Sagent To Open Up Data Access Server With OpenLink

OpenLink, which will tap to ODBC- and JDBC-based applications, is in beta and is slated to ship later this quarter, said Dave Henry, vice president of marketing at the company.

"This product will help our customers and those who resell business-intelligence applications to use Sagent's core technology, our data flow server in a new way. They can now access it using SQL methods," he said.

Sagent's Data Access Server starts at about $70,000 for Windows or Solaris, and the bulk of the sales are direct. OpenLink, however, "will help the company move more into the indirect world, letting OEMs and VARs who have already selected a reporting tool but may neet more analytical horsepower and need access to multiple back-end systems. ... They can use this to get information access and integration," Henry said.

The company is positioning this as an Enterprise Information Integration, or EII, offering. EII, the latest IT buzzword making the rounds, comprises technologies and methodologies that pair traditional data warehousing with more realtime business-intelligence technologies. The goal is to offer users a seamingly unified view of information relevant to their jobs, even though that data is often strewn across dispersed applications and repositories. (See related story.)

"Our biggest competition is internal build vs. buy behavior. Many companies already have Cognos or Business Objects and investment in employee training [in those interfaces]. ...The power of Sagent lies in the data flows. %85 If we have enabling links to port that information to those other presentation layers, customers can stay with the GUI they like until we can show them ours is better," said Matt Simas, CEO of MedInitiatives, a Sacramento business-intelligence integrator specializing in health-care solutions.

The company is also unveiling DirectLink for Packaged Applications--connectivity software it is relabeling from iWay Software, a spin-off of New York-based Information Builders.

"We offer their solutions to our propsects where there's a need to get at packaged app data in SAP, Siebel, J.D. Edwards,there are about 200 adapters," he said.

Pricing for the new products was not available.