Extending appreciation to all who participated in the IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA) v7.1 webinar on August 28, 2019.  If you weren’t able to join us, here is the webcast recording.  In a fast-paced 90 minutes we covered:

1. A review of capabilities included in recent IDAA v7.1.x code drops
2. The return of the High Performance Storage Saver (HPSS)
3. Integrated Synchronization
4. The closer-to-real Hybrid Transaction Analytic Processing (HTAP) capability
5. Disaster Recovery and High Availability considerations

The Fillmore Group’s exclusive IDAA Buyer’s Guide compares these IDAA form factors and deployment options:

• IBM Integrated Analytics Systems (IIAS)
• Docker container running on System z
• Docker container running on LinuxONE

And this is the handout: IDAA Webinar 2019-08

Please note: if you would like the exclusive IDAA Buyer’s Guide referenced in the webinar, contact my colleague, Kim May (kim.may@thefillmoregroup.com).

Join us for this new and improved for 2019 class to be delivered by IBM Gold Consultant Frank Fillmore. Contents include IDAA v7 early experiences, best practices, and v5 to v7 migration tips. Attendees will learn how an IDAA v7 (aka “Sailfish”) can extend System z’s processing capabilities to enable Hybrid Transaction/Analytic Processing (HTAP).  For IBM System z customers considering an IDAA purchase, this class provides an overview of the architecture, use cases delivering value, and insight into the administration of the accelerator.

Class is free to IBM System z customers considering an IDAA purchase.  The Fillmore Group will provide breakfast and lunch each day; attendees are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses.

Registration is required – Register HERE

Dates (2 days):            Thursday and Friday, July 18 and 19, 2019

Location:                      IBM, 6060 Britton Parkway, Building 1, Dublin, Ohio, 43016

Time:                           9:00am – 4:00pm EDT

Cost:                            Class is *free* to pre-registered attendees

Instructor:                    Frank Fillmore

Topics:

• An introduction to the V7.1 architecture and Integrated Analytics System (IAS).
• The heterogeneous accelerator environment: what works well today.
• Assessment tools to support acquisition: Workload Assessment, Client Value Engagement, PoC.
• Positioning IDAA within your organization with the most valuable use case.
• Migrating from the Netezza-based IDAA to v7.1.

Lab 1: Basic IDAA Activities

• Data Studio / IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator Studio GUI
• Table acceleration
• Query processing and analysis

Enhancing Value to the IDAA with the IBM Tools Ecosystem

• Assessment: What is the workload that would benefit from being accelerated?
• Optimization: How do I monitor and optimize a workload to take advantage of the Accelerator?
• Administration: Can I manage the Accelerator more effectively?

Lab 2: Advanced IDAA Exploitation

• Incremental Update: keeping accelerated data in sync with DB2 for z/OS OLTP
• Accelerator-only Tables (AoTs): intermediate tables and ETL processing

On July 23 and 24, 2018 The Fillmore Group delivered a hands-on IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA) v7 Workshop to 12 students across 5 different enterprises at the IBM Dublin, Ohio (USA) Technical Education Center.  This was the first IDAA v7 hands-on Workshop delivered to customers anywhere.  Many thanks to Atlee, Bill, Bob, Dom, Emmi, Larry, Marshall, Mohammed, Naga, Ruth, Shawn, and Toby for all of the great questions.  Kudos to the IBM Poughkeepsie Benchmark Center for standing up the IDAA v7 environment in record time with just-released functionality like Incremental Update.  And thanks to IBMers Rich Gast, Mike Hood, Sandro Ramirez (aka “Nicky’s Dad”), Julie Efthymiou, and Rudy Benvenuto for all of their support.

Finally – and most importantly – the Workshop’s flawless execution from scheduling, invitations and outreach to customers, to welcome packets for travelers, to food service, and overall logistics was the direct result of many months of hard work on the part of my colleague, Kim May.  I really appreciate it!

The presentation materials are here:IDAA Workshop 2018-07

Since IDAA v7 is so radically different from it’s predecessors, the Workshop generated lots of questions which will be incorporated into future sessions.  Watch this space.

I am pre-announcing (if that’s a word) our upcoming free, hands-on IDAA training class scheduled for June 19th and 20th at the Radisson Cross Keys in Baltimore.  This class is being updated to support the IDAA V7.1 (“Sailfish”) and will contain content covering the new architecture, sizing considerations for the new generation of IDAA appliances, and recommendations for organization upgrading from the Mako model IDAA’s to Sailfish.

The fine print:  attendees must be IBM customers considering an IDAA purchase in 2018.  While class is free (and we will treat attendees to breakfast and lunch both days), attendees are responsible for their own travel and lodging expenses.

