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A Forrester Consulting
Thought Leadership Paper
Commissioned By SAP and Intel
March 2015
In-Memory Computing
Platforms Simplify And
Accelerate Application
Development
Businesses Can Build Applications
And Business Value For Competitive
Advantage
Table Of Contents
Executive Summary ...........................................................................................1
Today’s Enterprise Applications Need More In The Age Of The
Customer .............................................................................................................2
Complexity, Silos Are The Culprit....................................................................3
In-Memory Computing Platforms Shine For Rapid, Adaptable
Application Development..................................................................................4
Key Recommendations .....................................................................................8
Appendix A: Methodology ................................................................................9
Appendix B: Supplemental Material ................................................................9
Appendix C: Endnotes.....................................................................................10
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Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to
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1
Executive Summary
To meet the increasing demands of the customer in a
multidevice, omnichannel world, technology professionals
are challenged as never before. Driven by the increasing
demands of customers for relevant, contextual interactions
at the right moment, they must quickly develop
performance-intensive applications that solve specific,
complex, data-driven problems across a broad range of
devices and channels. In-memory technology may well be
the application development platform of choice, as it offers
the ability to easily and quickly create custom applications
for high-performance and real-time data management and
complex analytics.
In November 2014, Intel and SAP commissioned Forrester
Consulting to evaluate use of applications built using in-
memory application development platforms. Forrester
explored the assertion that enterprises could benefit from
developing or migrating their own applications using a
robust, integrated in-memory platform, and that those
applications are uniquely suited to meet not only real-time
database management, but also other compute-intensive
applications like predictive analytics, the Internet of Things
(IoT), and various business and customer applications that
target specific business needs and bring unique competitive
advantages with extremely high performance.
In conducting in-depth interviews with 10 IT and software
development professionals, Forrester found that companies
in a variety of industries see in-memory computing as a
viable option to increase performance; create unique,
custom-built applications to meet their distinctive needs; and
enable integration across the enterprise.
KEY FINDINGS
Forrester’s study yielded four key findings:
› The age of the customer demands new development
capabilities. There’s little question today about the
importance of customer experience to your organization’s
bottom line. Customers expect to be able to get the exact
information they need quickly and on any device. This
means an enterprise’s development platform must deliver
application development and data processing abilities that
legacy platforms and processes just can’t handle. And
these development capabilities are not just important for
customers — your employees also need enhanced
applications and capabilities to keep them engaged and
productive. Failing to address these new imperatives
means your biggest assets are at risk of being poached
by disruptive upstarts. In a counterintuitive twist, that
means that development teams should consider building
their own applications rather than trying to customize off-
the-shelf applications to meet business needs.
› Data integration drives successful applications. Your
business no longer has a “back office”, regardless of your
industry. All processes ultimately affect the customer
experience, and it’s increasingly important to connect the
dots between all the data you collect and store,
regardless of where it resides. Applications for both
internal and external stakeholders must process and act
on all the same data in a timely and efficient manner, and
increased demand for continuous innovation means
businesses need to shorten the production cycles by
managing less data copies. Moreover, as data and
applications integrate, the business integrates and
innovates.
› Simplicity and performance go hand in hand, and in-
memory is an increasingly viable development
ecosystem to meet both needs. With in-memory
platform providers working to make their technologies
more integrated and more modular, and with the
performance advantages of low latency, developers are
finding they can integrate and develop faster, better-
performing applications that create opportunities to push
new frontiers in innovation and performance. Business
processes can then become more agile and competitive,
decreasing costs and delivering a superior customer
experience.
› Omnichannel and the Internet of Things force real-
time performance. Through new next-generation mobile
apps, customers are demanding continuous improvement
to their customer experience. Forrester identified four
gaps for the customer experience between what
customers are expecting and what companies struggle to
deliver: performance, convenience, personalization, and
trust (see Figure 1). Collecting events from IoT,
aggregating them in volume, and delivering the right
answer to the customer in their own context is a challenge
that all companies progressing toward an omnichannel
strategy are facing. With in-memory technology,
enterprises can work across every channel and handle
volume from IoT to create immediate, contextual answer-
based experiences in support of their customers.
2
Today’s Enterprise Applications
Need More In The Age Of The
Customer
Enterprises stand at the brink of a major opportunity to
expand their capabilities and efficiencies for serving the
customer. The key to this is exploiting the real-time insights
provided by the vast array of data that can be collected and
brought together by big data and real-time advanced
analytics. This requires a technology platform that can store,
process, and access data faster than traditional approaches
and readily adapts to new business needs. Recent
advances in in-memory technologies offer this ability.
1
Forrester defines an in-memory database as: "Database
technology that stores either all or partial data in DRAM,
either on a single server or distributed across multiple nodes
in a cluster to support transactional, analytical, and
predictive workloads." Combined with complementary
application development modules that exploit this data
access model, in-memory technology enables businesses
to innovate better services by running business operations
faster and efficiently, in order to upsell/cross-sell new
products based on customer likes, dislikes, buying patterns,
friend circles, and past orders.
2
The business implications are huge not only for migrating
existing business applications, but also for building new
innovative custom-built applications, as both directly and
indirectly affect a firm’s customer experience, employee
productivity, business agility, and competitiveness. What if
you could deliver your complex queries and business
insights a thousand times faster? What if your mobile
application could access integrated data from many
disparate sources in seconds? What if the technology you
use could accelerate data processing and deliver real-time
information with low latency? The power exists to address
the following realities:
› Customer experience is the ultimate sustainable
advantage. Mobile applications have shifted enormous
power to consumers and customers, enabling them to
switch to competitors instantaneously. Social channels
amplify their opinions and extend their reach, and
consumers now have more power to make or break a
business. Winning — or losing — customers comes down
to the digital customer experiences and levels of service
you provide.
3
Creating relevant applications in the service
of this will be the key business differentiator for
enterprises. More than ever, enterprise application
developers must build a bridge between what customers
expect and what businesses deliver. This expectation
lives not just at the technology level, but even more
importantly, at the business level (See Figure 1).
Technology developers must now consider the full cross-
channel experience, blending technology and culture to
enable and build performance, convenience,
personalization, and trust.
› Employee productivity suffers from poorly designed
applications. A recent Forrester survey found that only
34% of information workers are fully engaged (meaning
likely to stay at their employer for the foreseeable future,
recommend the company’s products and services, and
recommend a job at their company to friends or family
members). The potential energy of engagement is
converted into kinetic energy of productivity. As the
number of digitally native employees increases, it’s
important to serve their needs with mobile and social
technologies that increase their productivity.
