Raw Power Can Upset Preconceptions

Some pretty amazing numbers get mentioned when people describe the performance of Netezza data warehouses. The most recent announcement relating to the use of Netezza for revenue assurance in Virgin Media suggests it runs queries 250 times faster than the system that it replaced. And when the cynical scribes at The Register give a good write-up, like this review of Netezza’s 2006 user conference, you can be confident that Netezza must be on to something. But what does this mean for revenue assurance? It challenges the preconceptions as to what is the most cost-effective way to do revenue assurance. I have never been a big believer in the “bucket” approach to revenue assurance: throw a lot of data into a big bucket (the warehouse) stir it around and see what you serve up at random. But I have to admit, if you made the bucket big enough, and could stir it fast enough with a big enough spoon, it would make it possible to perform a lot of the tasks currently performed by specialist revenue assurance systems whilst also being far more versatile. If Virgin Media’s claims are valid, others should pay attention. They could do us all a favour by telling us more.