PLATFORMS: AdOn Network runs the Sybase Analytic Appliance on IBM Power Systems and leverages MicroStrategy's business intelligence software.
PROBLEM SOLVED: AdOn Network collects, stores and analyzes vast amounts of click-through and conversion data which comprises more than a terabyte of data. The Sybase Analytic Appliance allows AdOn to run rapid data analysis and reporting on this large volume of data to provide targeted and measurable ad campaigns for its advertisers and publishers.
PRODUCT FUNCTIONALITY: AdOn Network's targeting and ROI tracking systems use the Sybase Analytic Appliance to handle about 100 million ad requests per day, each of which generates 40 to 50 discrete pieces of information, such as keywords to match, demographic data and the number of ads to serve. The appliance also decreases AdOn's troubleshooting time by more than 50 percent. The appliance gives our customer service representatives the operational intelligence they need to report back to clients within hours of placing an ad with analyses based on both historical and real-time data - something we were unable to do before deploying the appliance. A customer representative can now run a query in the appliance and AdOn Network is able to produce the results for the customer the same day, compared to the three to four days it previously took to acquire the data. The analytics the appliance conducts makes user campaigns more effective, resulting in higher return on their advertising dollars and increased sales. And, AdOn's sales teams can do more with less, there by making us more competitive and strengthening our overall customer relationships.
STRENGTHS: The Sybase Analytic Appliance is a very cost-efficient technology that delivers measurable benefits for AdOn and its customers. The appliance provides fast time-to-value via a unified appliance console and preconfigured hardware, software and storage in one compact and power-efficient unit, with single vendor support. The Sybase solution has the advantage of requiring lower initial and ongoing investment because, unlike row-based and parallel-computing counterparts, stored data in column-based Sybase IQ is compressed by up to 70 percent of its input size. The appliance does not require labor-intensive index tuning, which reduces overall maintenance costs, and its point-and-click console simplifies administration and monitoring. It delivers all the benefits of a custom-built enterprise data warehouse at a lower price point than other leading solutions.
WEAKNESSES: We had to set capacity sizing for both loading and query handling independently. However, this effort was minimal, and the solution has worked according to our expectations.
SELECTION CRITERIA: After carefully evaluating a range of options for adding a combination of data warehousing and business intelligence to our technology platform, AdOn selected the Sybase Analytic Appliance. We felt that none of the other available solutions matched the capability the appliance offers to continuously load a large amount of data that would become available immediately for real-time queries.
DELIVERABLES: Via the system's MicroStrategy BI reporting component, the appliance generates 10 to 15 reports on a nightly, weekly and monthly basis.
VENDOR SUPPORT: Vendor support during pre- and post-installation has been exceptional. Given that the product came pre-configured and was fully set up, there was minimal post-installation support needed. However, whenever we needed any assistance, the support team met our expectations with respect to response times and addressing the needs.
DOCUMENTATION: We used the online documentation via both Sybase and MicroStrategy; this accomplished our needs.
Sybase Analytic Appliance
Sybase, Inc.
One Sybase Drive
Dublin, CA 94568 USA
(925) 236-5000
Product reviews are customer testimonials. We thank the author of this review for taking the time to share his or her expertise.
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