Korean-made in-memory tech rocks global software market

The internationally known software HANA was created by a Korean.

SAP, the world`s largest business software company based in Germany, sells HANA. Its customers, such as Nestle, Daimler Chrysler, Intel and P&G, boosted the sales to 200 million U.S. dollars in six months since its release in June last year.

HANA was made by SAP`s research center in Korea, which was started by the computer engineering department of Seoul National University. The research team established a venture firm 12 years ago and turned to overseas support due to lack of domestic investment interest. The think tank was taken over by SAP in 2005. Six years later, the team completed its "HANA Project," which became the property of the German company.

Cha Sang-gyun, a computer engineering professor at the university who led the research, said, "Korean companies lacked global insight on software."

Earning his Ph.D from Stanford University in 1991, Cha was a researcher of in-memory database, a technology that stores data in a computer`s memory that otherwise would have been stored on a hard disk.

Data can be stored on a hard disk at low cost, but the low speed creates a bottleneck in computers. By contrast, the in-memory database is more expensive but stores data in memory chips and creates no bottleneck.

When large department stores in urban areas set up inventory warehouses in suburban areas, they reduce costs but have a lower product turnover. By contrast, if the warehouse is formed inside the store, costs increase but products can be sold faster, something which is enabled by in-memory technology.

sanhkim@donga.com