Read why Netezza Customers are turning to Smart Associates for Support
Smart Associates has been supporting IBM Netezza customers for 20 years. The afterlife support we provide in conjunction with our hardware partners allows customers to continue using their appliances beyond their OEM end-of-support dates, whether they be older Striper, TwinFin and Skimmer models, or newer Makos (Model N3001-0##), which will reach end-of-support by IBM in April 2023.
Netezza continues to evolve. It is now Built on IBM Red Hat® OpenShift® and is available on IBM Cloud, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Cloud Pak for Data System and as a service on Microsoft Azure.
For many customers the transition is already happening, but many intend extending the lives of their systems for as long as they can. And why not? The Mako N3001-## range boasts amazing processing capacity.
Many customers have turned to Smart Associates as they face the dilemma of whether to retire their Netezza appliances or continue using their appliances for as long as possible. Smart Associates extends the life of these valuable appliances and keeps them running, giving customers more time to make the transition to a next generation data warehouse solution, whether that be to IBM Cloud Pak for Data or to alternative technologies.
We understand that. You’ve invested a lot of time and effort into building a data analytics practice using Netezza. It still performs exceptionally well for many businesses. However, we also understand that the cost of providing maintenance for your Mako Model N3001-## has become relatively high and next year will no longer be provided by the OEM. So, even though you’ll be losing the IBM official support, the afterlife support we provide in conjunction with our partners is very similar to that provided by IBM, and because we don't charge more based on the size of the system - it's a flat rate whatever the size of the system - it is usually a fraction of the price.
Give your system a Mako-ver
Netezza maintenance requires support for both hardware and software, including the DBMS. All Smart Associates Netezza experts are ex-IBM and so we know how to support the entire Netezza family - including the Mako. We use a network of respected hardware partners to replace any defective part. But there’s more than that. Technology is changing fast and with the availability of Netezza on IBM Cloud Pak for Data on premises or in the Cloud, Netezza is no longer a stand-alone appliance warranting a stand-alone team of experts. There is pressure on organizations to reduce costs by handing over the day to day running of Netezza to a non-specialist team.
Our Netezza Support team already helps many companies maintain their older model Netezza appliances today (e.g., Striper, TwinFin and Skimmer). But you may not realize that Smart Associates is a leading innovator of Netezza productivity solutions that will allow you to continue running your Mako appliances (Model N3001-0##) beyond their OEM end-of-support in April 2023. Smart Management Frameworks (SMF) automates processes to improve the performance, availability, recoverability, and security of one or more of IBM®’s Pure Data™ for Analytics (aka Netezza) or Netezza Performance Server for IBM Cloud Pak for Data appliances.
We have also developed a methodology for physically merging two Mako systems together to double the capacity and performance of ageing hardware to buy time for customers whilst they plan their eventual transition to CP4D – if you’re interested in how we do that, read this blog.
Furthermore, our development team has developed a full suite of monitoring tools that will allow you to never worry again about runaway or inefficient queries, whether your system be on-premises or in the Cloud. With our Virtual DBA service, we anticipate DBMS problems so that you often don’t even need to raise a support ticket. We are constantly monitoring the health of your system and looking for early signs of developing issues that could otherwise lead to performance degradation or unscheduled downtime.
Are you interested in hearing more? Why not contact us here.