmallerHomeCareagencies
withunderadozenremoteusers,to
largemulti-stateoperationswith700
ormoreremoteusers.
Forexample,someofourcustomerswanttohavetheabilitytocontroltunings,backupandmigrationprocedures.Inthesecases,we’veusedtheSQLAnywherereplicationfunctionalitytocreateaone-wayreplicaofthedatabaseforcustomerstoaccess.Thishasgivenustremendousabilitytomeettheneedsofcustomerswhoprefertohaveaccesstothedatabaseshouldtheyneedit,withoutgivingthemultimatecontrolandjeopardizingthemaindatabase.”
bE SuRE OF yOuR VENdOR’S SuPPORT STRucTuRE “Ifyourapplicationdoesn’twork,yourcustomerswillholdyou,astheapplicationproviderresponsible,nomatterwhatcomponentofthetechnologyisatfault.Soyouneedtobe100%confidentinthesupportfromyourvendors,becausetheirsupportiswhatcanmakeorbreakyourreputationwitheverycustomer.
Whenevaluatingtechnologypartners,askforsupportreferences,takethetimetocontactyourcolleaguesandaskspecificquestionslike:
•Doyougetthesamelevelandqualityofsupportaroundtheclock,andonholidays? •Howquicklyaredefectsfixed? •Howtechnicallyknowledgeableistheirfirst-levelsupport?Dotheyworkwellwithyour engineeringteam,ordoyouoftenhavetoescalateyoursupportcalls?
questions to ask when choosing an Embedded Technology Partner Therearemanyquestionsthatshouldbeaskedwhenchoosingatechnologypartner.Youshouldinvestigatefourkeyareaswithyourquestions,priortoanydecisionbeingmade.Themostobviousdecisionpointisthetechnology,whichshouldbeappropriateforyourrequirements.Beyondthetechnology,though,itisequallyimportanttoevaluatethepotentialpartner’sbusinessterms,theirabilitytosupportbothyourdevelopmentteamsaswellasyourcustomers,andtheirabilitytomeetyourfuturerequirements.Youshouldbesatisfiedwitheachoftheseareaspriortomakingthedecisiontoassociateyourselfwithapotentialpartner.
TEcHNOLOGy – dOES IT JuST wORk? Easy to Use by Your Customers Inmanycases,thefirstconsiderationisthetechnology.Youarelookingtoenhanceorcompleteyourownproductwiththeinclusionofadditionaltechnologycomponents.Itisimportantwheninvestigatingapotentialpartnerthatyoulookfortechnologythatisdesignedtobeembeddedinsideotherproducts,andwillworkwellwithyourownofferings.Itisnotenoughthattheirtechnologyworkswellwheninstalledbyexperts,butalsothatitfunctionsjustaswellwheninstalledbynon-experts,aspartofyoursystem.Istheirtechnologyeasilyintegratedwithyourinstallation,andisitinvisibletoyourend-users?Whatadministrativeoverheadisimposedonyourcustomersasaresultofyourchoiceofembeddedtechnology? Youshouldevaluatewhatadditionalhardwarerequirementswillbeplacedonyourcustomers,aswellashowwellyourpotentialpartner’stechnologytakesadvantageofadditionalhardwareresourcesthatbecomeavailablesuchasmemoryandprocessors.Remember,yourcustomerswillthinkanythingembeddedinyourproductisyourresponsibility,soyouwanttoensurethebestuserexperiencepossible.
Easy to Use by Your Development Team Inadditiontotheeaseofusebyyourcustomers,youalsomustconsidertheeaseofdevelopmentbyyourownengineeringstaff.Doesthetechnologysupportallthehardwareandoperatingsystemplatformsyouandyourcustomersrequiretoday,andinthefuture?Doesitsupportavarietyofdevelopmentenvironmentsandlanguages,suchasC/C++,.nET,Java,andWebscripting,aswellasavarietyofAPIinterfaces?Andfinally,willyourdevelopmentteamfindthedevelopmentexperienceasmoothone,oraretherefunctionalitygapsthatareonlynoticeableoncedevelopmenthasstarted?Ensuringanefficientdevelopmentefforthelpsyourengineeringteamfreeupmoretimetospendonyourapplication,helpingyougettomarketfaster.
12 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT
An Interview with Chris Kleisath, Senior Director of Engineering, Sybase iAnywhere
buSINESS TERMS Whilethetechnologybeingofferediscertainlyimportant,itisequallyimportantthatyouunderstandthebusinesstermsbeingofferedbyyourpotentialpartner.Youshouldensurethattheirpricinganddistributionmodelalignswithyourownbusinessmodel.Dotheyofferfavorablepaymentterms,andisthereadiscountforlargervolumes?Doyouhavetheabilitytodistributeyourproductinthemosteffectivewayforyourcustomers?Itisvitalthatyouunderstandapartner’sflexibilityandwillingnesstoworkwithyouonbusinesstermsthatimproveyourabilitytosucceed.
SuPPORT FOR yOu aNd yOuR cuSTOMERS Inmanyways,supportisthemostimportant,andyetoftenoverlookedareaofconsiderationwhenevaluatingapotentialtechnologypartner.Theirabilitytoprovideyourdevelopmentteamwithtimelyandhelpfulsupportduringyourdevelopmentwillgoalongwaytoensuringyouhaveanon-timedeliveryofyourproduct.Effectivesupportisalsocrucialonceyoushipyourproductandstartworkingwithyourowncustomers.DoestheirsupportteamunderstandtheOEMmodel?Yourpartnershouldhaveasupportteamthatunderstandswhatitmeanstoembedtheirtechnologyinsideyourproduct,andbepreparedtohelpyousupportyourcustomers.DotheyprovideeffectiveOEMaccountmanagement,soyouknowinadvancewhototalktoifyouhaveproblems?Thebottomlineisthatyourequireapartnerwhoisableandwillingtogothe“extramile”toprovidethesupportyouandyourcustomersneed.
FuTuRE PROOF Whenchoosingatechnologypartner,youmustevaluatethattheymeetyourneedsnotjusttoday,butalsointothefuture.Doestheirtechnologyhaveacleargrowthpaththatcansupportyourlargestcustomerstoday,butalsotomorrowasyourbusinessgrows?Dotheyoffercross-platformoptions,soyouarenotlockedintoasinglehardwareandoperatingsystemplatform?Doestheirtechnologyofferaflexiblearchitecturethatsupportsavarietyofenvironmentssuchasclient/server,web,mobile,hosted,andcloud?Whenchoosingatechnologypartner,youneedtoensurethatyouwillhavetheabilitytoadapttothechanginglandscapenow,andinthefuture.
SuMMaRy Ensurethatyouconsidermorethanjusttechnologywhenchoosinganembeddedpartner.Youmustalsoevaluatetheirbusinessterms,theirabilitytosupportyouandyourcustomers,andtheirabilitytomeetyourneedsinthefuture.Choosinganembeddedtechnologypartnercanpresentsomechallenges,butcanalsoallowyoutoaccelerateyourbusinessplan,enablingyoutobringbetterproductstomarket,inafastertimeframe.
13 | PEERInSIGHTS REPORT