Oracle Brings Big In-Memory Speedup to JD Edwards Apps

June 17, 2014 Alex Woodie

Oracle says the new column-oriented in-memory capabilities of its 12c relational database will make JD Edwards and other compatible ERP applications run 100 to 1,000 times faster compared to using the traditional row-oriented version of the database.

The new in-memory options that Oracle CEO Larry Ellison unveiled last week are geared not only toward online analytic processing (OLAP) workloads but also online transaction processing (OLTP) that are the bread and butter of ERP workhorses.

Oracle says it clocked 100x to 1,000x speedups while it was testing its new Database In-Memory capability against certain modules of its E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Siebel, and Fusion enterprise applications.

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne supports the Oracle database as well as IBM‘s DB2 for i, DB2 for Linux, Unix, and Windows (LUW) databases, and Microsoft‘s SQL Server. JD Edwards World runs only on DB2 for i and the IBM i OS.

Oracle says any application that’s designed to use the Oracle database can adopt the new in-memory column store without any changes. It’s easy as “flipping a switch,” the software giant says.

The Big Red machine is eager to bring all of its customers’ OLAP and OLTP workloads together under one big Oracle-branded tent running on its Engineered Systems hardware, unbreakable Linux operating system, Oracle database, Fusion middleware, and various ERP and CRM applications.

“Oracle is the only vendor in the industry to embrace in-memory computing from applications to middleware to database to systems, enabling businesses to maximize profitability by accelerating operations, quickly discovering new growth opportunities and making smarter, real-time decisions,” said Andrew Mendelsohn, executive vice president of database server technologies at Oracle.

Oracle’s in-memory technology, which becomes available next month, is a counter to SAP‘s HANA in-memory technology. SAP is also touting the capacity to run OLAP and OLTP workloads side by side. SAP is also working with IBM to bring HANA to its Power platform. While HANA won’t run on IBM i, it will provide additional capabilities for SAP on IBM i users, and a counter to Oracle’s attempt to move EnterpriseOne customers running on IBM i to Oracle’s stack.