4
FIGURE 1
Experience Delivery Requires A New Architecture
And Philosophy To Bridge The Gap
Source: “Predictions 2015: Customer Experience And Digital Business
Rise In EA’s Agenda,” Forrester Research, Inc., November 14, 2014
What
businesses
deliver
What
customers
expect
A bridge built on an architecture
cross-channel experience delivery
and a philosophy and culture of
business agility
Performance:
Internet scale, real-time, any
device, instrumented for
data-driven improvement
Convenience:
simple, compelling, complete,
unified delivery across channels,
can act immediately, anywhere
Personalization:
context-rich, next best action,
location-aware, socially connected,
customer-journey-mindful
Trust:
honest, accountable, transparent,
contextual, reliable,
privacy-respecting
3
› Business agility and innovation can launch ships;
disruptive competition can sink them. To compete,
firms must offer innovative technology to engage
customers at speed-to-market, becoming more agile in
product and service delivery. Rapid innovation is now a
primary motivator for adopting new development
technologies. For example, among the reasons cited in a
recent Forrester survey of enterprise firms who use or
plan to use SaaS, the top five benefits cited all related to
business agility and speed (versus cost) (See Figure 2).
5
The ability to gather and analyze data in real time and
respond quickly and innovatively saves money and opens
the door to new opportunities. A major ship building firm
interviewed for this study is currently integrating project
management, materials management, and real-time
materials and process analysis to ensure the ships it
builds not only come in on budget, but are better,
stronger, and longer-lasting. Its CIO cited the power of
real-time, relevant data: Problems and opportunities are
discovered and worked on in real time, in one case cutting
the materials cost in half on one portion of the project.
The good news is that with a changing business
environment, internal application development teams that
can meet these needs are needed and more relevant than
ever before. They are in a unique position to partner with
the business to create the tools and applications that enable
great customer experiences, improve employee productivity,
and support rapid innovation and business agility. But
developers are struggling to keep up. Why?
Complexity, Silos Are The Culprit
Enterprise application development teams are faced with
challenges that make it difficult to keep up with the business
demand for new real-time and high-performance
applications, as well as enhancements to existing web and
mobile applications. Netted out, the following obstacles
have plagued enterprise application development teams for
years:
› Development teams struggle with ever-changing user
requirements with higher expectations. As users from
both employee and customer ranks demand more across
a wider variety of channels and interaction points,
business applications must cope with rapidly shifting
customer needs. With the emergence of new
technologies such as mobile devices or cloud
applications, end users’ needs are significantly changing.
While there are common themes, there are complex
requirements not only across industries, but also across
both processes and functions.
6
› Developers are wrestling with numerous
heterogeneous application development tools and
platforms. Given that large-scale enterprise application
development in many companies is over 40 years old, it
should be no surprise that today’s application developers
seldom (if ever) have the luxury of starting with a clean
slate. Silos are a legacy issue, and integrating and
standardizing efforts must solve for that, with mergers and
acquisitions only adding to the complexity. A steel and
mining company CIO said: “There’s no consistency of
computing across North America [in our company], as the
plants are all a collection acquired through M&A. Long
term, the company would like to standardize, but costs
and keeping the whole process stable are more important
right now.”
› Developers find themselves spending too much time
and effort to achieve availability, performance,
scalability, and adaptability. As with all things in
business, there is a diminishing marginal return on trying
to perfect all ideal attributes, whether for a business
process or an enterprise application. This is especially
problematic when handling growing data volumes for
FIGURE 2
Speed And Agility Have An Impact On Technology
Decisions
Base: 765 NA and EU software decision-makers whose firms plan to use
SaaS (1,000+ employees)
Source: ’Forrsights Software Survey, Q4 2013, Forrester Research, Inc.
“How important were the following benefits in your
firm’s decision to use SaaS?”
(Important [4] and very important [5])
Improved business agility 75%
Speed of implementation
and deployment 72%
Faster delivery of new features
and functions from SaaS/
as-a-service providers
71%
Support business innovation
with new capabilities 69%
Allows us to focus resources
on more important projects 69%
Lower overall costs 68%
Ability to substitute upfront
costs with regular monthly
payments
53%
Agility
and
speed
Cost
4
each application, much of it coming from varied sources
and being stored across the organization, often in the
cloud. The trend toward a hybrid of on-premises and
cloud to house both applications and data challenges
developers to keep performance and availability
seamlessly maximized to serve their customers and
business partners.
› Silos impede omnichannel strategies. Every functional
executive must step up to the challenge of understanding
the “big picture” for the business, and technology teams
must be at the forefront of this effort. Planning, launching,
developing, and maintaining applications and projects in
silos will inevitably create collisions and gaps when those
projects must be collected and integrated to serve the
customer. Today, it’s about striking the right balance
between all those elements and the
technologies/methods used to achieve them (See Figure
3).
7
Both business and technology experts in the
enterprise are dealing with silos when solving complex
problems that require an integrated approach. Otherwise,
customers will immediately unveil any inconsistenicies in
function, data access and manipulation, user interface, or
performance. They need platforms that can help both
simplify processes and work in real time.
Ultimately, application development teams are not judged
by how well they gather business requirements, choose
development technologies, manage the project, or march
through the development process. Instead, they are judged
by: 1) how well their software serves the business goals and
2) how empowered customers or employees feel before,
during, and after they use their software. Teams know they
need to improve. As one interviewee stated: “I’d rather have
my staff solve business problems. After all, it’s about how
we apply technology to solve problems, not in software
development for its own sake.”
So, what’s the answer?
In-Memory Computing Platforms
Shine For Rapid, Adaptable
Application Development
In order to meet challenges of new and increasing
demands, heterogeneous platforms, and siloed approaches
to solving business problems, many application
development teams are using in-memory platforms for help.
In-memory development platforms can help enterprises
push technology and business frontiers through five
characteristics: 1) performance — if businesses can
process data and applications faster, then quite simply, they
can do more; 2) simplification — by using a common
platform with already created code containers, there’s less
customizing and patching required; 3) innovation — the
business and its development partners can focus their
creative energies on the business; 4) a single data source
— one data source of truth with the ability to tap in and
reformat for the right device and channel on the fly means
lower cost, higher performance, and lower risk; and 5)
integration — write one application or experience that can
work across multiple devices, or integrate legacy apps via
data access. These characteristics help in the following
ways:
› Performance drives competitive advantage. In-
memory technology drives high performance by keeping
large amounts of data and instructions readily available in
on-circuit memory, rather than wasting instruction cycles
reaching out to disk. Performance is the best known
aspect of in-memory computing, but rather than get
caught up in the technical aspects of how that works, app
developers should consider what that means from a
business and accomplishment angle. One of the CIOs
interviewed put it bluntly: “I don’t care about the
FIGURE 3
Balance Business And Technology Trends
Source: “Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And
Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October 24, 2014
Mobile
The future of
business applications
Flexibility,
speed,
intelligence,
ease of use,
value focus
Cloud
deployment
BPM
User
experience
Extensibility
Elastic app
platforms
Social
collaboration
Semantic business
services specs
Componentization
Real-time
analytics
5
technology, except as it supports speed, capabilities, and
security. We have a dogmatic focus on simplicity and
outcomes . . . and speed is the competitive advantage.”
