Birst Unveils First In-Memory Database Optimized Exclusively for Analytics

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Dec 14, 2011) - Birst Inc., the leading provider of agile business analytics, today announced the release of the industry's first in-memory database optimized exclusively for business analytics. Birst's SQL-based, columnar database is designed to allow users to transform enterprise data into intelligent analytics at superior performance giving business users a way to explore all their data relationships -- unconstrained by the limited capabilities of single-table or associative in-memory models used by more primitive discovery tools. Bundled at no additional charge, the Birst in-memory databases makes open, standards-based in-memory analytics affordable -- something for which SAP HANA and Oracle Exalytics are charging an arm and a leg. Today's announcement is evidence of Birst's continued commitment to deliver the most innovative and capable Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics solution.

"Organizations have massive amounts of data and require scalable ways to quickly analyze and visualize the insights stored within it," said Jim Leavitt, CEO of Cervello. "Data discovery tools are limited by the data sets they can handle and cannot deliver analytics that scale. High-volume, high-speed analytical queries can be accomplished using in-memory technology which is a key component in the future of business analytics."

The Birst in-memory analytics database builds on Birst's industry-leading data warehouse automation technology which provides for data integration across numerous data sources including SAP, SalesForce, operational and financial systems into a multi-dimensional, star schema design. Based on the universal database standard query language, SQL, Birst's database is interoperable with existing applications and allows for open access via JDBC. Columnar structure, compression, and parallel processing speeds performance for analytics and achieves high throughput. By optimizing data structures and managing data in-memory, database operations execute with maximum efficiency, achieving dramatic gains in responsiveness. Other benefits include:

• Analysis of data that is modified in real-time empowers business users to make critical business decisions using the most current data.
• A real relational database allows for complex (e.g. multi-pass) and ad hoc analysis of sophisticated relationships not possible in simpler tools.
• SQL interface and JAVA ensure compatibility with other applications. Organizations leverage existing infrastructure and programs to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.

"Real BI is relational and allows users to navigate all data relationships," said Brad Peters, Birst CEO. "The combination of Birst's open SQL interface, data compression and highly parallel processing, allows organizations to perform analytics that scale beyond associative data modeling at a fraction of the cost of larger in-memory database vendors."

Single node implementations of the Birst In-Memory Analytics Database are included in the Birst business analytics platform at no additional charge. The database will be generally available in January, 2012.

Learn more about the Birst In-Memory Analytics Database by joining a live webinar on Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 10:00 am PT. Register today at www.birst.com/webinars/in-memory.

About Birst
Birst™ is the leader in agile business analytics. It offers a single place to manage all of a business' analytics and agility to answer questions that span departments, data sources, and deployments -- across both public and private Clouds. Birst gives users the fastest way to answer their most pressing business questions -- and then all the ones they didn't know to ask. At one-third the cost, time, and staff of traditional big BI, Birst brings the benefits of analytics and fact-based decision-making to a much broader audience. For more information, visit www.birst.com.