We have 20 available class seats, available on a first-come-first-served basis.  Frank and I will be at IDUG next week promoting the class – if you have any questions and would like to discuss the class content, your IDAA challenges, or anything else IDAA-ish – let us know if you will be there and we will try to meet.

The registration link is here.  My email is kim.may@thefillmoregroup.com – email me with any questions.

IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator Training

Dates (2 days):  Tuesday and Wednesday, June 19 and 20, 2018

Class Times:  9:00am – 4:00pm

Cost:  Class is *free* to pre-registered attendees

Instructor:  Frank Fillmore

Join us for this refreshed class that includes material specific to the latest IDAA “Sailfish” releases, including V7.1, and the M4002, aka “Maverick”. Attendees will learn how and why an IDAA can extend your System z’s processing capabilities to enable Hybrid Transaction/Analytic Processing (HTAP).

Topics:

• An introduction to the new V7.1 architecture and IBM Integrated Analytics System (IIAS).
• The heterogeneous accelerator environment:  what works well today.
• Assessment tools to support acquisition:  Workload Assessment, CVE, PoC.
• Positioning IDAA within your organization with the most valuable use case.
• Migrating from the Netezza-based IDAA to V7.1.

Lab 1: Basic IDAA Activities
– Data Studio / IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator Studio GUI
– Table acceleration
– Query processing and analysis

Enhancing Value to the IDAA with the IBM Tools Ecosystem
– Assessment: What is the workload that would benefit from being accelerated?
– Optimization: How do I monitor and optimize a workload to take advantage of the Accelerator?
– Administration: Can I manage the Accelerator more effectively?

Lab 2: Advanced IDAA Exploitation
– Incremental Update: keeping accelerated data in sync with DB2 for z/OS OLTP
– Accelerator-only Tables (AoTs): intermediate tables and ETL processing

On July 23, 2010 I attended the announcement of the IBM Smart Analytics Optimizer (ISAO).  This was IBM’s first iteration of heterogeneous scale-out to enable mixed OLTP and OLAP workloads to run on the same platform.  Subsequently IBM acquired Netezza and the Netezza appliance became the foundation for the IBM Db2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA).  In IDAA workshops I would refer to the ISAO as IDAA v0.5.

Fast forward to today when IBM announced IDAA v7.1.  “What is old is new again.”  Think of this delivery of IDAA as “ISAO v4.0” (there was some good-natured debate about the numbering).  Why do I frame it those terms?

1. IDAA has received a “brain transplant”.  Instead of Postgres, the database engine for IDAA will be Db2 Warehouse.  This will give IDAA greater compatibility with Db2 for z/OS, including broader SQL and datatype support, TIMESTAMP consistency, and more.  By exploiting Db2 with BLU Acceleration features such as in-memory columnar (rather than row-organized) data, Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) chips, actionable compression, and “data skipping” (avoiding extents that don’t contain data of interest) IDAA v7.1 provides a robust platform for better performance with a roadmap for continuous improvement and enhancement.  IBM has also consolidated its data repository development efforts by focusing on fewer, higher-value initiatives.
2. IDAA has received a “heart transplant”.  The IBM Integrated Analytics System (IIAS) appliance on which IDAA v7.1 is based, no longer depends on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) that were the “secret sauce” of the Netezza (aka PureData System for Analytics – PDA).  FPGAs might be reintroduced at a later time.

So, a few questions – and a fewer answers.

• How long will the legacy Netezza/PDA “Mako” N3001 be supported?  Until 2023.  So the installed base of existing IDAAs will be protected for five years.
• Will the Database Partitioning Feature (DPF) – IBM’s MPP shared-nothing data warehouse scaling technology – be exploited by IDAA v7.1?  Dunno.
• Wither the IDAA cloud deployment introduced in v6?  Nary a mention today.

Topics for a future blog post:

• “True HTAP” – Hybrid Transaction / Analytic Processing
• IDAA deployment on IBM z – using Docker images sitting on Integrated Facility for Linux (IFL) specialty processors.

With IBM’s announcement this week of super-aggressive discounting being offered to current Oracle customers considering a move to DB2, and with the deadline looming for many Oracle customers faced with another year of bloated “investment” in Oracle support, we’ve decided to deliver updated material on the benefits of moving to DB2.

Our upcoming webinar, “Oracle Renewal Looming?  Consider DB2!” will be delivered on Tuesday, May 16th, from 11:30am to 12:30pm EDT.