› Simplicity fuels application development agility. In-
memory computing platforms can dramatically accelerate
application development by simplifying the hoops that
developers normally have to jump through. Architecture is
the essential mechanism that integrates the functional
features of a product. An open, standardized, and
consistent architecture will help the technology
management team streamline its operations and
maintenance processes and improve its ability to meet the
requirements of business stakeholders for better
performance.
8
› Innovation from high performance and simplicity
leads to new business opportunities. A simple
architecture with clearly segmented functionality,
combined with loose coupling and a minimalist approach
to architectural components on the in-memory platform,
enables firms to rapidly innovate their offerings while still
addressing the customer experience (See Figure 4). The
firms interviewed for this study all pointed to examples of
how the power of in-memory computing gave them the
horsepower to focus on innovating and solving problems,
from predictive insights that generated substantial cost
savings to real-time materials analysis and process
control to ensure consistent high-quality material output.
› Single data source capability enables an omnichannel
strategy. Forrester estimates that more than 30% of data
is duplicated. This often creates data quality issues and
inconsistencies, largely because each copy of data goes
through further transformation and integration that
changes its business context, and some copies are
refreshed from production systems on an infrequent
basis. In-memory helps deliver a single version of the
truth and 360-degree view of the customer, employee,
business, or partner.
9
Over the long term, this “single
source of truth” simplifies data management and reduces
the cost that comes from managing multiple databases
and multiple copies of data.
› Integration drives successful applications. In-memory
can be used as a data services layer that mediates
between data sources and data-consuming applications
and services. One advantage of this is that companies
that juggle maintaining legacy apps with developing a
new multichannel (and device) architecture can support
integration via data access. With an in-memory platform,
all calculations can run on the same copy of data on the
fly. Rather than rebuilding everything from scratch,
developers can use in-memory components as the
integration engine to build applications dynamically,
sharing the same copy of data to save time and money
without sacrificing the functionality that the business
demands.
IN-MEMORY COMPUTING PLATFORMS ARE IDEAL
FOR TODAY’S MOST DEMANDING APPLICATIONS
In-memory applications are data-focused, but the
technology has implications in a diverse array of
development options, including mobile applications and
applications that require elasticity and scalability (especially
cloud applications). Elastic application platforms (EAPs) will
enable innovative new apps that benefit from high scalability
and elasticity, as well as enable cloud apps to support larger
enterprises and more sophisticated multitenant designs.
The speed and scalability of in-memory architectures will
enable apps that provide new levels of predictive simulation
and insight.
10
In development scenarios such as mobile applications, last-
mile connectivity is a significant challenge, particularly over
3G/4G networks. In-memory databases enable a solution
for these cases of questionable and unpredictable
connection speed, providing immediate access to cached
data.
11
All of these capabilities can be easily harnessed and
accessed by in-house development teams, allowing greater
flexibility and customization without “from scratch”
FIGURE 4
Simplicity Leads To Effectiveness, Ease, And
Emotion
Source: “Brief: Product Innovation Must Focus On Simplicity To Enhance
Customer Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc., September 3, 2014
Effectiveness
Ease
Emotion
UI
simplicity
Architectural
simplicity
Business
simplicity
6
development or change management. Some of the
demanding applications that are ideal for an in-memory
computing platform include the following:
› Real-time dynamic reporting. Enterprises that can
analyze their businesses dynamically, in real time, can be
consistently flexible and responsive to customer needs
and environmental changes. One example of this is
adding real-time and ad hoc reporting of financials or
sales during the monthly accounting cycle to immediately
enhance exception reporting and minimize errors. In-
memory technology can aggregate data at a very granular
level with any number of combinations in real time, all off
a single data set. This helps businesses find and fix
issues quickly. Manufacturing process control especially
benefits from this additional reporting power. The
manufacturing enterprises interviewed for this study all
cited the power of real-time reporting in optimizing their
supply chains, detecting issues and making process
manufacturing adjustments, optimizing materials quality
and cost management, and maximizing the efficiency of
freight and transportation.
› Real-time planning and optimization. In-memory
technology platforms are now combining application
services with web services and the development
environment and integrating with database architectures
to add both performance and integration to the mix.
Businesses can now build on their reporting capabilities
and move to the next level: real-time planning and
optimization. Imagine the power of real-time dashboards
that display data consistently across key performance
indicators from different data sources. A global food
manufacturer and distributor that participated in this study
uses in-memory computing to compile and analyze
several threads of data that then feed into its production
cost planning model, including hedging against price
fluctuations for commodity ingredients that are the basis
of its manufactured products. The CIO at this
manufacturer said, “Three to four years ago, we suffered
from wide commodity pricing swings that killed our cost
structure — we were six months behind the curve. Now
we are able to respond relatively quickly [to commodity
price swings], and in a thoughtful way.” Getting the right
information at the right time is key to having the
competitive edge.
› In-depth analytics requiring a high level of precision
across broader data. In-memory platforms can act as an
analytics appliance, supporting real-time analysis at
different levels of memory and different levels of
application and business logic. This means consumer
businesses can analyze point-of-sale data in real time to
suggest additional or even replacement products,
increasing average purchase, customer engagement, and
customer loyalty. Each of the enterprises Forrester
interviewed for this study had a unique need for precise,
in-depth analytics — from real-time analysis of content
viewed for a digital content provider to in-process
materials analysis for a global steel producer. All were
clear about the benefits that in-memory provided. “We
couldn’t have done [our] forecasting project without the
performance and bandwidth in-memory provides,” noted
the CTO of a large shipyard
› The Internet of Things. Traditional “embedded”
applications are taking a new place of prominence as in-
memory capabilities capture machine (and even human)
data in real time and integrate with any other number of
processes and data sources, all in real time. Product
manufacturers are embedding intelligent connectivity into
their products and building new business processes and
models that can respond to that data. Manufacturing firms
often use connected world solutions to locate equipment,
prevent and detect theft, maintain real-time asset
inventory, and optimize supply chain processes. These
solutions enable real-time analysis of factory processes
such as fabrication, assembly, packaging, supply chain
automation, and warehouse monitoring. Transportation
firms have also implemented fleet management services
to track fuel usage, improve fleet efficiency, and monitor
vehicle maintenance status. A CIO at a large steel
producer who was interviewed for this study can now use
real-time defect data to make changes in robotics and
materials processing. His next goal is to give every
engineer and shop floor controller access to the data and
analysis on their mobile devices, wherever they are.
