NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 4, 2008 -- A new survey of business intelligence professionals shows overwhelming support for the concept of allowing multiple workers throughout an organization to concurrently access a company's data warehouse (DW) to help them in their jobs. Almost half of respondents say their companies have systems in place that allow widespread, concurrent usage, yet a majority still voices concerns about the costs associated with them, with almost one-third saying their existing systems are not living up to their expectations.

The survey results were revealed at the opening of The Data Warehousing Institute's World Conference, being held this week in New Orleans, where Kognitio is an exhibiting vendor.

More than 160 subscribers to DM Review Magazine answered the Kognitio-sponsored survey, ranging from C-level executives to database managers and data warehouse architects, working in key vertical markets such as consumer packaged goods, manufacturing, telecommunications, utilities and more.

Among the survey's key findings:

-- 87 percent believe their companies can benefit or are already benefitting from concurrent access to data warehouse information;

-- 42 percent say that they want more than 100 workers to be able to access their data warehouse at the same time to achieve maximum efficiency; 24 percent say the ideal number of concurrent users should be held under 25;

-- Half of the respondents say obtaining actionable data in a timely manner is the single factor that would make them more inclined to promote concurrent usage within their organizations; 61 percent, however, express ongoing concern that costs may still be too high to implement such a system, or that the return on investment (ROI) would be too low; and

-- 24 percent say they have a system in place that should allow for concurrent usage, but it has yet to meet their requirements.

Concurrent access of data warehouses by multiple workers has long been a desired benefit, traditionally limited by slow processing speeds and the high costs associated with such systems that restricted data warehousing to only large enterprises that could afford those costs; even then, usage was largely restricted since the systems were not capable of handling multiple simultaneous requests.

In the last few years, however, the rapidly falling costs of commodity-based hardware and consistently scaling improvements in the processing capabilities of both hardware and software have made it far more possible for small- and mid-sized enterprises to implement data warehouses that can be queried by hundreds of users at the same time. The result is business intelligence (BI) systems that deliver information to workers throughout a company in a time frame where they can act, making decisions that help companies gain and maintain profitability.

Kognitio's WX2 purpose-built analytical database is a key component in today's drive toward widespread concurrency. It delivers high-speed data access to large data volumes using low-cost industry standard hardware, enabling firms to load multiple terabytes within minutes, and allowing hundreds of users to query the database concurrently obtaining answers within just seconds.

"Concurrent access to data warehouses opens the door to a wide range of internal departments, field organizations and partners," said John K. Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of North American Operations for Kognitio. "The broadening of concurrent access makes it possible for companies to leverage all those ideas and minds to generate insights, driving the potential that delivers competitive advantage. Concurrent access with predictable performance is one of the cornerstones to DW/BI, delivering impressive ROI and market changing results and ideas in everyday operations."

About Kognitio

Kognitio (http://www.kognitio.com) is an innovative, technology-rich company, providing leading-edge solutions to business problems that require the acquisition, rationalization and analysis of large or complex data. Kognitio's WX2 is the industry's fastest and most scalable analytical database on the market, giving firms the ability to turn their raw data into valuable business insight fast, and empowering its customers to realize comprehensive answers to critical business questions.

Globally headquartered in Bracknell, UK, with North American headquarters in Chicago and offices in New York, Kognitio delivers competitive advantage to its clients across a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, financial services and utilities. More information is available by phone at 312.268.5725.