Ascential Expands Data Integration Menu

Data integration remains hot even in a sluggish economy as companies strive to get the most value out of the information they already have. Ascential, Informatica, SAS Institute and others help corporations tie all that information together so it can be better analyzed and put to use.

Version 5.1 of DataStage XE adds perks for developers, making it easier for them to develop and deploy data integration projects and lets users better view metadata associated with the information they need, said Jeff Boehm, executive director of DataStage marketing.

"This generates meta data every step of the way and lets users see that complete trail--where the data came from, how it was manipulated, when it was updated--and pulls that data through from the source," Boehm said. The core edition starts at $180,000 for an eight-processor server.

The core product can tap into data residing in Microsoft, Teradata and Oracle databases, with optional connectivity into mainframe DB2, IMS and IDMS databases, the company said.

The DataStage XE Portal Edition includes all that functionality plus a Web-based interface so users can see analyses and metadata from their browsers and IT people can see what processes are running, what machines are down, Boehm said. That product starts at $230,000 for an eight-CPU server.

New connectors are now available for PeopleSoft and Siebel applications. Each pack costs $75,000. The company already offers connectors for SAP. All of the new DataStage offerings are available now, Boehm said.

"The obvious advantage for resellers is they can now connect and integrate with a much broader set of data sources," Boehm said of the new connectors.

Jane Griffin, head of the Arthur Andersen's Data Management Center of Excellence, said the new product fills the bill in terms of data handling performance. And, "the integration and exchange of meta data is the most difficult and problematic issue. There's nothing else like the technology they baked in. It can take XML messages, decipher them and strip out the meta data from them. It's critical. And a strong suit for DataStage. This is sorely-needed functionality," she said.

Data integration is such a time-consuming and complex task that any enhancments that can make it easier are important, said Dan Vesset, research manager for IDC. "There are so many disparate systems out there, the need for data integration is high," he said.

Ascential Software incorporates the non-database business of the old Informix, including the DataStage line and Media360 digital asset management software. The Informix database business was sold to IBM last year for $1 billion.