› Predictive analytics. Predictive analytics is a key
capability to make better decisions, avoid risks, and
create differentiated, more individualized customer
experiences. If an enterprise can take real-time analytics
to the next step, it can actually model the future. In-
memory features, such as supporting data mining across
multiple different data sources or even using in-database
scoring and optimization, enable real-time access and
integration of very large and complex data ecosystems.
Some direct marketers use predictive models to boost
their campaign response rates. One large online content
provider interviewed uses in-memory technology to
7
collect, structure, and visualize data on how users interact
with content. Focusing on analyzing small, actionable
pieces of information and using pattern recognition
algorithms, this company has created a powerful
predictive model to better understand and sell advertising
for that content. Companies Forrester spoke with for this
study are feeling empowered by data and performance
provided by their in-memory applications to do things like
analyze and predict commodity price changes, anticipate
project costs, and see patterns in changes to production
materials. The ability to see patterns and predict
outcomes can save time and money, allow enterprises to
anticipate customer needs, and provide innovation insight
to meet those needs, all in real time.
“[For us] . . . it comes down to high-
speed data collection and analysis,
from materials to shop floor controls.
. . . Collecting and analyzing
information every 5 milliseconds, we
could adjust the robotic welding
before it goes off track, or adjust the
process with data from real-time
defect analysis.”
— CIO at global steel producer
› Geo-info analytics or spatial processing. A prerequisite
to winning in the age of the customer is a deep
knowledge of customers, their surroundings, and their
real-time wants and needs. For example, retailers are
using presence awareness in their stores to manage
crowds or even target appropriate offers to individuals,
and insurance companies are tracking a customer’s
driving habits and adjusting premiums accordingly. Geo-
info analytics requires enormous performance for both
data management and application response. But it can
also open the door to untold levels of innovation in service
of the customer. In-memory technology has made the
opportunity for innovation in this area an exciting new
possibility for innovative businesses, as they can now
access huge amounts of data being created in real time
across channels and devices. Many of the CIOs Forrester
interviewed were thinking about how spatial processing
could be used in innovative ways. One speculated on
optimizing freight and transportation; another is
developing apps for tracking key product components to
optimize build processes. Consumer-oriented businesses
are actively using location tracking and analytics to
anticipate and serve customer needs, and they feel they
haven’t begun to scratch the surface of possibilities.
In-memory technology is beginning to reveal the possibilities
for innovation, simplicity, and integration in areas where
speed and scalability are requirements. With the
performance, integration, and simplicity of in-memory,
application developers can solve business problems more
quickly and effectively than ever before.
8
Key Recommendations
R. Buckminster Fuller once said, “We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.” Enterprise application
development teams can and must change. The business-as-usual software design and development practices have
failed to overcome the perpetual struggle of delivering great software on time and on budget. Ever-escalating
standards of what constitutes good customer and employee experience will further render them obsolete. In-memory
computing platforms can transform this struggle with performance, simplicity, and the freedom to innovate.
Development pros should consider the following to maximize their benefits from in-memory technology:
› Build an in-memory development road map. Savvy enterprise application developers will work with their
business partners to determine what the customer and business needs truly are, and then match the right
capabilities with the right desired outcomes. In-memory vendors are providing the platforms that allow integration
with legacy applications and creating in-house custom applications that can precisely hit the sweet spot of
present and future business needs.
› Don’t be afraid to build applications in-house. In-memory development platforms are often containerized, with
application programming interfaces (APIs) and integration points that make custom development much simpler
than in days past. One of the respondents in this study saw his in-memory development platform as being almost
“off the shelf” but still capable of customizing to his company’s specialized needs. The key is performance,
simplicity, and integration.
› Look for in-memory platforms that are modular, simple, and able to grow with the business. Cloud and on-
premises applications, data warehousing platforms, analytics tools, and other factors may vary across the
organization. It is critical to have the right tool at the right time for the job, as well as have the key integration
points that allow a common set of performance-driven capabilities across a diverse array of devices and
channels. —
› Position IT as a partner in empowering the business. Technologies like in-memory have the potential to
transform IT from the office of “no” to one of “yes,” a particularly welcome shift given the demands of modern
business. With the agility, simplicity, and performance of in-memory technology, it’s easy to seize the opportunity
to leverage enhanced capabilities to develop or rebuild the kinds of applications that truly meet business needs.
9
Appendix A: Methodology
In this study, commissioned by Intel and SAP, Forrester interviewed 10 technology and application development
professionals in organizations in North America in order to evaluate how they are using and/or planning to use in-memory
development platforms and technology to solve pressing business problems, the decision-making process they went through
to decide on in-memory technology, and what business impact they have seen to date. Survey participants included
decision-makers and technology leaders in a range of industries. Questions provided to the participants asked about
computing strategies and budgets, how in-memory is currently being used in their company, future plans for in-memory, the
process used to decide on technology strategies in general and for in-memory in particular, and the business impact of in-
memory on their organizations. The study began in November 2014 and was completed in February 2015.
Appendix B: Supplemental Material
RELATED FORRESTER RESEARCH
“Brief: In-Memory Data Platform Is No Longer An Option — It’s A Necessity!” Forrester Research, Inc., August 22, 2014
“Market Overview: In-Memory Data Platforms,” Forrester Research, Inc., December 26, 2014
“The Age Of The Customer Changes Everything For AD&D Leaders,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 23, 2014
“Maximize Employee Value By Aligning With Customer Imperatives,” Forrester Research, Inc., May 9, 2014
“Transform Application Delivery To Improve Business Agility,” Forrester Research, Inc., July 10, 2014
“Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October 24, 2014
“The 10 Most Important Technology Trends In Business Application Architecture Today,” Forrester Research, Inc.,
September 23, 2013
“Brief: Product Innovation Must Focus On Simplicity To Enhance Customer Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc.,
September 3, 2014
“The Future Of Mobile Application Development,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 28, 2015
10
Appendix C: Endnotes
1
Source: “Brief: In-Memory Data Platform Is No Longer An Option — It’s A Necessity!” Forrester Research, Inc., August 22,
2014.
2
Source: “Market Overview: In-Memory Data Platforms,” Forrester Research, Inc., December 26, 2014.
3
Source: “The Age Of The Customer Changes Everything For AD&D Leaders,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 23, 2014.
4
Source: “Maximize Employee Value By Aligning With Customer Imperatives,” Forrester Research, Inc., May 9, 2014.
5
Source: “Transform Application Delivery To Improve Business Agility,” Forrester Research, Inc., July 10, 2014.
6
Source: “Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October
24, 2014.
7
Source: “Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October
24, 2014.
