DBMS Client/Server Connection - October 1995 DBMS Client/Server Connection - October 1995The news generated at the Data Warehouse and OLAP show in Chicago (August 8-10) demonstrates that several companies are jumping on the data warehouse/OLAP bandwagon. For instance, Sybase Inc. (Emeryville, Calif.) demo-ed its Sybase IQ (formerly IQ Accelerator) product, currently in beta. An optional extension for Sybase SQL Server, Sybase IQ includes patent-pending bit-wise indexing that allows significantly more data to be processed in each instruction. This indexing strategy also lets developers index every field in the database, including character and numeric fields.
Sybase also outlined its Sybase Warehouse Works, an alliance program that includes published APIs and partner programs with more than 50 vendors, including Dun & Bradstreet Information Systems, EDS, Prism Solutions, and others. At the Data Warehouse show, Pilot Software, Information Discovery Inc., DBStar Inc., Arbor Software, Logic Works, Bachman Information Systems, MicroStrategy, Evolutionary Technologies International, Brio Technology, IQ Software, Price Waterhouse, Trinzic Corp., Andyne Computing Limited, Holistic Systems, and Business Objects announced that they have joined the Sybase Warehouse Works alliance program. Partners in this program receive training on Sybase software, specialized support, and beta software for integrating technology with Sybase. Sybase Inc., 510-922-3500.
Also, as part of its continuing initiative in data warehousing, Price Waterhouse Management Consulting Services (New York) has begun providing clients with technology applications based on the firm's "Knowledge Management" approach. The applications were demonstrated in Price Waterhouse's booth at the Data Warehouse conference. Price Waterhouse also announced four industry alliances at the show, with Prism Solutions, Sybase Inc., Information Advantage, and Holistic Systems.
A key element of the Price Waterhouse data warehousing initiative is its Knowledge Center Network. The firm uses these centers to implement a variety of business models and technical architectures in response to user requirements and evolving developments in data warehousing. Price Waterhouse Management Consulting Services, 212-819-5000.
Information Advantage (Edina, Minn.) also used the Data Warehouse conference as a forum to introduce version 3.0 of its DecisionSuite OLAP business analysis solution. This integrated suite of applications lets users navigate, filter, compute, visualize, and share "live" information and analyses with assumptions, annotation, and security to individuals and workgroups throughout the enterprise.
DecisionSuite 3.0 includes four applications: InfoAlert, NewsLine, Analysis, and Workbench -- in addition to the DecisionSuite server. InfoAlert directs live information, reports, and alerts to system users. It provides drill-up, drill-down, and drill-across capabilities across business dimensions anywhere in the data warehouse. Users can also pivot and export results with a spreadsheet hot-link. InfoAlert costs $195 per desktop.
NewsLine includes all of the functionality of InfoAlert, plus the ability to view and modify all assumptions behind the analysis, including calculations and filters, with complete security. Users drag and drop calculations and filters to "surf" the entire data warehouse. NewsLine costs $395 per desktop.
Analysis adds all of the functionality of NewsLine with the ability to author and publish filters, calculations, reports, and templates to DecisionSuite users throughout the enterprise. Users can author and publish distributed intelligent agents, triggers, and alerts with a point-and-click interface. Alerts can be directed and broadcast to users as interactive reports and messages via e-mail, beeper, telephone, and the Internet. Analysis costs $795 per desktop.
Finally, Workbench lets DBAs and administrators manage resources and security, as well as customize and distribute desktop profiles across the network. Developers can create more sophisticated intelligent agents, custom applications, and add-in functionality, as well as integrate with operational systems. Workbench costs $2995 per desktop. Information Advantage, 612-820-0702.
Also at the show, Andyne Computing Ltd. (Kingston, Ontario, Canada) announced that it is shipping Pablo Slicer/Dicer 1.0, which lets users carve out data from their HyperCube data sources that reside in Arbor Software's Essbase multidimensional engine, and distribute it to departments, groups, or individuals. Slicer/Dicer is bundled with the Pablo HyperCube Utilities Kit, which costs $99 per user copy. Pablo costs $695 per user copy. Andyne Computing Ltd., 613-548-4355.
Conference attendees could also see a demo of Apertus Technologies' new product, Enterprise/Integrator, a tool for developing and maintaining programs that transform, cleanse, merge, and synchronize data from heterogeneous databases. It includes features for identifying and consolidating logically redundant data such as names and addresses. It also resolves value conflicts such as identifying a correct address from multiple, inconsistent records.
Enterprise/Integrator consists of two primary components: a Development Environment and a Production Environment. The Development Environment provides a graphical interface that supports point-and-click schema mapping, rule definition, and requirements management. Using this information, the tool generates code for the specific data integration application. The Production Environment provides additional graphical interfaces for system administration and exception handling.
Enterprise/Integrator is available today. A development seat costs $18,000; starter kits, which include three development seats and a production license, cost $130,000. Apertus Technologies Inc., 612-828-0300.
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Yet another competitor has joined the red-hot data warehousing market: Sagent Technology Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.). Announced in July, this company is led by Ken Gardner, ex-Borland executive and founder of ReportSmith Inc. (which was later acquired by Borland). According to officials, Sagent will combine the programming and management veterans from Borland and ReportSmith to create an integrated software system for data extraction, warehousing, querying, and analysis. The company has garnered $1.1 million in the first-round financing.
The first product from Sagent is slated to ship in mid-1996, and will provide rapid information delivery through a three-tier architecture. A multithreaded warehouse application server will leverage existing investments in enterprise data, giving desktop users access to the warehouse via a full suite of Sagent access and analysis tools. Sagent Technology Inc., 415-833-6800.