HP links Vertica and IDOL seeking better unstructured data analysis

The HP Haven Connector Framework Server may allow organizations to study data sets that were too large or unwieldy to analyze before.

The package provides "a mixture of statistical and contextual understanding," of data, said Jeff Veis, HP vice president of marketing for big data. "You can pull in any form of data, and then do real-time high performance analysis."

The Vertica Analytics Platform is columnar database software built for quickly analyzing large amounts of structured data using SQL (Structured Query Language). IDOL (Intelligent Data Operating Layer) was built to index and search unstructured data within an enterprise.

HP acquired both Vertica and IDOL in separate deals in 2011.

Integrating Vertica and IDOL opens up a range of unstructured data sources that can be scrutinized with Vertica's SQL-based analysis capabilities, Veis said.

An organization could use the server software to analyze multiple data repositories, including data stored in enterprise systems such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, Oracle and SAP enterprise applications, as well as data within cloud services such as Box.net, Salesforce.com, and Google Drive.

Marketing departments could use the software to identify trends, or to find references to keywords of interest, across these disparate data sources, Veis said.

The connector used to link IDOL with Vertica is one of 50 enhancements that the company has made to its Haven portfolio of data analysis software and services.

The company issued HP Haven Knowledge Graphing, a tool for understanding relationships and connections among multiple entities. The company also has a new speech recognition software that uses neural networking to improve recognition by up to 75 percent.

HP declined to reveal the price of the HP Haven Connector Framework Server.

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com