8
Source: “Brief: Product Innovation Must Focus On Simplicity To Enhance Customer Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc.
September 3, 2014.
9
Source: “Brief: In-Memory Data Platform Is No Longer An Option — It’s A Necessity!” Forrester Research, Inc., August 22,
2014.
10
Source: “The 10 Most Important Technology Trends In Business Application Architecture Today,” Forrester Research, Inc.,
September 23, 2013.
11
Source: “The Future Of Mobile Application Development,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 28, 2015.

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In-memory computing platform whitepaper

  • 1. A Forrester Consulting Thought Leadership Paper Commissioned By SAP and Intel March 2015 In-Memory Computing Platforms Simplify And Accelerate Application Development Businesses Can Build Applications And Business Value For Competitive Advantage
  • 2. Table Of Contents Executive Summary ...........................................................................................1 Today’s Enterprise Applications Need More In The Age Of The Customer .............................................................................................................2 Complexity, Silos Are The Culprit....................................................................3 In-Memory Computing Platforms Shine For Rapid, Adaptable Application Development..................................................................................4 Key Recommendations .....................................................................................8 Appendix A: Methodology ................................................................................9 Appendix B: Supplemental Material ................................................................9 Appendix C: Endnotes.....................................................................................10 ABOUT FORRESTER CONSULTING Forrester Consulting provides independent and objective research-based consulting to help leaders succeed in their organizations. Ranging in scope from a short strategy session to custom projects, Forrester’s Consulting services connect you directly with research analysts who apply expert insight to your specific business challenges. For more information, visit forrester.com/consulting. © 2015, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester® , Technographics® , Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com. [1-RW2I7S]
  • 3. 1 Executive Summary To meet the increasing demands of the customer in a multidevice, omnichannel world, technology professionals are challenged as never before. Driven by the increasing demands of customers for relevant, contextual interactions at the right moment, they must quickly develop performance-intensive applications that solve specific, complex, data-driven problems across a broad range of devices and channels. In-memory technology may well be the application development platform of choice, as it offers the ability to easily and quickly create custom applications for high-performance and real-time data management and complex analytics. In November 2014, Intel and SAP commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate use of applications built using in- memory application development platforms. Forrester explored the assertion that enterprises could benefit from developing or migrating their own applications using a robust, integrated in-memory platform, and that those applications are uniquely suited to meet not only real-time database management, but also other compute-intensive applications like predictive analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and various business and customer applications that target specific business needs and bring unique competitive advantages with extremely high performance. In conducting in-depth interviews with 10 IT and software development professionals, Forrester found that companies in a variety of industries see in-memory computing as a viable option to increase performance; create unique, custom-built applications to meet their distinctive needs; and enable integration across the enterprise. KEY FINDINGS Forrester’s study yielded four key findings: › The age of the customer demands new development capabilities. There’s little question today about the importance of customer experience to your organization’s bottom line. Customers expect to be able to get the exact information they need quickly and on any device. This means an enterprise’s development platform must deliver application development and data processing abilities that legacy platforms and processes just can’t handle. And these development capabilities are not just important for customers — your employees also need enhanced applications and capabilities to keep them engaged and productive. Failing to address these new imperatives means your biggest assets are at risk of being poached by disruptive upstarts. In a counterintuitive twist, that means that development teams should consider building their own applications rather than trying to customize off- the-shelf applications to meet business needs. › Data integration drives successful applications. Your business no longer has a “back office”, regardless of your industry. All processes ultimately affect the customer experience, and it’s increasingly important to connect the dots between all the data you collect and store, regardless of where it resides. Applications for both internal and external stakeholders must process and act on all the same data in a timely and efficient manner, and increased demand for continuous innovation means businesses need to shorten the production cycles by managing less data copies. Moreover, as data and applications integrate, the business integrates and innovates. › Simplicity and performance go hand in hand, and in- memory is an increasingly viable development ecosystem to meet both needs. With in-memory platform providers working to make their technologies more integrated and more modular, and with the performance advantages of low latency, developers are finding they can integrate and develop faster, better- performing applications that create opportunities to push new frontiers in innovation and performance. Business processes can then become more agile and competitive, decreasing costs and delivering a superior customer experience. › Omnichannel and the Internet of Things force real- time performance. Through new next-generation mobile apps, customers are demanding continuous improvement to their customer experience. Forrester identified four gaps for the customer experience between what customers are expecting and what companies struggle to deliver: performance, convenience, personalization, and trust (see Figure 1). Collecting events from IoT, aggregating them in volume, and delivering the right answer to the customer in their own context is a challenge that all companies progressing toward an omnichannel strategy are facing. With in-memory technology, enterprises can work across every channel and handle volume from IoT to create immediate, contextual answer- based experiences in support of their customers.