DB2 Gold Consultant Frank Fillmore will join me for the session, as will IBM’s Tony Mancini, Worldwide Competitive Team Executive.  Tony will give us a brief overview of IBM’s recent announcement, and Frank and I will deliver a fast-paced, interactive 60-minute session that will (we hope!) provide current Oracle customers with an understanding of both the cost savings and incredible database functionality available with DB2.

Please register HERE to join us!

The next IBM-sponsored DB2 Analytics Accelerator Users’ Group meeting was announced this week.  The Fillmore Group’s Frank Fillmore will be presenting one of the sessions, along with BNY/Mellon Pershing’s Al DiGiovanni, whose support and promotion of the IDAA enabled Pershing to acquire their first IDAA.

Al and Frank will be presenting the meeting’s final session titled, “Increasing Utilization of the Accelerator by your Lines of Business”, a session whose topic has been a core issue for System z customers trying to persuade their colleagues to consider investing in the IDAA.

As many technical teams promoting IDAA adoption have learned (the hard way!), most organizations adopted the circa-Y2K best practice of running OLTP and analytic workloads separately, and are therefore reluctant to re-integrate the two, in spite of the cost, latency and simplicity advantages.  This session is designed to surface the issue and discuss options to address and overcome it.

Information on the DAAUG meeting is below.  Please be advised that membership in this group is limited to current IDAA customers and registration to attend is managed by IBM.  If you own an IDAA and would like to attend, and have not received an email invitation from IBM, please email me (kim.may@thefillmoregroup.com) and I will connect you to the IBM team coordinating the meeting.

I hope you will join us May 9th.

Session Details
“Increasing Utilization of the Accelerator by your Lines of Business”
Frank Fillmore and Al DiGiovanni, BNY/Mellon Pershing

The IDAA is a powerful tool for performing real-time analytics on z/OS transactional data.  In many cases it is left to the managers of an enterprise’s mainframe to “sell” an IDAA to lines of business (LOBs).

• The audience for the sales pitch: CFOs, CTOs, Enterprise IT Architects, Data Scientists
• The objections:
  o existing infrastructure (ETL processes, enterprise data warehouses)
  o mainframe marginalization (“The mainframe is too expensive”; “The mainframe is not a strategic platform”)
• The advantages:
  o reduced complexity
  o reduced latency
  o cost savings (e.g. inexpensive data archiving of all System z data)
• New opportunities:
  o in-database transformation (i.e. AOTs for MicroStrategy)
  o in-database analytics (i.e. INZA-IDAA 3.2.2.1)
  o cloud deployment (Public/Private/Hybrid)
  o Machine Learning
  o R support

DB2 Analytics Accelerator Users’ Group (DAAUG) Meeting

Date:           Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Location:     IBM Offices, NYC or via web conference
Time:           9:30am – 2:00pm EDT

During this meeting, Ute Baumbach, subject matter expert from the Analytics on z Systems Center of Excellence out of Boeblingen, Germany, will cover the most recently introduced Accelerator features, functions and fixes. Tim Willging, Distinguished Engineer, will discuss how you can expand your Accelerator use cases with new functionality in the Accelerator Loader Tool. Jonathan Sloan, Business Analytics Executive Consultant, will present ways the Accelerator complements IBM Machine Learning. Frank Fillmore, DB2 Gold Consultant of the Fillmore Group, and a customer presenter will share their successful experiences to help you promote the value of the Accelerator to your Lines of Business.

We encourage you to join the meeting in person if you are local. Web Meeting details will be provided for remote attendees.

Agenda:

09:30 – 10:00       Registration
10:00 – 10:15        Welcome
10:15 – 10:45         Developer’s Update: DB2 Analytics Accelerator Features, Functions and Fixes
10:45 – 11:30         Expanding Accelerator use cases with new DB2 Analytics Accelerator Loader
functionality
11:30 – 12:00         Lunch Break
12:00 – 01:00        Complementing IBM Machine Learning with the DB2 Analytics Accelerator
01:00 – 02:00       Increasing Utilization of the Accelerator by your Lines of Business

Thanks to Kim May for a fabulous job stepping customers and IBMers through the rewards and challenges of converting Oracle databases to DB2.  The recording of the webinar is found here.  The presentation materials: Oracle Customers Consider DB2 4.5.17

Finally, The Fillmore Group’s White Paper on Oracle to DB2 migrations: SmarterQuestions White Paper – Oracle to DB2 Migration Lessons Learned – Final

Please reach out to Kim or me if you have any questions.

The Fillmore Group is inviting organizations frustrated with rising Oracle costs to join us for a webinar focusing on the two primary motivations behind DB2 migrations: cost and functionality. Session attendees will perform a self-analysis to compare similar version license costs, and gain an understanding of the technical features included in DB2 for on-premise use – BLU, pureScale, and the Data Partitioning Feature – as well as a brief overview of cloud deployment and SaaS options.

