10 Jul NGIMES Eliminates the Operational Data Store (ODS) by leveraging SAP HANA for Manufacturing Enterprise Systems (MES) applications

Today, I was engaged in a discussion with a client on where the Operational Data Store (ODS) issues get started.  This discussion led to the question if there is a need for a separate ODS to relieve businesses from associated sluggish effects.

Traditional MES systems come with the concept of OLTP (Online Transactional Processing) and OLAP (Online Analytical databases). OLTP databases are used only for the transactional purposes and OLAP is used for reporting purposes.

OLTP data is transferred to the ODS databases by the custom built Extract jobs from MES vendors. OLTP databases are purged upon the data transferred to the ODS by custom jobs from MES vendors. This data transfer and purge process has not been straightforward and robust unlike the traditional ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) tools available in the market.

Now, with SAP HANA, new applications can leverage the merging of OLTP and ODS databases into single database.  This is a reality without compromising on the performance for shop floor users/transactions and analytics users.

Atachi has leveraged this feature into the NGIMES product and has eliminated the need for the ODS. This is a huge advantage from the IT infrastructure perspective. Plus, there is a significant advantage from the business perspective due to the fact that very few companies obtain insights from the ODS or the enterprise data hub where multiple ODS data is rolled into one.

Additional information about this feature of SAP HANA can be read at https://blogs.saphana.com/2012/08/31/hana-as-an-operational-data-store-ods/

Any thoughts or comments on the above discussion are welcome.