Teradata expands Hadoop portfolio, Hortonworks partnership

Teradata on Wednesday rolled out an expanded version of its Hadoop integration and product line via a partnership with Hortonworks.

The Teradata Portfolio for Hadoop is designed to meld Apache Hadoop with data warehouse environments and various appliances. Teradata is also providing consulting, software and support.

According to Teradata and Hortonworks, the lineup goes like this:

• A Teradata Appliance for Hadoop, which also includes a bundle with Protegrity, a security application, and Revelytix Loom focused on dataset management;
• The Teradata Aster Big Analytics Appliance, which couples the Aster database with SQL-MapReduce and Hadoop;
• A Teradata Commodity Configuration for Hadoop in partnership with Dell;
• And a Teradata Software Only for Hadoop.

Steve Wooledge, vice president of unified data architecture marketing at Teradata, said the aim is to give enterprises choice, handle multiple data sets and mix and match big data and the SQL queries that are staple of data warehouses. "We want to give options so we're in the conversation and working across all data needs," said Wooledge.

Teradata's approach reflects the reality that big data applications will operate in a broader analytics fabric where data warehouses and Hadoop will be integrated. For technology buyers, the catch will be to make sure that this mixing and matching of proprietary and open source software doesn't turn into a case of lock-in.

The company has put its Hadoop platforms in premium tiers with software and support. The Teradata Appliance for Hadoop is connected to the company's customer service and infrastructure that proactively detects and fixes system failures. A commodity offering is a combination of Dell hardware, Hortonworks' distribution of Hadoop and Teradata software. For support, Dell would handle hardware calls and Teradata would field Hortonworks Data Platform configuration and software issues unless it was Hadoop specific.

John Kreisa, vice president of strategic marketing at Hortonworks, noted that the Teradata partnership is important to both companies. For Hortonworks, Teradata provides a large support network and customer base. Teradata gets to work in big data projects. Kreisa said that the engineering teams of both companies collaborate and go-to-market pitches are coordinated.

For Teradata, the Hortonworks partnership is also vital in terms of perception. Analysts have noted that Teradata's core data warehousing business could be commoditized. In addition, the company may have a tough time adapting to a big data landscape. Cowen & Co. analyst Peter Goldmacher recently outlined the concerns about Teradata's growth prospects. He said:

A wave of new data management technology, specifically Hadoop, is enabling customers to reduce the total cost of ownership of data warehouses by off loading non-mission critical compute that used to be processed in Teradata into lower cost hardware, storage and analytics technologies. We believe the TCO of a comparable Hadoop environment can be as much as 90% lower than a traditional Teradata environment. This dynamic is having a negative impact on Teradata's ability to grow and will likely accelerate as these disruptors invest heavily in distribution to drive awareness.