MEDION & Exasol

Shaping a Promising Data-Driven Future

Performance, Reliability, and Future-Proofing: MEDION’s Data Transformation with Exasol

MEDION, a leading company in consumer electronics and household appliances, has embarked on a data transformation journey to master its steadily growing data volume and increasing demands on a centralized data warehouse. By expanding the Exasol Data Warehouse solution and transitioning to a new licensing model, MEDION achieved several signiﬁcant improvements:

Acceleration of query performance, enabling faster reporting and timely decision-making
Further development of operational process monitoring
Exasol Data Warehouse as Single Point of Truth
Creation of a stable, reliable data foundation for future growth and innovation

These beneﬁts underscore the value of the MEDION-Exasol partnership and provide a strong foundation for continued success in the years to come.

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Oﬀering Products with Cutting-Edge Technology and Attractive Designs

Location

Germany

Employees

1,000+

Industry

Consumer Electronics

Product

Exasol Data Warehouse

MEDION operates a business model focused on delivering high-quality, innovative consumer electronics to a wide range of customers. Working in partnership with retailers, the company oﬀers products that combine cutting-edge technology with attractive designs. MEDION’s primary expertise is in developing and distributing computer and multimedia devices, including notebooks, PC systems, monitors, smartphones, and tablets. The company has expanded its oﬀerings to include smart home components, enabling customers to implement home automation solutions independently.

MEDION’s product range extends beyond computing devices to encompass various consumer electronics such as LCD TVs, internet radios, and Bluetooth speakers. Additionally, the company has ventured into household and health products, further diversifying its portfolio. This comprehensive approach allows MEDION to cater to diverse consumer needs across multiple product categories in the electronics and technology sectors.

More than just a Product Supplier

MEDION serves as more than just a product supplier to its primary customers, the large international retail chains. The company functions as a comprehensive full-service provider, overseeing the entire value chain for its clients. This process encompasses product idea development, manufacturing, marketing, logistics, and after-sales service. This comprehensive approach allows MEDION to execute high-volume, multi-country sales campaigns with precision and eﬀiciency. MEDION utilizes contract manufacturing to produce the goods for these initiatives.

Beyond these promotional activities, MEDION also maintains its own sales channels. These include an online retail platform and a company-owned outlet located on its premises, known as the MEDION Factory Outlet. This multi-faceted approach allows MEDION to maintain a strong market presence while oﬀering its products through various distribution channels.

In addition to its established hardware business, MEDION has successfully expanded into digital services. This sector has experienced consistent growth in recent years and now accounts for the majority of the company’s revenue. A key component of this digital portfolio is mobile communications services. MEDION has also diversiﬁed its oﬀerings to include photo services, electronic software distribution, music platforms, and various other online services. These digital products are primarily marketed through retail partners, with MEDION adopting a brokerage business model, often referred to as an “agent model,” for most of its digital service operations. This strategic shift has allowed MEDION to capitalize on the growing digital market while maintaining its traditional hardware business.

Data Analytics at High Speed

For decades, MEDION has recognized the importance of data collection and utilization. The company was an early leader in the e-commerce market, establishing its online presence and internet sales well ahead of many industry competitors. Since 2013, MEDION has partnered with Exasol, implementing their Data Warehouse in an on-premises environment. Through ongoing development, this partnership has enabled MEDION to fully leverage its expanding data resources.

To address evolving business needs, MEDION initiated a comprehensive modernization of its data warehouse infrastructure. This move was driven by three key factors: ongoing improvement initiatives, the necessity to streamline multiple reporting solutions, and the integration of an expanding array of data sources.

MEDION collaborated closely with Exasol, conducting joint workshops to evaluate various upgrade scenarios. After thorough analysis, the company decided to expand its existing infrastructure and adopt a new licensing model. This strategic shift aims to signiﬁcantly enhance MEDION’s data analytics capabilities, ensuring the company remains competitive in in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.

By utilising the Exasol Data Warehouse with in-memory technology, we were able to increase query performance by an impressive 70% and save several hours of data processing overnight. As we prepare for the future of AI and its growing importance to business success, we are convinced that Exasol’s powerful data analytics foundation will be critical to increasing our speed of innovation and securing our competitive advantage in this AI-driven landscape.

Stephan Lehmann, Head of DWH Development, MEDION

Leveraging In-Memory Technology for Enhanced Performance

MEDION’s transition to a new licensing model, coupled with the implementation of in-memory data processing technology, has yielded signiﬁcant performance improvements. By shifting from limited RAM licensing to a raw data approach, the company has enabled data processing within expansive working memory. This strategic upgrade has resulted in improved performance and signiﬁcantly faster data query responses, enhancing MEDION’s overall data analytics capabilities.

Improved Stability and Resilience

The upgraded system not only delivered signiﬁcant improvements in data analysis speed but also resulted in operational dependability. Following the upgrade, the Exasol Data Warehouse employs a distributed architecture consisting of three primary nodes that eﬀiciently share the workload. This design includes a standby node, activated in case of failure, creating a resilient “3+1” conﬁguration. This conﬁguration ensures signiﬁcantly greater stability and security in case of system failures.

The transition to Exasol has marked a signiﬁcant improvement in reliability for our data warehouse. Since the changeover, the system has been running with absolute stability, and we have not encountered a single instance of failure. This level of reliability not only ensures the smooth operation of our business processes but also plays a crucial role in enabling individual departments to achieve their objectives eﬀectively.

Stephan Lehmann, Head of DWH Development, MEDION

Collaborative Approach to System Design and Implementation

To help fast-track the implementation, MEDION opted for a Gold Support package to guide them through the development and installation of the ideal architecture. MEDION worked closely with Exasol’s support team and dedicated contact person to identify the optimal solution tailored to their speciﬁc needs.

To complement the technical implementation, MEDION’s team took advantage of professional development opportunities. They accessed database technology training through ExaAcademy, with a particular focus on areas such as performance optimization. This approach helped ensure that the in-house team was well-equipped to manage and maximize the new system.

Stefan Fengler, Lead Developer Data Warehouse at MEDION, commented on the educational resources: “The academy provides free online courses that cover topics relevant to our needs. This educational oﬀering was one factor in our decision to continue our partnership with Exasol for our ongoing development.”

Beneﬁts Across Multiple Business Areas

Isolated solutions within the company have been – and continue to be – gradually consolidated. The Exasol Data Warehouse is increasingly evolving into the Single Point of Truth – the central data source for the entire company.

When someone needs data, the Exasol Data Warehouse is the ﬁrst point of contact in the company. This also means that the demand for our expertise as data specialists has grown. Furthermore, as part of our ongoing collaborative development with Exasol, we continually gain access to new options. We can then introduce these new capabilities to various departments and implement them where needed.

Stephan Lehmann, Head of DWH Development, MEDION

A Strategic Partnership for Future Growth

Building on the decade-long success of the Exasol Data Warehouse, MEDION’s decision to extend the partnership for an additional three years was a natural choice. The company has ambitious plans that go beyond meeting the growing demands on a centralized data warehouse. MEDION is planning to further reduce query times and optimize the eﬀiciency of working with their own data. Artiﬁcial intelligence is also a focus area, with the company exploring how AI-powered tools and interfaces to OpenAI solutions can be integrated to unlock new opportunities for data analysis.

As MEDION continues on its data transformation journey, Exasol remains a trusted partner, providing the performance, reliability, and innovation capabilities needed to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.