Data volume cut in half

Energy providers are fac-ing ever-increasing data volumes created by new business models and rules. Badenova, a utility company in southwest Germany, has experienced just that. Their administrative data volume grew to 10 TB as a result of new regulations. Simulation data for consumption billing alone consumed approxi-

mately a third of their sys-tem’s capacity. In order to reduce data volume and prevent further growth, Badenova implemented the Nearline Storage Solu-tion Datavard OutBoard™ for Analytics. Consequently, the company’s data volume was cut in half and their sys-tem performance improved markedly.

Badenova relies on Nearline Storage with Datavard OutBoard™ for Analytics

“The application of OutBoard™ for Analytics reduced our data volume by 50%.”

Oliver Schuler, Badenova

AT A GLANCE

Challenge: Rapidly increasing objects in BW impeding system capacity and performance

Solution: Datavard OutBoard™ for Ana-lytics

Results: • Data volume reduced from

10 TB to 5 TB• Query performance in subareas

improved by about 25%• Backup run times improved by

approximately 40%• Sustainable optimization as

tablespace can be managed internally

SUCCESS STORY N° 4

Data growth curbs performanceArchiving put to the test

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Badenova is one of the largest en-ergy providers in southwest Ger-many. In addition to classic util-ity services and its engagement in biogas, the company provides ownership possibilities in wind

and solar development, energy contracting and centralized heat-ing solutions. Due to legally stip-ulated retention parameters, da-ta volume at Badenova – covering only municipalities – increased

and brought its Business Ware-house to its limits. “Excessively large and rapidly increasing ob-jects affected our system capac-ity and performance,” said Oliver Schuler, SAP Solution Consult-ant for BW at Badenova. “Admin-istration at our data center was increasingly difficult. For exam-ple, the backup run times were too long.” The query performance was also too slow and was delay-ing evaluations in technical de-partments. “We had already im-plemented optimizations our-selves, but due to regulatory requirements the data volume re-mained at 10 TB,” said the IT spe-cialist. In order to slow down the system growth to a sustainable level, Badenova decided to im-plement a Nearline Storage (NLS) solution to optimize data archiv-ing and system performance. Datavard OutBoard™ for Analyt-ics was selected as it enables fil-tering data by age and operation-al relevance. Data is then stored in an NLS system and is compressed by up to 95%. “A deciding factor for us was that OutBoard™ for Analytics could be integrated di-rectly into our Oracle database, rendering a second data storage system unnecessary. That repre-sented a significant financial ben-efit for us and also meant that ex-tensive training would not be re-quired,” stated Oliver Schuler.

SUCCESS STORY N° 4

In-depth analysis reveals optimization potential

“Manageable timeframe”

In the preliminary stage, Datavard ran a system analysis. Aided by Datavard BW Fitness Test™, the consultant determined the strengths and weaknesses of the BW system. The analysis re-vealed above all the optimization potential in regard to the Info-Providers: 35% of the data (about 1.6 TB) in the InfoProviders was more than 2 years old. “The BW Fitness Test™ was very helpful to us and made savings opportu-

nities clear,” said Oliver Schuler. The volume of simulation data for consumption billing was a sur-prise. “We knew that the reposito-ry for simulation data was exten-sive. We were however surprised about the actual amount – 3 TB.” Based on the analysis, the pro-ject team identified concrete im-provement actions to be integrat-ed into the launch of Datavard OutBoard™ for Analytics. Fore-most, Badenova wanted an im-

mediate and sustainable reduc-tion in system size. “Our goal was to drastically reduce the system size and gain control over the fu-ture data growth. Performance improvement was also important to us,” commented Oliver Schuler in describing the goals of the pro-ject launch.

The implementation phase ran smoothly and efficiently, requir-ing little time from Badenova em-ployees and badenIT data center operators. “The project ran dur-ing our daily work. It was con-venient and unobtrusive, as most of the work and coordina-tion was done remotely.” In a to-tal of 3 workshops, the Datavard consultants provided guidance to the project team – onsite at Badenova. Quick wins were then identified through evaluation of BW Fitness Test™ results. In fol-

lowing workshops, the team worked out design templates and implementation steps for these items and put them into action accordingly. Through associated coaching, Badenova was able to quickly gain and apply the neces-sary NLS expertise. “The 5-month

timeframe and work load for our team at Badenova and BadenIT – 15 and 8 workdays respective-ly – were manageable,” reflected Oliver Schuler on the demands of the project.

Simulation data volume surprisingly large

Implementation during business operation

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“The opportunity to run Datavard OutBoard™ for Ana-lytics within our existing database landscape is an obvi-ous advantage in our day-to-day operations.”

Oliver Schuler, Badenova

SUCCESS STORY N° 4

Convincing functionality

Bottom line

Datavard OutBoard™ for Analytics also proved its worth during op-erations. With the ‘Mass Archiving’ function, large databases can be clearly and efficiently archived. The transparency of this func-tion is an additional plus for Oliver Schuler: “With the OutBoard Ob-ject Browser, we have a clear over-view of archived data and com-pression rates at all times.” An-other benefit for Schuler is the ‘Analyzer’ module which deliv-ers important findings on archiv-ing procedures during pre-analy-

sis of databases. The operation of OutBoard within the existing da-tabase landscape is a factor that counts double for Badenova. “We don’t require any external stor-age and can manage the entire tablespace internally.” Therefore, the implementation and train-ing efforts that would be asso-ciated with a new database sys-tem are avoided. “Our entire da-ta center team can focus on the Oracle DB. That is a major bene-fit,” said Schuler.

The implementation of Datavard OutBoard™ for Analytics was worth it for Badenova: their da-ta volumes were halved through Nearline archiving. “That is an impressive result – an immedi-ate and notable improvement in query performance,” said Oliver

Schuler. Backup run times were also reduced by around 40%. “We reached our goal to drasti-cally reduce data volumes. We are also sure that with Datavard OutBoard™ for Analytics we will succeed in keeping furture data growth under control.”

Efficient and transparent

Goal achieved

For further informationwww.datavard.com

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The Badenova AG & Co. KG is one of the largest energy provid-ers in southwest Germany and has its headquarters in Freiburg. The Badenova group has operations in the electricity, natural gas and tel-ecommunications business sec-tors, and one of its subsidiaries, bnNETZE, works in the grid oper-ation and water and centralized heating supply sectors. The Bad-enova group provides approxi-mately 1.4 billion kilowatt hours per year. Private customers have been provided with electricity without the use of nuclear energy since 2008, and since the begin-ning of 2011 with certified green power. The company’s client base is 100% municipal: 96 cities and communities. The energy service provider currently has approxi-mately 1,300 employees.

SUCCESS STORY N° 4