  • 4. 2 Today’s Enterprise Applications Need More In The Age Of The Customer Enterprises stand at the brink of a major opportunity to expand their capabilities and efficiencies for serving the customer. The key to this is exploiting the real-time insights provided by the vast array of data that can be collected and brought together by big data and real-time advanced analytics. This requires a technology platform that can store, process, and access data faster than traditional approaches and readily adapts to new business needs. Recent advances in in-memory technologies offer this ability. 1 Forrester defines an in-memory database as: "Database technology that stores either all or partial data in DRAM, either on a single server or distributed across multiple nodes in a cluster to support transactional, analytical, and predictive workloads." Combined with complementary application development modules that exploit this data access model, in-memory technology enables businesses to innovate better services by running business operations faster and efficiently, in order to upsell/cross-sell new products based on customer likes, dislikes, buying patterns, friend circles, and past orders. 2 The business implications are huge not only for migrating existing business applications, but also for building new innovative custom-built applications, as both directly and indirectly affect a firm’s customer experience, employee productivity, business agility, and competitiveness. What if you could deliver your complex queries and business insights a thousand times faster? What if your mobile application could access integrated data from many disparate sources in seconds? What if the technology you use could accelerate data processing and deliver real-time information with low latency? The power exists to address the following realities: › Customer experience is the ultimate sustainable advantage. Mobile applications have shifted enormous power to consumers and customers, enabling them to switch to competitors instantaneously. Social channels amplify their opinions and extend their reach, and consumers now have more power to make or break a business. Winning — or losing — customers comes down to the digital customer experiences and levels of service you provide. 3 Creating relevant applications in the service of this will be the key business differentiator for enterprises. More than ever, enterprise application developers must build a bridge between what customers expect and what businesses deliver. This expectation lives not just at the technology level, but even more importantly, at the business level (See Figure 1). Technology developers must now consider the full cross- channel experience, blending technology and culture to enable and build performance, convenience, personalization, and trust. › Employee productivity suffers from poorly designed applications. A recent Forrester survey found that only 34% of information workers are fully engaged (meaning likely to stay at their employer for the foreseeable future, recommend the company’s products and services, and recommend a job at their company to friends or family members). The potential energy of engagement is converted into kinetic energy of productivity. As the number of digitally native employees increases, it’s important to serve their needs with mobile and social technologies that increase their productivity. 4 FIGURE 1 Experience Delivery Requires A New Architecture And Philosophy To Bridge The Gap Source: “Predictions 2015: Customer Experience And Digital Business Rise In EA’s Agenda,” Forrester Research, Inc., November 14, 2014 What businesses deliver What customers expect A bridge built on an architecture cross-channel experience delivery and a philosophy and culture of business agility Performance: Internet scale, real-time, any device, instrumented for data-driven improvement Convenience: simple, compelling, complete, unified delivery across channels, can act immediately, anywhere Personalization: context-rich, next best action, location-aware, socially connected, customer-journey-mindful Trust: honest, accountable, transparent, contextual, reliable, privacy-respecting
  • 5. 3 › Business agility and innovation can launch ships; disruptive competition can sink them. To compete, firms must offer innovative technology to engage customers at speed-to-market, becoming more agile in product and service delivery. Rapid innovation is now a primary motivator for adopting new development technologies. For example, among the reasons cited in a recent Forrester survey of enterprise firms who use or plan to use SaaS, the top five benefits cited all related to business agility and speed (versus cost) (See Figure 2). 5 The ability to gather and analyze data in real time and respond quickly and innovatively saves money and opens the door to new opportunities. A major ship building firm interviewed for this study is currently integrating project management, materials management, and real-time materials and process analysis to ensure the ships it builds not only come in on budget, but are better, stronger, and longer-lasting. Its CIO cited the power of real-time, relevant data: Problems and opportunities are discovered and worked on in real time, in one case cutting the materials cost in half on one portion of the project. The good news is that with a changing business environment, internal application development teams that can meet these needs are needed and more relevant than ever before. They are in a unique position to partner with the business to create the tools and applications that enable great customer experiences, improve employee productivity, and support rapid innovation and business agility. But developers are struggling to keep up. Why? Complexity, Silos Are The Culprit Enterprise application development teams are faced with challenges that make it difficult to keep up with the business demand for new real-time and high-performance applications, as well as enhancements to existing web and mobile applications. Netted out, the following obstacles have plagued enterprise application development teams for years: › Development teams struggle with ever-changing user requirements with higher expectations. As users from both employee and customer ranks demand more across a wider variety of channels and interaction points, business applications must cope with rapidly shifting customer needs. With the emergence of new technologies such as mobile devices or cloud applications, end users’ needs are significantly changing. While there are common themes, there are complex requirements not only across industries, but also across both processes and functions. 6 › Developers are wrestling with numerous heterogeneous application development tools and platforms. Given that large-scale enterprise application development in many companies is over 40 years old, it should be no surprise that today’s application developers seldom (if ever) have the luxury of starting with a clean slate. Silos are a legacy issue, and integrating and standardizing efforts must solve for that, with mergers and acquisitions only adding to the complexity. A steel and mining company CIO said: “There’s no consistency of computing across North America [in our company], as the plants are all a collection acquired through M&A. Long term, the company would like to standardize, but costs and keeping the whole process stable are more important right now.” › Developers find themselves spending too much time and effort to achieve availability, performance, scalability, and adaptability. As with all things in business, there is a diminishing marginal return on trying to perfect all ideal attributes, whether for a business process or an enterprise application. This is especially problematic when handling growing data volumes for FIGURE 2 Speed And Agility Have An Impact On Technology Decisions Base: 765 NA and EU software decision-makers whose firms plan to use SaaS (1,000+ employees) Source: ’Forrsights Software Survey, Q4 2013, Forrester Research, Inc. “How important were the following benefits in your firm’s decision to use SaaS?” (Important [4] and very important [5]) Improved business agility 75% Speed of implementation and deployment 72% Faster delivery of new features and functions from SaaS/ as-a-service providers 71% Support business innovation with new capabilities 69% Allows us to focus resources on more important projects 69% Lower overall costs 68% Ability to substitute upfront costs with regular monthly payments 53% Agility and speed Cost
  • 6. 4 each application, much of it coming from varied sources and being stored across the organization, often in the cloud. The trend toward a hybrid of on-premises and cloud to house both applications and data challenges developers to keep performance and availability seamlessly maximized to serve their customers and business partners. › Silos impede omnichannel strategies. Every functional executive must step up to the challenge of understanding the “big picture” for the business, and technology teams must be at the forefront of this effort. Planning, launching, developing, and maintaining applications and projects in silos will inevitably create collisions and gaps when those projects must be collected and integrated to serve the customer. Today, it’s about striking the right balance between all those elements and the technologies/methods used to achieve them (See Figure 3). 