IBM AND AUTOZONE SPEED ANALYSIS OF SALES DATA

In recent visits to IBM's RS/6000 Teraplex Integration Center, auto parts retailer AutoZone successfully analyzed three-and-a-half years of sales data, or 1.5 billion records, in just a couple of minutes, down from previous query times as long as several hours.

These results translate to a competitive advantage for AutoZone, the nation's leading auto parts chain, proving it can more quickly identify key consumer buying trends and use that information to better manage inventory at its 2,700 stores in 39 states.

Having replicated its exact computing environment and using real data at the Teraplex in Poughkeepsie, AutoZone is now confident that the new RS/6000 SP running DB2 Universal Database at corporate headquarters will efficiently support as many as 250 concurrent business users. With the assistance of IBM and Winter Corporation, a consulting firm retained by AutoZone, the retailer ran tests using Automated Summary Tables (AST), a new DB2 Universal Database feature enabling queries to quickly analyze masses of detailed data.

Created at a cost of $50 million, the IBM Teraplex Integration Centers allow companies to stress test hardware and software to identify and resolve scalability and functionality issues in a controlled environment before business intelligence systems go into operation on site.

"The type of analysis done at the Teraplex will help AutoZone merchandising managers answer such questions as 'what were the top sellers for my particular product category?'; 'what were sales yesterday in a particular store?'; and 'what are sales for my product category for the past two years?'," said Ben Barnes, general manager, IBM Global Business Intelligence Solutions. "With this knowledge, Autozone can adjust shelf supplies of products to ensure its customers will find the products they want when they visit the store, at the same time minimizing overstock situations to keep costs down."

"At the RS/6000 Teraplex, we found extensive computing resources, including 76 nodes and seven terabytes of storage, to support our proof of concept," said Doyle Sanders, director of data services, customer satisfaction, for AutoZone. "But more importantly, we were able to draw upon IBM's intellectual capital: the expertise of the Teraplex staff, researchers at IBM's lab in Almaden, Calif., and DB2 Development in Toronto, to assure that we had the optimal configuration."

"AutoZone needed to know if its database approach was going to scale and could not have accomplished the necessary tests on its own equipment," said Richard Winter, president of Winter Corporation. "I felt the Teraplex Center would be ideal for this large scale proof-of-concept and recommended the approach to Autozone and IBM. Within a few weeks, we were all on our way to Poughkeepsie.

"Working with AutoZone and IBM at the Center, we were able to implement a detailed database not yet in production at AutoZone, experiment with database design options and the new automated summary tables in DB2 UDB 5.2, run queries, measure results and progressively work out better solutions. All the participants learned; everyone gained from the team effort; and, the AutoZone team came home with valuable, quantitative information pertinent to their upcoming implementation."

Automated Summary Tables (AST) in DB2 Universal Database enable frequently used query elements to be precalculated and stored by the database engine, under the control of the database administrator. These precalculations are used automatically by DB2 Universal Database whenever they will accelerate the processing of queries. The entire process is invisible to end users, who need not be aware of the ASTs and are unaffected by them, except that queries are answered more rapidly and more users can be serviced efficiently by the system.

Business intelligence involves the gathering, management and analysis of data for the purpose of turning that data into useful information which is then distributed throughout an enterprise. Companies can then make more strategic decisions about which markets to enter, how to select and manage key customer relationships, and how to select and effectively promote products, all in an effort to increase profitability and market share. These practices can also reduce operating costs through more effective financial analysis, risk management, fraud management, distribution and logistics management, and sales analysis.

The Teraplex Centers are open to IBM's customers and business partners for no charge and are equipped for testing of applications and products from multiple IBM divisions and from non-IBM vendors. A Center is designated for each IBM platform - one each for S/390 and RS/6000, in Poughkeepsie, and one for AS/400, in Rochester, Minn.

AutoZone sells auto and light truck parts, chemicals and accessories through 2,700 AutoZone and Chief stores in 39 states. Chief stores are being converted to AutoZone stores. AutoZone also sells heavy-duty truck parts through 43 TruckPro stores in 14 states, and automotive diagnostic and repair software through its ALLDATA subsidiary.