Event
Summary
Evolutionary Technologies International, Inc. (ETI,
privately held) has released ETIEXTRACT Tool Suite,
Release 4.2. The latest version of ETI's flagship data integration management
software now supports Windows 2000, Solaris 2.8
and AIX 4.3 operating systems. It also includes significant
enhancements, which, according to the vendor, result in faster data movement
and less work for the user.
The
ETIEXTRACT Tool Suite automates the task of integrating data, while
capturing a complete audit trail outlining everything done to any of the
data values in the process, including any transformation logic applied
to data values. This audit trail is stored in ETIEXTRACT's
MetaStore and allows timely impact analysis in the case of some
proposed change.
Auto
mapping is one of the principle enhancements to ETIEXTRACT 4.2.
It allows the conversion specialist to create basic rules to define how
parts will be mapped between source and target databases within a conversion.
ETIEXTRACT's MetaStore then stores these rules so that the conversion
specialists can have the product automatically create a large number of
mappings, thus eliminating the need for the user to manually specify each
mapping. In a conversion with thousands of parts, this feature can significantly
reduce the amount of work required to specify mappings.
Users
can also reuse rules defining data transformation logic or slight variations
of this logic when developing multiple conversions. In the previous version
of ETIEXTRACT, the conversion specialist had to recreate each specification
of a business rule manually. Now users can easily reuse existing business
rules by copying and pasting them between conversion specifications in
the same MetaStore.
"Jupiter
Research estimates that $350 billion will be invested in Internet infrastructure
by 2003, with 74% of that spent on integrating systems. Much of the integration
will involve linking older legacy and operational systems to next-generation
CRM applications, e-businesses and e-marketplaces," said Kay Hammer, cofounder,
president and CEO of Evolutionary Technologies International. "ETIEXTRACT
4.2 is an infrastructure solution that's flexible enough to bridge the
gap between the technology driving the new economy and the technology
underlying the old economy."
Market
Impact
In
the early 1990's there were only five major extract/transform/load vendors:
ETI, IBI (Information Builders), Carleton (now part of Oracle),
Prism (now part of Informix/Ascential Software
by way of Ardent Software), and Trinzic (now part
of Computer Associates by way of Platinum Technology).
ETL tools have always been required to consolidate, merge, and move data
for access by other processes. In the last few years, this ETL function
has become one of the cornerstones of what has become known as enterprise
application integration (EAI), a hot technology for enabling e-business
and CRM (customer relationship management) initiatives, among others.
The
number of vendors now involved in this market either directly or tangentially
has exploded, and it is becoming difficult for vendors to differentiate
themselves in this confusing market. One approach, taken by vendors such
as ETI, is to concentrate on one thing (ETL), do it extremely well, and
make sure their market message reflects that goal. We believe that this
is a powerful approach since many EAI vendors can't tell you exactly what
they do except in terms of broad visions such as "Inter-enterprise Application
Integration", or "e-Business Infrastructure Enablement", and that lack
of focus comes across to potential customers during technology selection
interviews.
User
Recommendations
Potential customers in need of solutions to data consolidation, integration,
and transformation should include ETI's ETIEXTRACT on a short list
of potential solutions. Some of the other vendors whose product offerings
should be examined include IBI, Informix, Hummingbird, and IBM.
If the ETL effort is to support an EAI initiative, various players in
the EAI space such as Tibco, Vitria, webMethods,
WRQ, and IBM should also be interviewed for a proposed solution.
Companies
should keep a strong focus on exactly what goal they are trying to achieve,
the steps required to achieve it, and how the vendor's proposed solution
maps to those steps. In this way, scenarios used during the selection
process can be carefully scripted to highlight how close each vendor comes
to the ultimate business solution.