7 Both business and technology experts in the enterprise are dealing with silos when solving complex problems that require an integrated approach. Otherwise, customers will immediately unveil any inconsistenicies in function, data access and manipulation, user interface, or performance. They need platforms that can help both simplify processes and work in real time. Ultimately, application development teams are not judged by how well they gather business requirements, choose development technologies, manage the project, or march through the development process. Instead, they are judged by: 1) how well their software serves the business goals and 2) how empowered customers or employees feel before, during, and after they use their software. Teams know they need to improve. As one interviewee stated: “I’d rather have my staff solve business problems. After all, it’s about how we apply technology to solve problems, not in software development for its own sake.” So, what’s the answer? In-Memory Computing Platforms Shine For Rapid, Adaptable Application Development In order to meet challenges of new and increasing demands, heterogeneous platforms, and siloed approaches to solving business problems, many application development teams are using in-memory platforms for help. In-memory development platforms can help enterprises push technology and business frontiers through five characteristics: 1) performance — if businesses can process data and applications faster, then quite simply, they can do more; 2) simplification — by using a common platform with already created code containers, there’s less customizing and patching required; 3) innovation — the business and its development partners can focus their creative energies on the business; 4) a single data source — one data source of truth with the ability to tap in and reformat for the right device and channel on the fly means lower cost, higher performance, and lower risk; and 5) integration — write one application or experience that can work across multiple devices, or integrate legacy apps via data access. These characteristics help in the following ways: › Performance drives competitive advantage. In- memory technology drives high performance by keeping large amounts of data and instructions readily available in on-circuit memory, rather than wasting instruction cycles reaching out to disk. Performance is the best known aspect of in-memory computing, but rather than get caught up in the technical aspects of how that works, app developers should consider what that means from a business and accomplishment angle. One of the CIOs interviewed put it bluntly: “I don’t care about the FIGURE 3 Balance Business And Technology Trends Source: “Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October 24, 2014 Mobile The future of business applications Flexibility, speed, intelligence, ease of use, value focus Cloud deployment BPM User experience Extensibility Elastic app platforms Social collaboration Semantic business services specs Componentization Real-time analytics
  • 7. 5 technology, except as it supports speed, capabilities, and security. We have a dogmatic focus on simplicity and outcomes . . . and speed is the competitive advantage.” › Simplicity fuels application development agility. In- memory computing platforms can dramatically accelerate application development by simplifying the hoops that developers normally have to jump through. Architecture is the essential mechanism that integrates the functional features of a product. An open, standardized, and consistent architecture will help the technology management team streamline its operations and maintenance processes and improve its ability to meet the requirements of business stakeholders for better performance. 8 › Innovation from high performance and simplicity leads to new business opportunities. A simple architecture with clearly segmented functionality, combined with loose coupling and a minimalist approach to architectural components on the in-memory platform, enables firms to rapidly innovate their offerings while still addressing the customer experience (See Figure 4). The firms interviewed for this study all pointed to examples of how the power of in-memory computing gave them the horsepower to focus on innovating and solving problems, from predictive insights that generated substantial cost savings to real-time materials analysis and process control to ensure consistent high-quality material output. › Single data source capability enables an omnichannel strategy. Forrester estimates that more than 30% of data is duplicated. This often creates data quality issues and inconsistencies, largely because each copy of data goes through further transformation and integration that changes its business context, and some copies are refreshed from production systems on an infrequent basis. In-memory helps deliver a single version of the truth and 360-degree view of the customer, employee, business, or partner. 9 Over the long term, this “single source of truth” simplifies data management and reduces the cost that comes from managing multiple databases and multiple copies of data. › Integration drives successful applications. In-memory can be used as a data services layer that mediates between data sources and data-consuming applications and services. One advantage of this is that companies that juggle maintaining legacy apps with developing a new multichannel (and device) architecture can support integration via data access. With an in-memory platform, all calculations can run on the same copy of data on the fly. Rather than rebuilding everything from scratch, developers can use in-memory components as the integration engine to build applications dynamically, sharing the same copy of data to save time and money without sacrificing the functionality that the business demands. IN-MEMORY COMPUTING PLATFORMS ARE IDEAL FOR TODAY’S MOST DEMANDING APPLICATIONS In-memory applications are data-focused, but the technology has implications in a diverse array of development options, including mobile applications and applications that require elasticity and scalability (especially cloud applications). Elastic application platforms (EAPs) will enable innovative new apps that benefit from high scalability and elasticity, as well as enable cloud apps to support larger enterprises and more sophisticated multitenant designs. The speed and scalability of in-memory architectures will enable apps that provide new levels of predictive simulation and insight. 10 In development scenarios such as mobile applications, last- mile connectivity is a significant challenge, particularly over 3G/4G networks. In-memory databases enable a solution for these cases of questionable and unpredictable connection speed, providing immediate access to cached data. 11 All of these capabilities can be easily harnessed and accessed by in-house development teams, allowing greater flexibility and customization without “from scratch” FIGURE 4 Simplicity Leads To Effectiveness, Ease, And Emotion Source: “Brief: Product Innovation Must Focus On Simplicity To Enhance Customer Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc., September 3, 2014 Effectiveness Ease Emotion UI simplicity Architectural simplicity Business simplicity
  • 8. 6 development or change management. Some of the demanding applications that are ideal for an in-memory computing platform include the following: › Real-time dynamic reporting. Enterprises that can analyze their businesses dynamically, in real time, can be consistently flexible and responsive to customer needs and environmental changes. One example of this is adding real-time and ad hoc reporting of financials or sales during the monthly accounting cycle to immediately enhance exception reporting and minimize errors. In- memory technology can aggregate data at a very granular level with any number of combinations in real time, all off a single data set. This helps businesses find and fix issues quickly. Manufacturing process control especially benefits from this additional reporting power. The manufacturing enterprises interviewed for this study all cited the power of real-time reporting in optimizing their supply chains, detecting issues and making process manufacturing adjustments, optimizing materials quality and cost management, and maximizing the efficiency of freight and transportation. › Real-time planning and optimization. In-memory technology platforms are now combining application services with web services and the development environment and integrating with database architectures to add both performance and integration to the mix. Businesses can now build on their reporting capabilities and move to the next level: real-time planning and optimization. Imagine the power of real-time dashboards that display data consistently across key performance indicators from different data sources. A global food manufacturer and distributor that participated in this study uses in-memory computing to compile and analyze several threads of data that then feed into its production cost planning model, including hedging against price fluctuations for commodity ingredients that are the basis of its manufactured products. The CIO at this manufacturer said, “Three to four years ago, we suffered from wide commodity pricing swings that killed our cost structure — we were six months behind the curve. Now we are able to respond relatively quickly [to commodity price swings], and in a thoughtful way.” Getting the right information at the right time is key to having the competitive edge. › In-depth analytics requiring a high level of precision across broader data. In-memory platforms can act as an analytics appliance, supporting real-time analysis at different levels of memory and different levels of application and business logic. This means consumer businesses can analyze point-of-sale data in real time to suggest additional or even replacement products, increasing average purchase, customer engagement, and customer loyalty. Each of the enterprises Forrester interviewed for this study had a unique need for precise, in-depth analytics — from real-time analysis of content viewed for a digital content provider to in-process materials analysis for a global steel producer. All were clear about the benefits that in-memory provided. “We couldn’t have done [our] forecasting project without the performance and bandwidth in-memory provides,” noted the CTO of a large shipyard › The Internet of Things. Traditional “embedded” applications are taking a new place of prominence as in- memory capabilities capture machine (and even human) data in real time and integrate with any other number of processes and data sources, all in real time. Product manufacturers are embedding intelligent connectivity