Date:   Thursday, April 6th

Time:  11:00am – 12:00pm EDT

The session also includes an overview of the migration process, as anyone considering a move needs to understand the time and effort involved.

Sound boring? It won’t be! The session will be delivered by IBM Champions Frank Fillmore and Kim May. Frank has participated in IBM’s annual “Break Free Forum” and Kim has worked with several Oracle customers exploring migrations to DB2. We understand this is a complicated comparison but will do our best to make the session entertaining without including too much Oracle bashing. But maybe a bit.

Registration is required to attend. Register HERE.

On Tuesday, January 13, 1987 I sat in the kitchen of my 11 foot wide rowhouse in the Highlandtown section of Baltimore and typed out on a manual typewriter the Articles of Incorporation for The Fillmore Group.  My son, Nathaniel, was five weeks old.

Some back-of-the-envelope metrics across the past 30 years:

• approximately 300 clients
• about 60 consultants have helped train these customers and implement their IBM Analytics software
• As a consultant, instructor, and/or presenter at technical conferences I have traveled to approximately 20 countries.  Prague is my favorite foreign city; I’ve been there three times and look forward to returning.

I have had two consultants, Ray and Jim, tell me that working for The Fillmore Group “has changed [their] life”.  In the beginning it was a common occurrence that an employment verification form from a mortgage underwriter would arrive shortly after a consultant started with TFG.  I know of several consultants that purchased their first home while working with us.

My favorite work environment was The World Bank.  The cosmopolitan atmosphere – working with colleagues from all over the planet – was delightful.  I helped implement a telephone billing system there using SQL/DS.

My most satisfying project was the Oracle to DB2 migration at JP Morgan Chase.  It was a tough, demanding environment with a timeline that was half of the 18 months originally estimated.  But we got it done with the help of Jim, Joe G., Joe L., John, Rebecca, and Teresa.  The customer had an equally talented, hard-working team.  Our contribution to that project was recognized by IBM SVP Steve Mills at the Insight conference that year.

As a small business owner, my favorite question from an IBMer (Scott): “Since the deadline can’t change, if money were no object what would you do?”  The answer: supply five more consultants to the project.  It was completed on time – if not under budget.

As a technician, my favorite question from an IBMer (Hunter) in the parking lot after a detailed technical presentation to a customer involving replication and federation tools: “We can do that, right?”  The answer: yes we can.  It resulted in a massive data warehouse at a large federal government healthcare agency.

I have had the privilege to learn from and share friendships with some of IBM’s original developers of relational database technology including Pat, Curt, Don and Don, and Hamid.  For IBM’s Hybrid Transaction/Analytic Platform (HTAP) implementations of today I rely on Paul, Tim, Gary, Namik, Knut, Patric, and Udo among many, many others.

I also cherish the friendships I have formed with other DB2 Gold Consultants like David, Ted, Bonnie, Jan, Juergen, Julian, Jackie, Kermit, Sheryl, Susan – and especially Gerry.

IBM has been a maddening company with which to partner, but the vast majority of the time The Fillmore Group has benefited from the technical excellence and basic decency of IBM employees.  In return, TFG consultants like Roger and Ravi have delivered innovative, cost-effective IT solutions to our mutual customers.  After more than two decades I still rely on Roger for his calm, wise counsel.

There have been tough times, too.  The Fillmore Group overcame at least three financial near-death experiences (1993, 2002, 2006).  At the risk of tempting fate: we never missed a payroll or failed to pay a debt on time.

But the best time, by far, was the day Kim May arrived to rent The Fillmore Group’s technical training classroom in downtown Baltimore in 2003.  That was the day my life changed forever.

This is reverie, not valedictory.  I am still too young to retire.  And I am as jazzed about the possibilities of HTAP, data repositories, and data interoperability (aka “plumbing”) in 2017 as I was when I first started working with SQL/DS (maximum storage capacity: 64GB) in the mid 1980s.  We’re currently working on a database rehosting project for a local government targeting DB2 for z/Linux and have an IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator (IDAA) v6 Workshop scheduled next month.

But I wanted to take a moment to jot down a few thoughts on the past three decades.  Of course, I haven’t called out everyone by name who has contributed to our success over the years.  But I truly, sincerely appreciate your hard work, dedication, integrity, smarts, and moxie.  Thank you!

In closing, when Curt retired from IBM I asked if he was pleased with a career that had reached a pinnacle as an IBM Fellow.  His response: “It turned out better than I ever could have imagined.”  Me too.