IBM and SAP® have a unique partnership that was established with the goal of delivering the very best enterprise IT solutions to SAP customers. Both companies are leaders in their field: SAP brings industry-leading applications and IBM brings world-class infrastructure components, including hardware and software. Considering the vast amount of data kept within SAP applications, no infrastructure component is more important than the database. Extreme reliability and availability are essential. This whitepaper discusses how IBM has pioneered the development of data management technology that can help reduce the total cost of SAP ownership and improve performance so users are more productive.
Delivering information you can trust January 2008
IBM DB2 Optimized for SAP software
Database excellence through a partnership that spans 30 years Delivering information you can trust Page 2
Executive summary Contents ® IBM and SAP have a unique partnership that was established with the goal of delivering the very best enterprise IT solutions to SAP customers. Both 2 Executive summary companies are leaders in their field: SAP brings industry-leading applications 4 A partnership to better serve and IBM brings world-class infrastructure components, including hardware customer needs and software. It all began more than 30 years ago-and SAP solutions based on ® ® 4 Product plans are customer-driven IBM DB2 software have been available since 1995. This first version of DB2 5 Overview of unique DB2 Optimized for SAP software was introduced in 2005. functionality for SAP 6 Joint development speeds the Considering the vast amount of data kept within SAP applications, no introduction of new capabilities infrastructure component is more important than the database. Extreme reliability and availability are essential. IBM has pioneered the development 8 DB2 compatibility with SAP is of data management technology that can help reduce the total cost of SAP maintained over time ownership and improve performance so users are more productive. Today, 8 DB2 is ready when new SAP these ground-breaking technologies-some are unique to SAP applications- versions are introduced are incorporated into DB2. 8 Integration of services makes two products appear as one Several highlights of the DB2 versions called "DB2 Optimized for SAP 10 SAP runs DB2, IBM runs SAP software," which is designed for use in SAP environments, include: 10 Case in point: SAP 11 Unique DB2 capabilities for SAP . Deep Compression can help reduce SAP storage requirements by up to 50 percent BI environments while also improving response times by roughly 20 percent ® 14 DB2 provides a solid foundation . DB2 Multi-Dimensional Clustering can boost the performance of SAP NetWeaverfor transaction processing BI queries by factors (measurements have shown factors up to 8) 18 Data protection is built into DB2 . DB2 Database Partitioning Featureprovides proven linear scale-out capability that is virtually unlimited-up to 1,000 nodes-to improve database query 19 Deep Compression helps lower performance TCO 21 Automated administration helps lower TCO 23 Administration through the SAP DBA Cockpit simplifies operations Delivering information you can trust Page 3
. High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR) software, available with DB2 at no charge, helps protect the database environment from software and hardware failures . Autonomic administrative functions drive down total cost of ownership (TCO) by virtually eliminating the need for manual administration
Many of these capabilities would not be possible without a close partnership between the two companies, which has resulted in close integration between DB2 and SAP software. The two companies have succeeded in making DB2 and SAP applications appear to be one system as viewed by users and administrators. This close integration is the fundamental reason why DB2 brings such exceptional value to SAP customers compared to other databases.
Ordering, deployment, administration and service/support functions also are all integrated-SAP is the one contact for all aspects of SAP installations that include the DB2 database. Users have no question about who to call. There is no finger pointing between vendors-just one responsive organization backed by two of the world's technology leaders.
Selecting a database is a long- "The close cooperation between IBM term decision. By choosing DB2 and SAP is unique in the tech industry, Optimized for SAP software, extending from the development teams you can be assured that you have and go-to-market plans to our service chosen first-rate database software and support offerings." for SAP applications for today -Torsten Ziegler and tomorrow. SAP DB2 Development Manager Delivering information you can trust Page 4
A brief history of DB2 Optimized for SAP software Work on the SAP-optimized version of DB2 began in 2004. The first
product-DB2 version 8.2.2-was released in April 2005 and thus began a
partnership between IBM and SAP that has grown continuously ever since.
New v... [download for more]