into their products and building new business processes and models that can respond to that data. Manufacturing firms often use connected world solutions to locate equipment, prevent and detect theft, maintain real-time asset inventory, and optimize supply chain processes. These solutions enable real-time analysis of factory processes such as fabrication, assembly, packaging, supply chain automation, and warehouse monitoring. Transportation firms have also implemented fleet management services to track fuel usage, improve fleet efficiency, and monitor vehicle maintenance status. A CIO at a large steel producer who was interviewed for this study can now use real-time defect data to make changes in robotics and materials processing. His next goal is to give every engineer and shop floor controller access to the data and analysis on their mobile devices, wherever they are. › Predictive analytics. Predictive analytics is a key capability to make better decisions, avoid risks, and create differentiated, more individualized customer experiences. If an enterprise can take real-time analytics to the next step, it can actually model the future. In- memory features, such as supporting data mining across multiple different data sources or even using in-database scoring and optimization, enable real-time access and integration of very large and complex data ecosystems. Some direct marketers use predictive models to boost their campaign response rates. One large online content provider interviewed uses in-memory technology to
  • 9. 7 collect, structure, and visualize data on how users interact with content. Focusing on analyzing small, actionable pieces of information and using pattern recognition algorithms, this company has created a powerful predictive model to better understand and sell advertising for that content. Companies Forrester spoke with for this study are feeling empowered by data and performance provided by their in-memory applications to do things like analyze and predict commodity price changes, anticipate project costs, and see patterns in changes to production materials. The ability to see patterns and predict outcomes can save time and money, allow enterprises to anticipate customer needs, and provide innovation insight to meet those needs, all in real time. “[For us] . . . it comes down to high- speed data collection and analysis, from materials to shop floor controls. . . . Collecting and analyzing information every 5 milliseconds, we could adjust the robotic welding before it goes off track, or adjust the process with data from real-time defect analysis.” — CIO at global steel producer › Geo-info analytics or spatial processing. A prerequisite to winning in the age of the customer is a deep knowledge of customers, their surroundings, and their real-time wants and needs. For example, retailers are using presence awareness in their stores to manage crowds or even target appropriate offers to individuals, and insurance companies are tracking a customer’s driving habits and adjusting premiums accordingly. Geo- info analytics requires enormous performance for both data management and application response. But it can also open the door to untold levels of innovation in service of the customer. In-memory technology has made the opportunity for innovation in this area an exciting new possibility for innovative businesses, as they can now access huge amounts of data being created in real time across channels and devices. Many of the CIOs Forrester interviewed were thinking about how spatial processing could be used in innovative ways. One speculated on optimizing freight and transportation; another is developing apps for tracking key product components to optimize build processes. Consumer-oriented businesses are actively using location tracking and analytics to anticipate and serve customer needs, and they feel they haven’t begun to scratch the surface of possibilities. In-memory technology is beginning to reveal the possibilities for innovation, simplicity, and integration in areas where speed and scalability are requirements. With the performance, integration, and simplicity of in-memory, application developers can solve business problems more quickly and effectively than ever before.
  • 10. 8 Key Recommendations R. Buckminster Fuller once said, “We are called to be architects of the future, not its victims.” Enterprise application development teams can and must change. The business-as-usual software design and development practices have failed to overcome the perpetual struggle of delivering great software on time and on budget. Ever-escalating standards of what constitutes good customer and employee experience will further render them obsolete. In-memory computing platforms can transform this struggle with performance, simplicity, and the freedom to innovate. Development pros should consider the following to maximize their benefits from in-memory technology: › Build an in-memory development road map. Savvy enterprise application developers will work with their business partners to determine what the customer and business needs truly are, and then match the right capabilities with the right desired outcomes. In-memory vendors are providing the platforms that allow integration with legacy applications and creating in-house custom applications that can precisely hit the sweet spot of present and future business needs. › Don’t be afraid to build applications in-house. In-memory development platforms are often containerized, with application programming interfaces (APIs) and integration points that make custom development much simpler than in days past. One of the respondents in this study saw his in-memory development platform as being almost “off the shelf” but still capable of customizing to his company’s specialized needs. The key is performance, simplicity, and integration. › Look for in-memory platforms that are modular, simple, and able to grow with the business. Cloud and on- premises applications, data warehousing platforms, analytics tools, and other factors may vary across the organization. It is critical to have the right tool at the right time for the job, as well as have the key integration points that allow a common set of performance-driven capabilities across a diverse array of devices and channels. — › Position IT as a partner in empowering the business. Technologies like in-memory have the potential to transform IT from the office of “no” to one of “yes,” a particularly welcome shift given the demands of modern business. With the agility, simplicity, and performance of in-memory technology, it’s easy to seize the opportunity to leverage enhanced capabilities to develop or rebuild the kinds of applications that truly meet business needs.
  • 11. 9 Appendix A: Methodology In this study, commissioned by Intel and SAP, Forrester interviewed 10 technology and application development professionals in organizations in North America in order to evaluate how they are using and/or planning to use in-memory development platforms and technology to solve pressing business problems, the decision-making process they went through to decide on in-memory technology, and what business impact they have seen to date. Survey participants included decision-makers and technology leaders in a range of industries. Questions provided to the participants asked about computing strategies and budgets, how in-memory is currently being used in their company, future plans for in-memory, the process used to decide on technology strategies in general and for in-memory in particular, and the business impact of in- memory on their organizations. The study began in November 2014 and was completed in February 2015. Appendix B: Supplemental Material RELATED FORRESTER RESEARCH “Brief: In-Memory Data Platform Is No Longer An Option — It’s A Necessity!” Forrester Research, Inc., August 22, 2014 “Market Overview: In-Memory Data Platforms,” Forrester Research, Inc., December 26, 2014 “The Age Of The Customer Changes Everything For AD&D Leaders,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 23, 2014 “Maximize Employee Value By Aligning With Customer Imperatives,” Forrester Research, Inc., May 9, 2014 “Transform Application Delivery To Improve Business Agility,” Forrester Research, Inc., July 10, 2014 “Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October 24, 2014 “The 10 Most Important Technology Trends In Business Application Architecture Today,” Forrester Research, Inc., September 23, 2013 “Brief: Product Innovation Must Focus On Simplicity To Enhance Customer Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc., September 3, 2014 “The Future Of Mobile Application Development,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 28, 2015
  • 12. 10 Appendix C: Endnotes 1 Source: “Brief: In-Memory Data Platform Is No Longer An Option — It’s A Necessity!” Forrester Research, Inc., August 22, 2014. 2 Source: “Market Overview: In-Memory Data Platforms,” Forrester Research, Inc., December 26, 2014. 3 Source: “The Age Of The Customer Changes Everything For AD&D Leaders,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 23, 2014. 4 Source: “Maximize Employee Value By Aligning With Customer Imperatives,” Forrester Research, Inc., May 9, 2014. 5 Source: “Transform Application Delivery To Improve Business Agility,” Forrester Research, Inc., July 10, 2014. 6 Source: “Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October 24, 2014. 7 Source: “Increase Flexibility By Embracing Future Business And Technology Trends,” Forrester Research, Inc., October 24, 2014. 8 Source: “Brief: Product Innovation Must Focus On Simplicity To Enhance Customer Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc. September 3, 2014. 9 Source: “Brief: In-Memory Data Platform Is No Longer An Option — It’s A Necessity!” Forrester Research, Inc., August 22, 2014. 10 Source: “The 10 Most Important Technology Trends In Business Application Architecture Today,” Forrester Research, Inc., September 23, 2013. 11 Source: “The Future Of Mobile Application Development,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 28, 2015.