Arbor Software's Essbase OLAP Server Awarded Four Stars And 'Recommended' Rating In Independent Study By National Software Testing Laboratories; Head-to-Head, Hands-On OLAP Server Evaluation Rates Arbor's Essbase Above Oracle Express Server For Superior Usability, Versatility and Ease of Use.SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 9, 1997--Arbor Software Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ARSW ARSW Annual Report of the Secretary of War ), a leading provider of client/server software for business planning, analysis and management reporting, today announced that National Software Testing Laboratories National Software Testing Laboratories, or NSTL, is an American company, established in 1983, which tests computer hardware and software. The company provides certification (such as WHQL and Microsoft Windows Mobile certification), quality assurance, and benchmarking (NSTL (National Software Testing Lab, Blue Bell, PA, www.nstl.com) An independent organization established in 1983 that evaluates computer hardware and software in the PC, mobile and gaming markets. It adheres to controlled testing methods to ensure objective results. ) has awarded its `Recommended' rating to Arbor's Essbase OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing) Decision support software that allows the user to quickly analyze information that has been summarized into multidimensional views and hierarchies. OLAP tools are used to perform trend analysis on sales and financial information. (on-line analytical processing (database) On-Line Analytical Processing - (OLAP) A category of database software which provides an interface such that users can transform or limit raw data according to user-defined or pre-defined functions, and quickly and interactively examine the results in various dimensions ) server after a head-to-head, hands-on evaluation of Essbase vs. Oracle Corporation's Oracle Express Server An Oracle database that provides multidimensional views of data. It is Oracle's OLAP product offering, which allows views to be created ahead of time (MOLAP) or directly from relational databases (ROLAP). Oracle Express also lets users gain access to their data from an Excel spreadsheet. See OLAP. . On a zero to 10 scale for the overall evaluation, Essbase earned 8.4 and an "Excellent" rating, vs. a 7.0 "Good" rating for Oracle Express Server. Essbase also ranked higher than Oracle Express Server in each of the four sub-categories detailed in the report: -- USABILITY - Essbase 8.4, Oracle Express Server 7.0; -- VERSATILITY - Essbase 8.5, Oracle Express Server 8.1; -- EASE OF USE - Essbase 8.3, Oracle Express Server 6.4; -- EASE OF LEARNING - Essbase 8.1, Oracle Express Server 6.3. NSTL's OLAP Server report was published in Software Digest, the independent, comparative Ratings Report for PC and LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. software. The 17 page report follows an extensive, three-month evaluation of Essbase 4.1 and Oracle Express Server 6.0, latest versions of both OLAP servers. Testing was performed on Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. In addition to a "Ratings Analysis" which compares the products using 16 different evaluation criteria, the report also includes a checklist detailing over sixty features in nine categories. The report praises Essbase for its ease of use and rapid deployment, translating into "lower personnel and consulting costs, and a faster return on investment." The report also highlights Essbase's multi-user read/write capability, intelligent recalculation re·cal·cu·late tr.v. re·cal·cu·lat·ed, re·cal·cu·lat·ing, re·cal·cu·lates To calculate again, especially in order to eliminate errors or to incorporate additional factors or data. , strong third-party application and client tool support and excellent documentation. "Software Digest's readers rely on us to provide them with in-depth and informative evaluations of software without hype or inflated claims," said Andrew Froning, managing editor of NSTL publications. "Our OLAP Server evaluation focuses on Essbase and Oracle Express Server because they are the acknowledged OLAP market leaders. Based on our exhaustive research, Essbase is the clear and unmistakable choice over Oracle Express Server for an enterprise OLAP solution." "The results of NSTL's in-depth evaluation mirror what is occurring in the OLAP market," said Kirk Cruikshank, Arbor Software's vice president of marketing. "Essbase is consistently selected over the competition because it is more functional, less costly to deploy and easier to use." About Essbase Essbase is an OLAP server optimized for business planning, analysis and management reporting, including a wide range of data warehousing applications such as profitability analysis, budgeting, forecasting, financial consolidations, sales analysis and EIS (1) (Executive Information System) An information system that consolidates and summarizes ongoing transactions within the organization. It provides top management with all the information it requires at all times from internal and external sources. . Based upon a true, client/server architecture, Essbase supports multi-user read and write access, large-scale data capacity, robust analytical calculations, flexible data navigation and consistent, rapid response times. The Essbase server's open architecture supports direct data access using standard spreadsheets, leading third-party query, reporting and EIS tools and Web browsers. Essbase scales from a single-user version to an enterprise OLAP solution enabling thousands of users to rapidly access and analyze hundreds of gigabytes of data. Essbase enables corporations to deliver OLAP applications directly from operational systems, or within an overall data warehousing architecture. Essbase operates on Windows NT, OS/2, UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). and AS/400 servers across all major networks connected to Windows, Macintosh and UNIX clients. About National Software Testing Laboratories NSTL is the publisher of Software Digest and PC Digest, the world's most authoritative comparative ratings reports. NSTL is your source for accurate, objective and detailed information on computer hardware and software. NSTL's publications accept no advertising and are not beholden in any way to the vendors of the products reviewed. NSTL's testing methodologies and test results inform readers around the world in 60 publications in 40 countries. For more information on the OLAP Server report, contact NSTL at 800/220-NSTL. About Arbor Software Arbor Software Corporation (NASDAQ:ARSW) develops and markets client/server software for business planning, analysis, management reporting and data warehousing applications. Arbor's products are used by more than 850 corporations spanning a broad range of industries and business applications including BankBoston, Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). , Pennzoil, PEPSICO, Prudential and Sears. Arbor has over 100 application, services, tools and platform partners, including Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Microsoft See Microsoft and IBM. . Arbor's products are sold direct, as well as through system integrators and VARs worldwide. Arbor's offices are located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Sunnyvale, Washington D.C., Hamburg, London, Paris and Sydney. More information on Arbor products and services can be found on Arbor's World Wide Web (WWW WWW or W3: see World Wide Web. (World Wide Web) The common host name for a Web server. The "www-dot" prefix on Web addresses is widely used to provide a recognizable way of identifying a Web site. ) site at http://www.arborsoft.com . -0- Note to Editors: Arbor and Essbase are registered trademarks of Arbor Software Corporation. Any other product or company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. For Arbor Software product information, please call 1-800/858-1666 or send e-mail to info@arborsoft.com . CONTACT: Arbor Software Joanna McMillan, 408/541-4035 jmcmillan@arborsoft.com |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion