What is our primary use case?
I use the solution in my company as a database management system, specifically as a relational database management. Mostly, the tool is used in the banking environment to keep historical data, especially in banks like Deutsche Bank and UBS. Banking environments use SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise because they can store historical data, after which manipulating data can be done at a fast pace. When it comes to reporting, SAP IQ is good because it can pull crores of records in minutes, and it is one of the things that can be used in the banking environment.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable part of the tool stems from the fact that it is a very cost-efficient product compared to the newer technologies because it needs a very small amount of RAM. The infrastructure required for the product to run is much less. The maintenance required for the product is also very low. Even in a small project, one person is enough to maintain and handle the solution.
What needs improvement?
SAP is least bothered about Adaptive Server Enterprise nowadays since it wants to focus on promoting its new product, which is S/4HANA. If SAP gives out new releases and a patch upgrade to improve performance and provide additional options, then SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise can compete with other relational database systems in the market. The overall performance of the product is an area where the tool has certain shortcomings and needs to improve.
I work in a very stable environment, and I prefer a very stable replication and database management system. Most of our company's customers do not want to opt out of SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, but SAP has announced that it will be ending its support for it in 2027, and though I feel SAP might extend it, I feel SAP will want to promote its new product. Previously, I heard that SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise's end-of-support dates were announced for 2025, but now I think that they have extended it to 2027 or 2030.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise for nine years. My company is a customer of SAP.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution, but when you end up facing some issues with the tool, you will start facing problems since there are very few technical persons in the market who can handle the product. It is not very easy to fix the issues with the product since there are only a few technical people left in the market who know about the product, and most of them have moved on from the solution already.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution that can handle a large amount of data.
As far as I know, my company deals with around seven to eight customers of SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, but there are no technical people to help with the solution. I am the only technical person in my company who is available when it comes to SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise. I only work on two accounts associated with the product, while there are seven to eight accounts needing support. SAP does not want to give its complete billing process to a technical person, which is the major reason why SAP manages it by itself.
How are customer service and support?
Earlier, there were not many applications using SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise. These days, most of the applications are connected to the database provided by SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, after which many have started facing new issues in the product, which may, to an extent, be a new one even for SAP. SAP has been releasing notes and fixes to deal with the issues associated with the product. Sometimes, if SAP faces a new issue with the product, it notes it down and releases a solution for the problem.
How was the initial setup?
The product's initial setup phase is easy. SAP has made the setup phase of Adaptive Server Enterprise easier to deal with compared to how its process was in the past.
Mostly, SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise is deployed on a private cloud while some of our company's customers have it deployed on Azure or on an on-premises model.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Price-wise, the product is worth it since one needs very less infrastructure to use it. If you speak in numbers, I would say that when it comes to S/4HANA, you need RAM memory to be in terabytes. If one uses 128 GB for a production system, it will be very high as it can hold data till three or four TB, and it can give you results in seconds.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
My company chose the product over the other tools in the market in the late 2020s, and it was a booming solution. Oracle had been sidelined by many since earlier when there were no new releases from SAP. When I entered the IT field, seizing a better opportunity, I chose SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise because I knew that it would have very few complications. I also knew that if you were well versed with SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, then you would have great demand in the field and would get opportunities to work on the solution.
What other advice do I have?
Whether I would suggest the product to others or not is something that depends on the kind of business they do. If you want to pull reports or store data and do calculations, then you need to have additional products along with SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise. If you want to store data that may run into terabytes, then it is possible to do so with SAP Adaptive Server Enterprise, and such data will not get corrupted.
I don't think that it will be easy for someone to learn the tool, but it may be easier if done on a black and white screen. There are not many graphical user interfaces available for the product, and it has more SQL and is a tool that has a simple English language, which is not like any programming languages but something like a simple query language.
I rate the tool an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
*Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
